The 2023–24 Northeast Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2023, followed by the start of the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season on November 6. Conference play started in early January and ended on March 2, 2024. This was the 43rd season of Northeast Conference men's basketball. Merrimack was the defending regular-season and conference tournament champion. Due to Merrimack's ineligibility as a team transitioning from Division II, Fairleigh Dickinson represented the conference in the 2023 NCAA tournament and advanced to the second round.
Central Connecticut and Merrimack were co-champions of the 2023–24 NEC regular season, giving Merrimack the title in two straight years.
The NEC tournament was held in March with the higher-seeded team hosting each game. The top eight teams in the conference standings qualified for the tournament. Wagner defeated Merrimack in the tournament final to win the program's second NEC tournament title and advance to the NCAA Division I tournament for the second time in school history. Wagner's only previous NEC tournament title and NCAA tournament appearance came in 2003.
Wagner received the overall no. 68 seed of the 68 teams in the NCAA tournament but defeated Howard in the First Four for the program's first ever NCAA tournament victory. The Seahawks then fell to North Carolina in the first round.
This was the final season for two NEC members. Merrimack and Sacred Heart will leave the conference after the 2023–24 school year to join the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. At the same time, Chicago State will join the NEC after two seasons as a Division I independent, and Mercyhurst will begin its transition from Division II as a new member of the NEC.
Offseason At the conclusion of the previous season, St. Francis Brooklyn, a charter member of the NEC, discontinued its entire athletic program.
On March 21, 2023, Fairleigh Dickinson head coach Tobin Anderson was named the head coach at Iona, replacing Rick Pitino who had departed for the head coaching position at St. John's. Anderson's assistant, Jack Castleberry, was immediately promoted to Fairleigh Dickinson's head coaching position.
Le Moyne College joined the Northeast Conference from the Division II Northeast-10 Conference effective July 1, 2023. Le Moyne is not eligible for the NCAA tournament until the 2027–28 season, when its four-year reclassification period ends.
Effective for the 2023–24 academic year, NEC teams transitioning from Division II are eligible for the NEC tournament during the entirety of their transition periods. If a reclassifying institution wins the NEC tournament championship, the tournament runner-up will be awarded the NEC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. If two reclassifying teams reach the final of the NEC tournament, the conference will stage an automatic qualifier game between the two non-advancing semifinalists. Previously, transitioning NEC teams were eligible for the conference tournament only during their third and fourth transition years. The rule change results in Stonehill and Le Moyne being eligible for the 2024 NEC tournament, since Stonehill is in its second transition year, and Le Moyne is in its first.
Head coaches Team Head coach Previous position Year at school Overall record NEC record NEC tournament championshipsCentral Connecticut Patrick Sellers Fairfield(asst.) 3 0Fairleigh Dickinson Jack Castleberry Fairleigh Dickinson(asst.) 1 0Le Moyne Nate Champion Florida Southern(asst.) 4 0LIU Rod Strickland NBA G League Ignite(program director) 2 0Merrimack Joe Gallo Robert Morris(asst.) 8 1Sacred Heart Anthony Latina Sacred Heart(asst.) 11 0Saint Francis Rob Krimmel Saint Francis (asst.) 12 0Stonehill Chris Kraus Stonehill(asst.) 10 0Wagner Donald Copeland Seton Hall(asst.) 2 0 Notes All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only. Year at school includes 2023–24 season. Overall and NEC/NCAA records are from time at current school and are before the beginning of the 2023–24 season. Previous jobs are head coaching jobs unless otherwise noted.
Preseason
Preseason coaches' poll The table below shows the preseason rankings of NEC teams based on a poll of the conference's coaches as well as each team's preseason Pomeroy rating among the 362 Division I teams. RankTeamPomeroyrating 1 Sacred Heart (7)286 2 Central Connecticut (1)316 3 Fairleigh Dickinson (1)310 4 Merrimack331 5 Wagner295 6 Stonehill346 7 LIU354 8 Saint Francis358 9 Le Moyne361
() first-place votes
Preseason All-NEC team Source: Player School Ansley Almonor (Junior, Forward)Fairleigh Dickinson Kellen Amos (Senior, Forward)Central Connecticut Nico Galette (Senior, Guard)Sacred Heart Joey Reilly (Graduate, Guard)Sacred Heart Max Zegarowski (Graduate, Forward)Stonehill
Regular season Early-season multi-team events
Source:
Team Event Host RecordCentral Connecticut None – –Fairleigh Dickinson Urban-Bennett Memorial Classic Robert Morris 0–2Le Moyne Golden State Hoops Jam Pacific 1–1LIU Northern Kentucky Thanksgiving Tournament Northern Kentucky 1–1Merrimack Samford Multi-Team Event Samford 1–2Sacred Heart UMBC Multi-Team Event UMBC 1–1Saint Francis None – –Stonehill Wildcat Challenge Kentucky 0–3Wagner None – –
Pre-conference season notes On November 6, 2023, the season's opening night, Fairleigh Dickinson returned to action following their historic upset and run in the 2023 NCAA tournament in the head coaching debut of Jack Castleberry. Jo'el Emanuel recorded his first career double-double, which included career highs of 24 points and 11 rebounds, to lead the Knights to a 92–86 road win at Buffalo.
The following night, Le Moyne made its debut as an NEC member and a Division I program. Darrick Jones Jr. hit a three-pointer from the top of the key early in the game at Georgetown for the Dolphins' first points scored as a Division I program. Ball State transfer Kaiyem Cleary led Le Moyne with 11 points, all in the second half, and seven rebounds, but it was not enough as the Dolphins fell to the Hoyas, 94–57.
