The 1994–95 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1994 and concluded with the 64-team 1995 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, whose finals were held at the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington. The UCLA Bruins earned their eleventh national championship by defeating the Arkansas Razorbacks 89–78 on April 3, 1995. They were coached by Jim Harrick, and the NCAA Division I basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player was UCLA's Ed O'Bannon.
In the 32-team 1995 National Invitation Tournament, the Virginia Tech Hokies defeated the Marquette Warriors at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Following the season, the 1995 NCAA Men's Basketball All-American Consensus First Team included Ed O'Bannon, Shawn Respert, Joe Smith, Jerry Stackhouse, and Damon Stoudamire.
Season headlines The American West Conference began play, with four original members. On February 13, 1995, Connecticut became the first school ranked No. 1 in both men's and women's basketball at the same time. In the 1995 NCAA tournament, two former NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player award winners returned to the Final Four for the first time. They were 1993 winner Donald Williams of North Carolina and 1994 winner Corliss Williamson of Arkansas. Jim Harrick led the UCLA Bruins to their eleventh national championship, his first. The 1994–95 season was the last season of play for the Great Midwest Conference and the Metro Conference, which merged after the season to form Conference USA.
Pre-season polls The top 25 from the pre-season AP Poll. Associated PressRankingTeam1Arkansas2North Carolina3Massachusetts4Kentucky5Arizona6UCLA7Maryland8Duke9Indiana10Florida11Kansas12Syracuse13Cincinnati14Virginia15Georgetown16Michigan17Wisconsin18Alabama19Connecticut20Michigan State21Oklahoma State22Villanova23Georgia Tech24Wake Forest25Illinois
Conference membership changes
These schools joined new conferences for the 1994–95 season.
SchoolFormer conferenceNew conference East Coast Conference Mid-Continent Conference California Collegiate Athletic Association (D-II) American West Conference NCAA Division I Independent American West Conference Big South Conference Trans America Athletic Conference East Coast Conference Mid-Continent Conference East Coast Conference Mid-Continent Conference Mid-Continent Conference Midwestern Collegiate Conference Midwestern Collegiate Conference Missouri Valley Conference Mid-Continent Conference Midwestern Collegiate Conference East Coast Conference North Atlantic Conference Mid-Continent Conference Midwestern Collegiate Conference Mid-Continent Conference Midwestern Collegiate Conference NCAA Division I Independent Mid-Continent Conference East Coast Conference Mid-Continent Conference Mid-Continent Conference Midwestern Collegiate Conference NCAA Division I Independent American West Conference NCAA Division I Independent American West Conference East Coast Conference Mid-Continent Conference Mid-Continent Conference Midwestern Collegiate Conference
Regular season Conferences Conference winners and tournaments Thirty conferences concluded their seasons with a single-elimination tournament, with only the Big Ten Conference, Ivy League. and Pac-10 Conference choosing not to conduct conference tournaments. Conference tournament winners, with the exception of those of the American West Conference, Big South Conference, Great Midwest Conference, and Mid-Continent Conference, received an automatic bid to the 1995 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
ConferenceRegular season winnerConference player of the yearConference tournamentTournament venue (City)Tournament winnerAmerican West Conference Southern Utah Sean Allen, Southern Utah 1995 American West Conference men's basketball tournament Centrum Centre(St. George, Utah) Southern UtahAtlantic 10 Conference UMass Lou Roe, UMass 1995 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament Mullins Center(Amherst, Massachusetts) UMassAtlantic Coast Conference MarylandNorth CarolinaVirginiaWake Forest Joe Smith, Maryland 1995 ACC men's basketball tournament Greensboro Coliseum(Greensboro, North Carolina) Wake ForestBig East Conference Connecticut Kerry Kittles, Villanova 1995 Big East men's basketball tournament Madison Square Garden(New York City, New York) VillanovaBig Eight Conference Kansas Ryan Minor, OklahomaBryant Reeves, Oklahoma State 1995 Big Eight Conference men's basketball tournament