The SMU Mustangs men's basketball team represents Southern Methodist University (SMU) in University Park, Texas and competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference of NCAA Division I college basketball. In 104 years of basketball, SMU's record is 1,377–1,237. SMU has reached one Final Four, made 12 NCAA Tournament Appearances, won 16 Conference Championships, had 11 All-Americans, and 23 NBA Draft selections.

SMU finished the 2016–17 season with a 30–5 record, and won their second conference title in three years. They set the school record for single season wins, and returned to the NCAA Tournament following a postseason ban in the 2015–16 season.

History

1916: The Beginning

1916 was the inaugural season of SMU basketball where it went 12–2. SMU joined the Southwest Conference in the 1918–19 season. SMU won its first two conference titles in 1935 and 1937.

1955–1967: The Doc Hayes Era (Golden Era of Pony Hoops)

Doc Hayes took over as SMU's head coach in 1947. By 1955 Hayes had SMU in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history advancing to the Sweet Sixteen and had won their first conference title in almost 20 years. The four year stretch from 1955–58, SMU went 77–28, won four consecutive Southwest Conference championships, and reached 3 Sweet Sixteen's while also reaching the school's only ever Final Four in the 1955-56 season, led by All-American Jim Krebs. SMU during the Doc Hayes era won 8 SWC championships and reached the NCAA tournament 6 times including Final Four and Elite Eight appearances. Doc Hayes retired after the 1967 season with a final record of 298–191 (.609) at SMU.

1968–1993: The Fall to Mediocrity Following Doc Hayes, SMU basketball fell down into a period of mediocrity with some sprinkled success highlighted by SMU greats Jon Koncak, Ira Terrell, and Gene Phillips. Though the Bob Prewitt and Sonny Allen eras were largely unsuccessful and only produced one Southwest Conference Championship during a stretch between 1968 and 1980 the program looked to be back on the rise during the Dave Bliss era. Bliss and star big man Jon Koncak led SMU to 3 NCAA tournament appearances and an NIT appearance. The Dave Bliss era was highlighted by his final season where SMU went 28–7 winning the SWC regular season and tournament championships and making it to the Second round of the NCAA Tournament. SMU would win the SWC Championship and reach the NCAA tournament one more time in the 1993 season under John Shumate, however, this was the start of the Dark Ages of SMU basketball.

1994–2012: The Dark Ages This period was the dark age for SMU basketball. From 1994 to 2012 SMU had just seven winning seasons and did not win any conference titles or reach the NCAA tournament. The Mustangs only reached the NIT and CIT once each during these nineteen years.

2012–2016: The Larry Brown Era

The reemergence of SMU basketball occurred when Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown took over the Mustangs in the 2012 season, coinciding with the $48 million renovation of Moody Coliseum. By his second season, he had led SMU to a 27–10 record, and to a championship appearance in the NIT. In his third season, (2014–15) led by Nic Moore, SMU won its first conference title in 22 years (regular season and tournament champions), and returned to the NCAA tournament, losing a controversial game to UCLA on a goaltending call. In the 2015–16 season, SMU was banned from postseason play due to NCAA violations, but still managed to start the season with an unprecedented 18–0 record, peaking at the #8 spot in the AP Poll, and finish the season at 25–5. It was SMU's third straight 25+ win season. In the summer of 2016, Brown stepped down as SMU's basketball coach unexpectedly, finishing with a record of 85–39(.685). He currently holds the third-highest W-L percentage of any head coach in SMU basketball history.

2016–2024: Maintaining Success (Post Larry Brown)

Tim Jankovich took over in the summer of 2016 following the departure of Larry Brown. In his first full season as SMU's head coach, SMU achieved a 30–4 overall record, including a 17–1 in-conference record, and finished ranked #11 in the AP Poll. The Mustangs won the 2016–17 American Athletic Conference regular season and conference tournament titles, and received a bid to the NCAA tournament as a 6 seed, where they were upset by 11th seeded USC by one point in the opening round. Following the season, Junior standout Semi Ojeleye announced that he would not be returning for his final year, joining seniors Sterling Brown and Ben Moore in entering the NBA draft where both Ojeleye and Brown were selected 37th and 46th overall, respectively. Ben Moore spent 27 games with the G League team, Fort Wayne Mad Ants where he averaged 11.4 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game. He was recently signed to a two way contract with the Indiana Pacers on January 12, 2018. This marks the first time an SMU player has been drafted since 2001. This is also the first time SMU has ever had 3 players join their first NBA rosters in the same season, topping the previous high of 1.

2024: Move to the ACC In July 2024, SMU left The American for the Atlantic Coast Conference, returning SMU to the power-conference ranks for the first time since the collapse of the Southwest Conference.

SMU career records Games Played Sterling Brown — 136 games Rebounds Jon Koncak — 1,169 rebounds Assists Butch Moore — 828 assists Steals Bryan Hopkins — 225 steals Blocks Jon Koncak — 278 blocks Points Scored Jeryl Sasser — 1992 points Career Wins Sterling Brown — 109 wins

Postseason

Complete NCAA tournament results The Mustangs have appeared in 13 NCAA Tournaments. Their combined record is 10–15.

