Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball

This article is about men's basketball team. For women's basketball team, see WKU Lady Toppers basketball.

WKU Hilltoppers

2015–16 WKU Hilltoppers basketball team

University

Western Kentucky University

Conference

C-USA
East Division

Location

Bowling Green, KY

Head coach

Ray Harper (4th year)

Arena

E. A. Diddle Arena
(Capacity: 7,500)

Nickname

Hilltoppers

Colors

Red and White

Uniforms

Home

Away

NCAA Tournament Final Four

1971^{[A 1]}

NCAA Tournament Elite Eight

1940, 1971^{[A 1]}

NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen

1960, 1962, 1966, 1971,^{[A 1]} 1978, 1993, 2008

NCAA Tournament Round of 32

1976, 1978, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1995, 2008, 2009

NCAA Tournament appearances

1940, 1960, 1962, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971,^{[A 1]} 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013

Conference tournament champions

1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1943, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1966, 1967, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1993, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013

Conference regular season champions

1949, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1982 ,1987, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009

Conference division season champions

Sun Belt East: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008^[1]

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Basketball team is the men's basketball team that represents Western Kentucky University (WKU) in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Hilltoppers currently compete in Conference USA. The team's most recent appearance in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament was in 2013. Ray Harper became the interim coach of the Hilltoppers on January 6, 2012 after Ken McDonald was fired,^[2] with Harper being promoted to head coach on February 19, 2012.^[3]

The men's basketball program has the 16th most victories in the history of the NCAA^[4] and has attained the 8th best winning percentage in NCAA history.^[4] The school made an NCAA Final Four appearance in 1971, which was later vacated, and has made three NIT Final Four appearances. The program has won numerous Ohio Valley Conference championships and was very competitive in its previous conference, the Sun Belt Conference, regularly finishing near the top of the conference and competing for the conference championship. 2014–15 season is their first season as members of Conference USA. Street & Smith's publication "100 Greatest Programs", ranked WKU #31.

WKU has had 30 All Americans and 56 Hilltoppers have played professionally following their collegiate careers.

