VMI Keydets Team Standings

VMI Keydets

General Information

NCAA Division: Division I
Conference: Southern Conference
Past Conferences: Big South Conference
City: Lexington, Virginia
Arena: Cameron Hall
NCAA Tournaments: 3 (1964, 1976, 1977)

Championships

National Championships : 0
Conference Titles : 2 (1976, 1977)

Team History

The Virginia Military Institute Keydets have a long basketball tradition, first beginning play in the 1908-09 season. VMI played as an independent before joining the 22-team Southern Conference for the 1925-26 season. The Southern Conference looked much different then, with the likes of Kentucky and North Carolina. VMI remained in the Southern Conference until the 2002-03 season, when the Keydets joined the Big South Conference. The Keydets returned to the Southern Conference for the 2014-15 season.

VMI had some success in the early years, but by the time the 1940s rolled around, VMI was bad. Really bad. Between the 1943-44 and 1952-53 seasons, VMI had a 26-145 record. The Keydets had a few better seasons but never finished higher than .500. In 1964, the Keydets were the unlikely winners of the Southern Conference Tournament, earning the team’s first berth in the NCAA Tournament. Nevertheless, VMI quickly fell back into old habits and went 18-31 over the next three seasons.

Bill Blair became head coach in 1972-73 and in his fourth year led the Keydets to the conference tournament title and another trip to the NCAA Tournament. Blair left for Colorado the following season and new coach Charlie Schmaus led the team to a 26-4 record and a second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament in 1976-77, but, once again, VMI fell apart and went 1-25 in 1981-82 when Schmaus was shown the door.

The Keydets were invited to play in the CIT in 2014, where they advanced to the semifinals, and VMI competed in the CBI in 2022, where they were bounced by UNC Wilmington in the first round.

VMI Keydets All-Time Records

Points Scored

Reggie Williams, 2,556
Gay Elmore, 2,422
Ron Carter, 2,228

Rebounds

Dave Montgomery, 1,068
Stan Okoye, 963
Bill Ralph 919

Assists

Richard Little, 608
Rodney Glasgow, 530
Mike Huffman, 480

VMI Keydets FAQs

Have Any VMI Players Played in the NBA?

The Keydets have had two players play in NBA regular season games. The first was Ron Carter, who played with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1978-79 season and for Indiana the following year. Reggie Williams played for five teams in a seven-year career that began in 2009-10. He finished with a respectable 7.76 points per game scoring average.

Have the Keydets Ever Been Ranked in the Associated Press Poll?

VMI was ranked by the Associated Press during the 1976-77 season, breaking into the poll at No. 20 on February 7th, 1977. The Keydets moved up to No. 19 the following week but dropped out of the poll after back-to-back losses. VMI won the conference tournament and its first-round game in the NCAA Tournament and finished No. 20 in the final poll of the year.

Who Is the VMI Mascot?

Moe the Kangaroo is the official mascot of the VMI Keydets. Moe was originally called “TD Bound” but the name was later changed to reflect all sports at VMI and not just football.