The NCAA began seeding the tournament with the 1978 edition. 1955 Sweet SixteenRegional 3rd Place Game L 79–81L 67–68 1956 First RoundSweet SixteenElite EightFinal FourNational 3rd Place Game Texas TechHoustonOklahoma CitySan FranciscoTemple W 68–67W 89–74W 84–63L 68–86L 81–90 1957 Sweet SixteenRegional 3rd Place Game Kansas L 65–73 OTW 78–68 1965 Sweet SixteenRegional 3rd Place Game Wichita StateHouston L 81–86W 89–87 1966 Sweet SixteenRegional 3rd Place Game Kansas L 70–76W 89–84 1967 Sweet SixteenElite Eight Houston W 83–81L 75–83 1984 #9 First RoundSecond Round #8 Miami (OH)#1 Georgetown W 83–69L 36–37 1985 #5 First RoundSecond Round #12 Old Dominion#4 Loyola–Chicago W 85–68L 57–70 1988 #7 First RoundSecond Round #10 Notre Dame#2 Duke W 83–75L 79–94 1993 #10 First Round #7 BYU L 71–80 2015 #6 First Round #11 UCLA L 59–60 2017 #6 First Round #11 USC L 65–66 2026 #11 First Four #11 Miami (OH) L 79–89

NIT results The Mustangs have appeared in seven National Invitation Tournaments (NIT). Their combined record is 6–7.

1986 First Round L 63–67 2000 First Round L 64–77 2014 First RoundSecond RoundQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal UC IrvineLSUCaliforniaClemsonMinnesota W 68–54 W 80–67 W 67–65W 65–59L 63–65 2021 First Round Boise State L 84–85 2022 First RoundSecond Round NichollsWashington State W 68–58 L 63–75 2024 First Round Indiana State L 101–92 2025 First RoundSecond Round Northern IowaOklahoma State W 73–63 L 85–83

CIT results The Mustangs have appeared in one CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). Their record is 3–1.

2011 First RoundSecond RoundQuarterfinalsSemifinals Oral RobertsNorthern IowaSanta Clara W 64–57 OTW 63–62W 57–50L 55–72

CCA/NCIT results The Mustangs appeared in one of the two National Commissioners Invitational Tournaments, in 1974, and went 0–1.

1974 Quarterfinals USC L 80–82

Notable players

Summary

Mustangs and the NBA

NBA draft picks

1949 – 63 Bob Prewitt New York Knicks 0 1951 7 68 Jack Brown Rochester Royals 0 1957 1 3 Jim Krebs Minneapolis Lakers 515 1957 10 98 Bobby Mills St. Louis Hawks 0 1958 6 47 Rick Herrscher St. Louis Hawks 0 1961 9 83 Steve Strange Chicago Packers 0 1962 4 35 Jan Loudermilk Los Angeles Lakers 0 1964 4 34 Gene Elmore San Francisco Warriors 0 1966 6 52 Carroll Hooser Detroit Pistons 56 1967 7 74 Charlie Beasley Cincinnati Royals 281 1969 16 196 Bill Voight Milwaukee Bucks 0 1969 17 202 Lynn Phillips Milwaukee Bucks 0 1971 7 119 Gene Phillips Milwaukee Bucks 31 1974 6 97 Sammy Hervey Atlanta Hawks 0 1976 3 45 Ira Terrell Phoenix Suns 127 1980 2 45 Brad Branson Detroit Pistons 72 1985 1 5 Jon Koncak Atlanta Hawks 784 1985 5 113 Carl Wright Philadelphia 76ers 0 1986 6 125 Kevin Lewis San Antonio Spurs 0 1987 5 105 Terry Williams Golden State Warriors 0 2001 1 22 Jeryl Sasser Orlando Magic 82 2017 2 37 Semi Ojeleye Boston Celtics 53 2017 2 46 Sterling Brown^ Philadelphia 76ers 34 2018 2 54 Shake Milton^ Dallas Mavericks 20 2026 2 58 Jaron Pierre Jr.^ New Orleans Pelicans 0

Notable undrafted players

1948 Roy Pugh 23 1967 Denny Holman 46 1988 Carlton McKinney 9 2003 Quinton Ross 458 2017 Ben Moore 2 2021 Feron Hunt 2

Mustangs in international leagues

Jalen Jones (born 1993), player for Hapoel Haifa in the Israeli Basketball Premier League Ike Ofoegbu (born 1984), American-Nigerian Israeli Premier Basketball League player Isiaha Mike (born 1997), player forBahçeşehir Koleji of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL) and the EuroCup Awards AAC Player of the Year

Nic Moore 2015, 2016 Semi Ojeleye 2017 Kendric Davis 2022

AAC Tournament MVP

Markus Kennedy 2015 Semi Ojeleye 2017

AAC Sixth Man of the Year

Markus Kennedy 2016 Ben Emelogu 2017

WAC Player of the Year

Jeryl Sasser 1999 Quinton Ross 2003

SWC Player of the Year

Rick Herrscher 1958 Denny Holman 1967 Gene Phillips 1970 Ira Terrell 1976 Mike Wilson 1993

All-Americans

SMU has had 12 All-Americans:

2016-2017 Semi Ojeleye (Jr.)(AP All-American Honorable Mention); 2015–16 Nic Moore (Sr.) (AP All-American Honorable Mention); 2014–15 Nic Moore (Jr.) (AP All-American Honorable Mention); 2002–03 Quinton Ross (Sr.); 1984–85 Jon Koncak (Sr.) (2nd team – Consensus); 1975–76 Ira Terrell (Sr.); 1970–71 Gene Phillips (Sr.); 1969–70 Gene Phillips (Jr.); 1959–60 Max Williams (Sr.); 1956–57 Jim Krebs (Sr.) (1st team – Consensus); 1955–56 Jim Krebs (Jr.); 1934–35 Whitey Baccus (Sr.)

Footnotes

References

External links