Head coaching record

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
J.L. Arthur (Independent) (1914–1916)
1914–1915	Western Kentucky State	5–1
1915–1916	Western Kentucky State	2–1
J.L.Arthur:		7–2
No Team (World War I) (1916–1921)
L.T. Smith (Independent) (1921–1922)
1921–1922	Western Kentucky State	3–1
L.T.Smith:		3–1
E. A. Diddle (SIAA and KIAC) (1922–1948)
1922–1923	Western Kentucky State	12–2
1923–1924	Western Kentucky State	9–9
1924–1925	Western Kentucky State	8–6
1925–1926	Western Kentucky State	10–4
1926–1927	Western Kentucky State	12–7
1927–1928	Western Kentucky State	10–7
1928–1929	Western Kentucky State	8–10
1929–1930	Western Kentucky State	4–12
1930–1931	Western Kentucky State	11–3
1931–1932	Western Kentucky State	15–8		1st KIAC
1932–1933	Western Kentucky State	16–6		1st KIAC
1933–1934	Western Kentucky State	28–8		1st KIAC 1st SIAA
1934–1935	Western Kentucky State	24–3		1st KIAC
1935–1936	Western Kentucky State	26–4		1st KIAC	National Olympic Trials
1936–1937	Western Kentucky State	21–2		1st KIAC 1st SIAA
1937–1938	Western Kentucky State	30–3		1st KIAC 1st SIAA	NAIA Forfeit
1938–1939	Western Kentucky State	22–3		1st KIAC 1st SIAA
1939–1940	Western Kentucky State	24–6		1st KIAC 1st SIAA	NCAA Elite 8
1940–1941	Western Kentucky State	22–4		1st SIAA
1941–1942	Western Kentucky State	29–5		1st KIAC 1st SIAA	NIT Runner Up
1942–1943	Western Kentucky State	24–3		1st KIAC	NIT Quarterfinals
1943–1944	Western Kentucky State	13–9
1944–1945	Western Kentucky State	17–10
1945–1946	Western Kentucky State	15–19
1946–1947	Western Kentucky State	25–4		1st KIAC 1st SIAA
1947–1948	Western Kentucky State	28–2		1st KIAC	NIT 3rd place
1948–1949	Western Kentucky State	25–4	8–2	1st	NIT Quarterfinals
1949–1950	Western Kentucky State	25–6	8–0	1st	NIT Quarterfinals
1950–1951	Western Kentucky State	19–10	4–4	4th	NCT 1st Round
1951–1952	Western Kentucky State	26–5	11–1	1st	NIT Quarterfinals
1952–1953	Western Kentucky State	25–6	8–2	2nd	NIT Quarterfinals
1953–1954	Western Kentucky State	29–3	9–1	1st	NIT 4th Place
1954–1955	Western Kentucky State	18–10	8–2	1st
1955–1956	Western Kentucky State	16–12	7–3	T-1st
1956–1957	Western Kentucky State	17–9	9–1	T-1st
1957–1958	Western Kentucky State	14–11	5–5	3rd
1958–1959	Western Kentucky State	16–10	8–4	2nd
1959–1960	Western Kentucky State	21–7	10–2	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1960–1961	Western Kentucky State	18–8	9–3	T-1st
1961–1962	Western Kentucky State	17–10	11–1	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1962–1963	Western Kentucky State	5–16	3–9	7th
1963–1964	Western Kentucky State	5–16	3–11	8th
E. A. Diddle:		759–302	121–51
John Oldham (Ohio Valley Conference) (1964–1971)
1964–1965	Western Kentucky State	18–9	10–4	2nd	NIT 2nd Round
1965–1966	WKU	25–3	14–0	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1966–1967	WKU	23–3	13–1	1st	NCAA Round of 23
1967–1968	WKU	18–7	9–5	3rd
1968–1969	WKU	16–10	9–5	3rd
1969–1970	WKU	22–3	14–0	1st	NCAA Round of 25
1970–1971	WKU	24–6	12–2	1st	NCAA Final Four 3rd place Vacated
John Oldham:		142–40	81–17
Jim Richards (Ohio Valley Conference) (1971–1978)
1971–1972	WKU	15–11	9–5	T-1st
1972–1973	WKU	10–16	6–8	6th	NCAA Probation
1973–1974	WKU	15–10	8–6	4th	NCAA Probation
1974–1975	WKU	16–8	11–3	2nd	NCAA Probation
1975–1976	WKU	20–9	11–3	1st	NCAA Round of 32
1976–1977	WKU	10–16	6–8	T-5th
1977–1978	WKU	16–14	9–5	t-3rd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
Jim Richards:		102–84	60–38
Gene Keady (Ohio Valley Conference) (1978–1980)
1978–1979	WKU	17–11	7–5	T-2nd
1979–1980	WKU	21–8	10–2	T-1st	NCAA Round of 48
Gene Keady:		38–19	17–7
Clem Haskins (Ohio Valley Conference) (1980–1982)
1980–1981	WKU	21–8	12–2	1st	NCAA Round of 48
1981–1982	WKU	19–10	13–3	T-1st	NIT 1st Round
Clem Haskins (Sun Belt Conference) (1982–1986)
1982–1983	WKU	12–16	4–10	7th
1983–1984	WKU	12–17	5–9	6th
1984–1985	WKU	14–14	5–9	7th
1985–1986	WKU	23–8	10–4	2nd	NCAA Round of 32
Clem Haskins:		101–73	49–37
Murray Arnold (Sun Belt Conference) (1986–1990)
1986–1987	WKU	29–9	12–2	1st	NCAA Round of 32
1987–1988	WKU	15–13	6–8	6th
1988–1989	WKU	14–15	4–10	7th
1989–1990	WKU	13–17	7–7	T-3rd
Murray Arnold:		71–54	29–27
Ralph Willard (Sun Belt Conference) (1990–1994)
1990–1991	WKU	14–14	8–6	T-3rd
1991–1992	WKU	21–11	10–6	4th	NIT 1st Round
1992–1993	WKU	26–6	14–4	2nd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1993–1994	WKU	20–11	14–4	1st	NCAA Round of 64
Ralph Willard:		81–42	46–20
Matt Kilcullen (Sun Belt Conference) (1994–1998)
1994–1995	WKU	27–4	17–1	1st	NCAA Round of 32
1995–1996	WKU	13–14	10–8	T-3rd
1996–1997	WKU	12–15	9–9	T-6th
1997–1998	WKU	10–19	6–12	T8th
Ron Brown and Al Seibert (Co. head coaches last 6 games in 1997–98 season) (3–3)
Matt Kilcullen:		59–49	42–30
Ron Brown and Al Seibert:		3–3
Dennis Felton (Sun Belt Conference) (1998–2003)
1998–1999	WKU	13–16	7–7	T-3rd
1999–2000	WKU	11–18	8–8	5th
2000–2001	WKU	24–7	14–2	1st (East)	NCAA Round of 64
2001–2002	WKU	28–4	13–1	1st (East)	NCAA Round of 64
2002–2003	WKU	24–9	12–2	1st (East)	NCAA Round of 64
Dennis Felton:		100–54	54–20
Darrin Horn (Sun Belt Conference) (2003–2008)
2003–2004	WKU	15–13	8–6	5th
2004–2005	WKU	22–9	9–5	2nd (East)	NIT 2nd Round
2005–2006	WKU	23–8	12–2	1st (East)	NIT 1st Round
2006–2007	WKU	22–11	12–6	2nd (East)
2007–2008	WKU	29–7	16–2	T–1st (East)	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
Darrin Horn:		111–48	57–21
Ken McDonald (Sun Belt Conference) (2008–2012)
2008–2009	WKU	25–8	15–3	1st (East)	NCAA Round of 32
2009–2010	WKU	21–13	12–6	3rd (East)
2010–2011	WKU	16–16	8–8	3rd (East)
2011–2012	WKU	5–11	1–2	–	Coach fired after 16 games
Ken McDonald:		67–48	36–19
Ray Harper^[5] (Sun Belt Conference) (2012–2014)
2011–2012	WKU	11–8	10–7	T-3rd (East)	NCAA Round of 64
2012–2013	WKU	20–15	10–10	4th (East)	NCAA Round of 64
2013–2014	WKU	20–12	12–6	2nd
Ray Harper (Conference USA) (2014–Current)
2014–2015	WKU	20–12	12–6	4th
Total:		1715-867
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