Max Zegarowski matched his career high with six three-pointers and scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Stonehill to a 57–44 victory over Army West Point in the Skyhawks' home opener on November 9.
Le Moyne used first-half runs of 16–2 and 20–2 to build a 47–15 lead and never looked back on their way to a 105–46 victory, their first as a Division I program, over Division III SUNY Canton in their home opener on November 13. Five Dolphins had double-figure scoring games led by Kaiyem Cleary with 21 points, Nate McClure with 16, Darrick Jones Jr. with 13 and freshman AJ Dancler with 12. Redshirt freshman Nate Fouts made his collegiate debut and scored 11 points with three assists and two blocked shots. Cleary shot 8 for 10 from the field, while adding seven rebounds and two steals in just 16 minutes. McClure hit six of his seven shots, including 4-for-5 shooting from three-point range. Dancler grabbed five rebounds and dished out five assists. The Dolphins shot 32-for-37 on two-point field goals for the game, including 15-for-16 in the first half.
In a November 15 game dubbed the Battle of the Bracket Busters, Fairleigh Dickinson hosted Saint Peter's, a team which made an unexpected run of its own to the Elite Eight at the 2022 NCAA tournament, upsetting both the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in their region along the way. The matchup between the North Jersey neighbors was the first to be broadcast on YES as part of the Knights' new local television contract. Fairleigh Dickinson shot 7-for-13 on three-pointers in the first half and built a 43–34 lead at the break. The Peacocks used a 9–0 run to cut the Knights' lead from 13 down to four with 2:39 to play. Nursing a two-point lead in the final minute, Fairleigh Dickinson failed to score, and a three-pointer by Michael Houge gave Saint Peter's a 70–69 lead with nine seconds on the clock. Knights head coach Jack Castleberry elected not to call time-out. DeVante Jamison, who finished with 11 points, five assists and three steals, took the ensuing inbounds pass, dribbled up the floor and was fouled in the act of shooting with 2.3 seconds remaining. Jamison hit both free throws, and the Knights held on for a 71–70 victory. Ansley Almonor led Fairleigh Dickinson with a game-high 21 points, and Jo'el Emanuel scored 16 on 6-for-7 shooting from the field.
Nico Galette came off the bench to score 21 points, including the 1,000th of his career, on 9-for-11 shooting and pull down six rebounds to lead Sacred Heart to an 89–75 home win over Binghamton on November 21. Tanner Thomas added 16 points and six rebounds for the Pioneers.
Later that evening, Le Moyne recorded its first victory over a Division I opponent as a Division I program, an 80–70 win at Cal State Northridge in the Dolphins' opening game of the Golden State Hoops Jam, a multi-team event sponsored by Pacific. Luke Sutherland led the Dolphins with 24 points and five rebounds. Le Moyne started five graduate students for the first time in the program's history, and they responded by sprinting to an 11–4 lead to start the game, getting early scoring from Sutherland, Nate McClure (12 points, four rebounds and three steals for the game) and Isaiah Salter. After Le Moyne fell behind, 15–12, Mike DePersia (eight points, nine assists, four rebounds and three steals for the game) sparked a 19–2 run with a pull-up jump shot. The Matadors got no closer than three points behind the rest of the way. The Dolphins closed out the game with strong free-throw shooting, finishing the game 31-for-34 from the free-throw line.
Saint Francis used an 8–0 run to close out its 62–61 win at Lehigh and give head coach Rob Krimmel his 150th career victory on November 29. Trailing, 61–54, with under two minutes remaining, the Red Flash defense forced two turnovers and three missed shots to shut out the Mountain Hawks the rest of the way. Saint Francis was also helped by two missed free throws by Lehigh. Cam Gregory was fouled in the act of shooting a three-pointer with 10.2 seconds remaining and hit all three free throws to erase Lehigh's two-point lead and provide the winning margin. The Red Flash were led by freshmen Aaron "Ace" Talbert (12 points in 32 minutes off the bench) and Aidan Harris, who secured 15 boards, including the rebound on Lehigh's attempted game-winner in the closing seconds.
That same evening, Central Connecticut registered the largest margin of victory by an NEC team in a road game in nearly two years, when they won, 79–51, at Army West Point. Kellen Amos led the Blue Devils with 17 points and added three blocked shots. Jordan Jones scored 15 points, shooting 7-for-13 from the floor, and added five rebounds and three steals for Central Connecticut.
On December 2, Fairleigh Dickinson, Saint Francis and Wagner all overcame double-digit deficits to record road victories. Joe Munden Jr. scored 19 points and had three steals to help Fairleigh Dickinson overcome NJIT's 12-point lead and earn a 71–68 victory. DeVante Jamison added 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting, and Jo'el Emanuel had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Knights.
Bobby Rosenberger III had 19 points and three steals to help Saint Francis erase a 20-point lead, which was still at 14 points with less than eight minutes to play, and defeat American, 75–73. Cam Gregory scored 14 points and added three steals for the Red Flash.
Wagner got 13 points each from Melvin Council Jr. and Javier Ezquerra and overcame a 16-point Stony Brook lead to earn a 60–59 victory. The Seahawks used a 10–0 run in the early stages of the second half to cut the Seawolves' lead to 43–42 and took their first lead of the game at 48–47, when Council scored with 8:55 to play. Stony Brook regained the lead at 59–58, but two free throws by Tyje Kelton with 1:19 remaining put Wagner back on top. Neither team scored the rest of the way.