Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball

Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball
2024–25 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball team
University	Indiana State University
First season	1896
All-time record	1,607-1,358 (.542)
Athletic director	Nathan Christensen[1]
Head coach	Matthew Graves (1st season)
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Location	Terre Haute, Indiana
Arena	Hulman Center (capacity: 9,000)
Nickname	Sycamores
Student section	The Forest[2]
Colors	Royal blue and white[3]
Uniforms
Home Away
NCAA tournament runner-up
1968*, 1979
NCAA tournament Final Four
1968*, 1979
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
1968*, 1979
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
1967*, 1968*, 1979
NCAA tournament round of 32
1966*, 1967*, 1968*, 1979, 2001
NCAA tournament appearances
1966*, 1967*, 1968*, 1979, 2000, 2001, 2011 *at Division II level
Conference tournament champions
MVC: 1979, 2001, 2011
Conference regular season champions
IIC: 1930, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950 ICC: 1951, 1966, 1967, 1968 MVC: 1979, 2000, 2024

Indiana State Sycamores basketball is the NCAA Division I men's basketball program of Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana. They currently compete in the Missouri Valley Conference. The team last played in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 2011.

The Sycamores' first season was 1896, making them the oldest basketball team in the NCAA along with Bucknell, Minnesota, Washington and Yale; however, the records from 1896 to 1899 have been lost over time. The Sycamores boast two College Players of the Year, 14 All-Americans, 41 1,000-point scorers, and 1,590+ victories.

In addition, the Sycamores have 28 postseason appearances (7 NCAA, 5 NIT, 2 CBI, 1 CIT, 12 NAIA, and the 1936 Olympic Trials) with six national championship appearances (2 NCAA, 1 NIT and 3 NAIA). Seven Sycamores were members of the 1951 Pan-American Games gold medal-winning team. The Sycamores' most memorable season was 1978–79, when unanimous National Player of the Year Larry Bird led an undefeated team to its first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament appearance, as well as the AP and UPI national titles. However, it lost the national title game versus the Magic Johnson-led Michigan State team; and ended the season with a record of 33–1. Their performance was the deepest run by a first-time participant in the Division I tournament, and one of only three times that a first-time team has advanced as far as the Final Four (UNCC in 1977 and Georgia in 1983). They would not have another postseason appearance until 2000.

The Sycamores were the national runner-up in the NCAA College Division (now Division II) in 1968; they won the NAIA national championship in 1950, had NAIA Finals appearances in 1946 and 1948 and NAIA National semifinals appearances in 1949 and 1953. Most recently, the Sycamores were the 2024 NIT National Finalist. Over the decades, the Sycamores were led by All-Americans, Duane Klueh, Dick Atha, Lenny Rzeszewski, Butch Wade and Jerry Newsom. As the program transitioned from NAIA to the NCAA, one final NAIA highlight was Ray Goddard leading the entire nation (all collegiate divisions), in FT percentage (91.2%)^[4] during the 1961–62 season. Former Head Coaches include the legendary John Wooden, Purdue All-American Dave Schellhase, Indiana coaching legend Glenn M. Curtis and well-known college coaches such as Bob King, Royce Waltman, Tates Locke and Ron Greene. Former assistants include collegiate head coaches such as Rick Ray (Mississippi State, Southeast Missouri), Rob Flaska (Centenary), Jim Saia (Cal State-Los Angeles), Stan Gouard (Univ of Southern Indiana) and Benjy Taylor (North Central, Hawai'i and Tuskegee), Thad Matta (Butler, Xavier, Ohio State), Kareem Richardson (Missouri-Kansas City), Phil Hopkins (Western Carolina), Mel Garland (IUPUI), and NBA Great Mel Daniels.

The Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball team currently play their home games at Hulman Center II (9,000).