^[6]^[7] ^[8]

KIAC – Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
SIAA – Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
OVC – Ohio Valley Conference (T) Tournament
SBC – Sun Belt Conference (E) Eastern Division (T) Tournament
NCT – National Campus Tournament
NAIA – National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
NIT – National Invitation Tournament
NCAA – National Collegiate Athletic Association

Postseason

NCAA tournament results

The Hilltoppers have appeared in the NCAA Tournament 23 times. Their combined record is 18–25.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Results
1940		Elite Eight	Duquesne	L 29–30
1960		First Round Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game	Miami (FL) Ohio State Ohio	W 107–84 L 79–98 L 87–97
1962		First Round Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game	Detroit Ohio State Butler	W 90–81 L 73–93 L 86–87
1966		First Round Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game	Loyola (IL) Michigan Dayton	W 105–86 L 79–80 W 82–62
1967		First Round	Dayton	L 67–69 ^OT
1970		First Round	Jacksonville	L 96–109
1971*		First Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National 3rd Place Game	Jacksonville Kentucky Ohio State Villanova Kansas	W 74–72 W 107–83 W 81–78 ^OT L 89–92 ^2OT W 77–75
1976		First Round	Marquette	L 60–79
1978		First Round Sweet Sixteen	Syracuse Michigan State	W 87–86 ^OT L 69–90
1980	#10	First Round	#7 Virginia Tech	L 85–89 ^OT
1981	#10	First Round	#7 UAB	L 68–93
1986	#8	First Round Second Round	#9 Nebraska #1 Kentucky	W 67–59 L 64–71
1987	#10	First Round Second Round	#7 West Virginia #2 Syracuse	W 64–62 L 86–104
1993	#7	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#10 Memphis #2 Seton Hall #3 Florida State	W 55–52 W 72–68 L 78–81 ^OT
1994	#11	First Round	#6 Texas	L 77–91
1995	#8	First Round Second Round	#9 Michigan #1 Kansas	W 82–76 ^OT L 70–75
2001	#14	First Round	#3 Florida	L 56–69
2002	#9	First Round	#8 Stanford	L 68–84
2003	#13	First Round	#4 Illinois	L 60–65
2008	#12	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#5 Drake #13 San Diego #1 UCLA	W 101–99 ^OT W 72–63 L 78–88
2009	#12	First Round Second Round	#5 Illinois #4 Gonzaga	W 76–72 L 81–83
2012	#16	First Four Second Round	#16 Mississippi Valley State #1 Kentucky	W 59–58 L 66–81
2013	#16	Second Round	#1 Kansas	L 57–64