Kemper Arena(Kansas City, Missouri) Oklahoma StateBig Sky Conference MontanaWeber State Ruben Nembhard, Weber State 1995 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament Dee Events Center(Ogden, Utah) Weber StateBig South Conference UNC Greensboro Eric Burks, Charleston Southern 1995 Big South Conference men's basketball tournament Vines Center(Lynchburg, Virginia) Charleston SouthernBig Ten Conference Purdue Shawn Respert, Michigan State No TournamentBig West Conference Utah State Eric Franson, Utah State 1995 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament Thomas & Mack Center(Paradise, Nevada) Long Beach StateColonial Athletic Association Old Dominion Petey Sessoms, Old Dominion 1995 CAA men's basketball tournament Richmond Coliseum(Richmond, Virginia) Old DominionGreat Midwest Conference Memphis Tom Kleinschmidt, DePaul 1995 Great Midwest Conference men's basketball tournament Bradley Center(Milwaukee, Wisconsin) CincinnatiIvy League Penn Matt Maloney, Penn No TournamentMetro Conference Charlotte Jarvis Lang, Charlotte 1995 Metro Conference men's basketball tournament Freedom Hall(Louisville, Kentucky) LouisvilleMetro Atlantic Athletic Conference Manhattan Craig Wise, Canisius 1995 MAAC men's basketball tournament Knickerbocker Arena(Albany, New York) Saint Peter'sMid-American Conference Miami (OH) Gary Trent, Ohio 1995 MAC men's basketball tournament Savage Hall(Toledo, Ohio) Ball StateMid-Continent Conference Valparaiso David Redmon, Little Rock 1995 Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball tournament Athletics–Recreation Center(Valparaiso, Indiana) ValparaisoMid-Eastern Athletic Conference Coppin State Stephen Stewart, Coppin State 1995 MEAC men's basketball tournament Talmadge L. Hill Field House(Baltimore, Maryland) North Carolina A&TMidwestern Collegiate Conference Xavier Sherell Ford, UIC 1995 MCC men's basketball tournament Nutter Center(Dayton, Ohio) Green BayMissouri Valley Conference Tulsa Chris Carr, Southern Illinois 1995 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament Kiel Center(St. Louis, Missouri) Southern IllinoisNorth Atlantic Conference Drexel Malik Rose, Drexel 1995 North Atlantic Conference men's basketball tournament Daskalakis Athletic Center(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) DrexelNortheast Conference Rider Joe Griffin, Long Island 1995 Northeast Conference men's basketball tournament Alumni Gymnasium(Lawrenceville, New Jersey) Mount St. Mary'sOhio Valley Conference Murray StateTennessee State Marcus Brown, Murray State 1995 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament Nashville Municipal Auditorium(Nashville, Tennessee) Murray StatePacific-10 Conference UCLA Ed O'Bannon, UCLADamon Stoudamire, Arizona No TournamentPatriot League BucknellColgate Rob Feaster, Holy Cross 1995 Patriot League men's basketball tournament Cotterell Court(Hamilton, New York) ColgateSoutheastern Conference Kentucky (East)Arkansas (West)Mississippi State (West) Corliss Williamson, Arkansas 1995 SEC men's basketball tournament Georgia Dome(Atlanta, Georgia) KentuckySouthern Conference Marshall (North)Chattanooga (South) Frankie King, Western Carolina 1995 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament Asheville Civic Center(Asheville, North Carolina) ChattanoogaSouthland Conference Nicholls State Reggie Jackson, Nicholls State 1995 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament Hirsch Memorial Coliseum(Shreveport, Louisiana) Nicholls StateSouthwest Conference TexasTexas Tech Kurt Thomas, TCU 1995 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament Reunion Arena(Dallas, Texas) TexasSouthwestern Athletic Conference Texas Southern Kenny Sykes, Grambling State 1995 SWAC men's basketball tournament — Texas SouthernSun Belt Conference Western Kentucky Chris Robinson, Western Kentucky 1995 Sun Belt men's basketball tournament Barton Coliseum(Little Rock, Arkansas) Western KentuckyTrans America Athletic Conference College of Charleston Kerry Blackshear, Stetson 1995 TAAC men's basketball tournament UCF Arena(Orlando, Florida) FIUWest Coast Conference Santa Clara Steve Nash, Santa Clara 1995 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament Toso Pavilion(Santa Clara, California) GonzagaWestern Athletic Conference Utah Keith Van Horn, Utah 1995 WAC men's basketball tournament The Pit(Albuquerque, New Mexico) Utah
Conference standings
Division I independents
Two schools played as Division I independents. They had no postseason play.
