The Maine Black Bears men's basketball team is the basketball team that represents University of Maine in Orono, Maine, United States. The school's team currently competes in the America East Conference, which they joined upon its founding in 1979. Their current head coach is Chris Markwood, who took over in March 2022.

The Black Bears are one of 37 eligible Division I programs to have never appeared in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament; their 78 seasons without a postseason bid is sixth most all-time among the teams in the drought. They have never been invited to a postseason tournament of any kind while having made the America East men's basketball tournament final four times; they competed for the championship in 2025.

Coaches OverallConference George Huntington 1903–05 15–11 George Owen 1905–06 10–4 John Phelan 1906–08 12–9 John Neary 1908–10 13–7 William C. Kenyon 1937–42; 1944–45 30–45 9–31 Samuel Sezak 1942–44 8–14 4–4 Eck Allen 1945–49 34–33 8–20 Rome Rankin 1949–54 38–53 11–27 Russell DeVette 1954–55 4–13 1–7 Harold Woodbury 1955–58 20–38 9–17 Brian McCall 1958–68 38–53 11–27 Gil Philbrick 1968–71 25–21 9–21 Skip Chappelle 1971–88 217–226 89–124 Rudy Keeling 1988–96 106–122 60–56 John Giannini 1997–04 125–111 75–65 Ted Woodward 2004–14 117–178 65–97 Bob Walsh 2014–18 24–100 12–52 Richard Barron 2018–22 21–76 12–42 Jai Steadman 2022 1–3 1–3 Chris Markwood 2022–present 48-48 24-24

Rivalries University of New Hampshire Wildcats – Maine's rivalry with UNH is the longest continuous rivalry between two non-Ivy League schools, lasting 116 seasons as of 2020.

Team records

Single Season records MIN Errick Greene 1135 2001–02 PT Rufus Harris 718 1979–80 PPG Rufus Harris 25.6 1979–80 FG Rufus Harris 271 1979–80 FG% John Rupert .660 2010–11 3PT John Rupert 107 2010–11 3PT% John Rupert .447 2010–11 FT Rufus Harris 176 1979–80 FT% John Rupert .902 2010–11 REB Robert Warner 352 1974–75 AST Andy Bedard 193 1999–00 STL Marty Higgins 95 1991–92 BLK Justin Rowe 121 2001–02

Career records MIN Gerald McLemore 3856 2008–12 PT Rufus Harris 2206 1976–80 PPG Jim Stephenon 22.7 1966–69 FG Rufus Harris 834 1976–80 FG% Kevin Nelson .545 1975–79 3PT Gerald McLemore 323 2008–12 3PT% Gerald McLemore .382 2008–12 FT Rufus Harris 538 1976–80 FT% Rufus Harris .791 1976–80 REB Allen Ledbetter 1017 1995–99 AST Marty Higgins 619 1988–92 STL Marty Higgins 243 1988–92 BLK Justin Rowe 226 2001–03

Notable players Maine has had two players go on to play in the National Basketball Association: Rick Carlisle (who transferred to Virginia before being drafted) and Jeff Cross.

Other notable players include: John Rupert, Accomplished 17 shooting records in a single season Rufus Harris, 1979–80 America East Conference Player of the Year Noam Laish (born 1993), Israeli basketball player

References

External links