* Vacated by the NCAA

NIT results

The Hilltoppers have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 13 times. Their combined record is 8–13.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1942	Quarterfinals	CCNY Creighton West Virginia	W 49–46 W 49–36 L 45–47
1943	Quarterfinals	Fordham	L 58–60
1948	Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game	La Salle Saint Louis DePaul	W 68–61 L 53–60 W 61–59
1949	Quarterfinals	Bradley	L 86–95
1950	First Round Quarterfinals	Niagara St. John's	W 79–72 L 46–65
1952	First Round Quarterfinals	Louisville St. Bonaventure	W 62–59 L 69–70
1953	Quarterfinals	Duquesne	L 61–69
1954	Quarterfinals Semifinals	Bowling Green Holy Cross	W 95–81 L 69–75
1965	First Round	Fordham	L 53–57
1982	First Round	Purdue	L 65–72
1992	First Round	Kansas State	L 74–85
2005	Opening Round First Round	Kent State Wichita State	W 88–80 L 81–84
2006	First Round	South Carolina	L 55–74

National Campus Basketball Tournament results

The Hilltoppers appeared in the only National Campus Basketball Tournament. Their record is 0–1.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1951	Quarterfinals	Bradley	L 71–75

Milestones

Date	Milestone	Opponent	Result (Won/Loss)
1914–1915	First win	Bethel (Ky.)	38–21 (W)
1/28/1932	100th win	Birmingham Southern	37–25 (W)
12/5/1949	500th win	Kentucky Wesleyan	89–45 (W)
2/19/1977	1,000th win	Murray State	82–81 (W)
2/5/2005	1,500th win	Arkansas State	76–72 (W)
2/6/1943	500th game	LaSalle	52–44 (W)
12/6/1960	1,000th game	Lamar	74–71 (W)
1/25/1997	2,000th game	New Orleans	70–66 (L)

E.A. Diddle Arena

E.A. Diddle Arena

Current coaching staff

Ray Harper – Head coach (Kentucky Wesleyan '85)
David Boyden – Assistant coach (WKU '03, '11)
Shawn Forrest – Assistant coach (Arkansas-Pine Bluff '98)
Open – Assistant coach
Chase Richardson – Director of Basketball Operations (WKU '11)
Mike Pollio – Graduate Assistant (Georgetown College (Kentucky) '10)
Ty Tipton – Graduate Assistant (WKU '13)
Open – Strength and Conditioning Coach