Informal championships ConferenceRegular season winnerMost Valuable PlayerPhiladelphia Big 5 Saint Joseph's & Temple Kerry Kittles, Villanova For the fourth consecutive season, the Philadelphia Big 5 did not play a full round-robin schedule in which each team met each other team once, a format it had used from its first season of competition in 1955–56 through the 1990–91 season. Instead, each team played only two games against other Big 5 members, and Saint Joseph's and Temple both finished with 2–0 records in head-to-head competition among the Big 5. The Big 5 did not revive its full round-robin schedule until the 1999–2000 season.
Statistical leaders Source for additional stats categories Player School PPG Player School RPG Player School APG Player School SPG Kurt Thomas TCU 28.9 Kurt Thomas TCU 14.6 Nelson Haggerty Baylor 10.1 Roderick Anderson Texas 3.4 Frankie King W. Carolina 26.5 Malik Rose Drexel 13.5 Curtis McCants George Mason 9.3 Greg Black TX-Pan American 3.4 Kenny Sykes Grambling St. 26.3 Gary Trent Ohio 12.8 Raimonds Miglinieks UC Irvine 8.4 Nate Langley George Mason 3.3 Sherell Ford UIC 26.2 Dan Callahan Northeastern 12.6 Eric Snow Michigan St. 7.8 Ray Washington Nicholls St. 3.0 Tim Roberts Southern 26.2 Tim Duncan Wake Forest 12.5 Jacque Vaughn Kansas 7.7 Clarence Ceasar LSU 3.0 Player School BPG Player School FG% Player School 3FG% Player School FT% Keith Closs C. Connecticut St. 5.3 Shane Kline-Ruminsky Bowling Green .683 Chris Westlake Wisc–Green Bay .500 Gregg Bibb Tennessee Tech .906 Theo Ratliff Wyoming 5.1 George Spain Davidson .671 Jeremy Lake Montana .484 Scott Hartzell UNC Greensboro .898 Adonal Foyle Colgate 4.9 Rasheed Wallace N. Carolina .654 Dion Cross Stanford .479 Marcus Brown Murray St. .896 Pascal Fleury UMBC 4.6 Erick Dampier Mississippi St. .640 Shawn Respert Michigan St. .474 Keith Cornett Texas-Arlington .886 Lorenzo Coleman Tennessee Tech 4.5 Alexander Koul George Washington .632 Rob Wooster St. Francis (PA) .471 Arlando Johnson E. Kentucky .885
Post-season tournaments
NCAA tournament
Final Four – Kingdome, Seattle, Washington
National Invitation tournament
Semifinals & finals
Award winners
Consensus All-American teams NCAA Record Book - DIVISION I CONSENSUS ALL-AMERICA SELECTIONS p.6
+ Consensus First Team Player Position Class Team Ed O'Bannon F Senior UCLA Shawn Respert G Senior Michigan State Joe Smith F/C Sophomore Maryland Jerry Stackhouse F/G Sophomore North Carolina Damon Stoudamire G Senior Arizona
+ Consensus Second Team Player Position Class Team Randolph Childress G Senior Wake Forest Kerry Kittles G Junior Villanova Lou Roe F Senior Massachusetts Rasheed Wallace C Sophomore North Carolina Corliss Williamson F Junior Arkansas
Major player of the year awards Wooden Award: Ed O'Bannon, UCLA Naismith Award: Joe Smith, Maryland Associated Press Player of the Year: Joe Smith, Maryland NABC Player of the Year: Shawn Respert, Michigan State Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA): Ed O'Bannon, UCLA Adolph Rupp Trophy: Joe Smith, Maryland