All-Americans

Year	Name	Position	Notes
1938	William "Red" McCrocklin	Center	(Chuck Taylor)
1940	Carlisle Towery	Center	(Chuck Taylor)
1941	Carlisle Towery	Center	(Chuck Taylor)
1943	Oran McKinney	Center	(Helms Foundation)
1948	Dee Gibson	Guard	(Associated Press***)
1948	Don Ray	Forward	(Helms Foundation*)
1948	Odie Spears	Forward	(Associated Press***)
1949	Bob Lavoy	Center	(Associated Press***)
1949	John Oldham	Guard	(United Press, Associated Press*)
1950	Buddy Cate	Forward	(Associated Press***)
1950	Bob Lavoy	Center	(Chuck Taylor, Associated Press**)
1951	Rip Gish	Forward-Center
1953	Tom Marshall	Forward	(Look Magazine, Associated Press*)
1953	Art Spoelstra	Center	(Associated Press***)
1954	Tom Marshall	Forward	(Associated Press, United Press, Look Magazine*)
1958	Ralph Crosthwaite	Center
1962	Bobby Rascoe	Guard
1964	Darel Carrier	Guard	(Helms Foundation)
1965	Clem Haskins	Forward	(Associated Press*, United Press*)
1966	Clem Haskins	Forward	(Associated Press, United Press, Converse*)
1967	Clem Haskins	Forward	(USBWA, Associated Press,United Press,Helms Foundation, NABC*)
1969	Jim McDaniels	Center	(Helms Foundation, Associated Press*, United Press, Converse**)
1970	Jim McDaniels	Center	(Helms Foundation, Associated Press*, United Press, Converse)
1971	Jim McDaniels	Center	(NABC, USBWA, Associated Press, Sporting News, United Press, NBA)
1976	Johnny Britt	Guard	(Associated Press***)
1982	Craig McCormick	Center	(Associated Press***)
1984	Kannard Johnson	Forward	(Sporting News All-Freshman)
1987	Tellis Frank	Forward	(Associated Press*, Sporting News*)
1989	Brett McNeal	Guard	(Associated Press*, Basketball Times*)
1993	Darnell Mee	Guard	(Associated Press***)
1996	Chris Robinson	Forward-Guard	(Basketball Weekly***)
2001	Chris Marcus	Center	(Associated Press***)
2002	Chris Marcus	Center	(Associated Press*, Basketball America*)
2004	Nigel Dixon	Center	(SI.com***)
2004	Mike Wells	Guard	(Associated Press***)
2006	Anthony Winchester	Guard	(Associated Press***)
2008	Courtney Lee	Guard	(Associated Press*,The NBA Draft Report, Basketball Times**)
2009	Orlando Mendez-Valdez	Guard	(Associated Press***)
2016	Willie Carmichael III	Forward
Second team – Third team – **Honorable mention

^[9]

Retired jerseys

E.A. Diddle. 1923–64. Coach.
Carlisle Towery. 1939–41. Center.
John Oldham. 1943; 1947–49. Guard.
Tom Marshall. 1951–54. Forward.
Clem Haskins. 1965–67. Forward.
Jim McDaniels. 1969–71. Center.
Courtney Lee. 2004–08. Guard.

Note: The first jerseys retired in honor of Hilltopper basketball greats were hung in E.A. Diddle Arena during the 1999–2000 season. Also even though the jerseys are retired current and future players can and do use the numbers of the players whose jerseys are retired.

Notes

1 2 3 4 Vacated by NCAA

References

2011–12 WKU Hilltoppers Media Guide

↑ "Sun Belt All-Time Standings" (PDF). 2011–12 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Media Guide. Sun Belt Conference. pp. 93–95. Retrieved 2012-03-06.
↑ Claybourn, Cole (6 January 2012). "Ken McDonald fired as Head Men's Basketball coach, Harper to take over". WKU Herald. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
↑ "Hilltoppers Keep Ray Harper as Coach". ESPN.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
1 2 "NCAA All Time Winningest Teams at ncaa.org" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-08-12.
↑ "Most Popular E-mail Newsletter". USA Today. 6 January 2012.
↑ http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/2012/DI.pdf
↑ "College Basketball - Standings - Rivals.com". Rivals.yahoo.com. 2011-04-20. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
↑ https://admin.xosn.com/fls/5400//Misc%20Files/Copy%20of%202011-12%20WKU%20Men%27s%20Basketball%20Media%20Information%20Guide.pdf?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=5400
↑ 2011–12 WKU media guide

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball

Venues	Red Barn (1920–1931) Health & Physical Education Building (1931–1963) E. A. Diddle Arena (1963–present)

Culture & lore	Big Red

People	Head coaches

Seasons	1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

Conference USA men's basketball

Current teams	Charlotte 49ers Florida Atlantic Owls FIU Panthers Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Marshall Thundering Herd Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders North Texas Mean Green Old Dominion Monarchs Rice Owls Southern Miss Golden Eagles UAB Blazers UTEP Miners UTSA Roadrunners Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

Championships & awards	Conference USA Men's Basketball Tournament Player of the Year

Seasons	1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015-16

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Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball

Head coaching record

Postseason

NCAA tournament results

NIT results

National Campus Basketball Tournament results

Milestones

E.A. Diddle Arena

Current coaching staff

All-Americans

Retired jerseys

See also

Notes

References