The 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 7, 2011, with the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic and ended with the 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament's championship game on April 2, 2012, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The tournament began with four first-round games on March 13–14, 2012 in Dayton, Ohio, followed by second and third rounds from Thursday through Sunday, March 15–18, 2012. Regional games were played from Thursday through Sunday, March 22–25, 2012, with the Final Four played on Saturday March 31, 2012, and the national championship game on Monday, April 2, 2012.
After Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl was fired following the 2010–11 season for major recruiting violations, he took a job as vice president of marketing with a Knoxville-based wholesale grocery company, H.T. Hackney.[6] He had been offered an opportunity to coach the NBA Development League's Texas Legends but declined because he wanted to stay in the Knoxville area with his family.[6]
November 17 – Syracuse associate head coach Bernie Fine was placed on paid administrative leave after accusations by multiple former ball boys claimed that he sexually molested them a number of times spanning more than 10 years.[8] The story about Fine broke less than two weeks after the Penn State sex abuse scandal came to light.[8] Fine was subsequently fired on November 27, ending his streak as Division I's longest-tenured assistant coach at one school.[9]
December 5 – Harvard became ranked in the AP Poll for the first time in school history, coming in at No. 25 after an 8–0 start.[10][11][12] It leaves Brown as the only remaining Ivy League school to have never been ranked in the poll and leaves only seven schools that have played Division I basketball since the AP Poll began that have never been ranked in it.[10]
December 28 – After beating (15 AP/14 Coaches) Mississippi State,[14] the Baylor Bears had their program's first ever 13–0 start and a school-record tying 13-game winning streak.[15] The Bears' record reached 17–0 before finally losing to No. 7 Kansas, 92–74, on January 16.[16] At the time of their first loss they were ranked No. 3 in the nation, another all-time program high.[16]
December 31 – No. 13 Indiana defeats No. 2 Ohio State, becoming the first Hoosiers men's basketball team to defeat both the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams in the same season (they had also previously upset then-#1 Kentucky, 73–72).[17]
January 5 – A Sun Belt Conference game between Louisiana–Lafayette and Western Kentucky ends in controversy, as officials failed to notice that the Ragin' Cajuns had six men on the court when Elfrid Payton drove for the layup that gave them a 72–70 win on WKU's home court. The conference's coordinator of officials stated that the error was not correctable post-game, but indicated that suspensions of the three officials involved were possible.[18]
February 9 – Murray State, the last unbeaten team in Division I men's basketball and ranked No. 9 in the country, loses at home to Tennessee State 72–68.[19]
February 21 – Binghamton becomes the last team in Division I to win a game.[20] They started 0–26 until a 57–53 upset win over Vermont.[20]
February 24 – Radford receives two years of probation, but no postseason ban, for providing impermissible benefits to recruits. Former head coach Brad Greenberg, who left after the 2010–11 season, is hit with a five-year show-cause penalty for leading an effort to mislead NCAA investigators.[21]
March 8 – Yahoo! Sports reports that the FBI is investigating suspended Auburn point guard Varez Ward for possible involvement in a point shaving scheme. A second Auburn player had been investigated but was cleared.[22]
Milestones and records
November 11 – Louisville coach Rick Pitino recorded his 600th career win in an 83–48 victory over Tennessee–Martin.[23] He became the 15th fastest coach to do so (38th overall).[23]
November 20 – Connecticut point guard Shabazz Napier recorded the ninth triple-double in school history.[25] He compiled 22 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds in an 87–70 win over Coppin State.[25]
December 30 – Coppin State coach Fang Mitchell recorded his 400th win at the school in a 93–83 defeat of Nebraska-Omaha.[30]
January 4 – Zack Rosen became Penn's all-time assist leader, passing his coach Jerome Allen's mark of 505.[31] Rosen finished his career with 588 assists.
January 10 – Illinois guard Brandon Paul scored 43 points in a 79–74 upset over No. 5 Ohio State.[32] The 43 points was the third-highest scoring game in Illinois history and his eight three-pointers tied a school record.[32]
January 17 – Western Carolina defeated Toccoa Falls College (a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association) by a score of 141–39, making the 102-point win margin the third largest in NCAA Division I men's basketball history.[42] It also set WCU program records for points in a game and points in a half (72; first half).[42] Nine players scored in double figures for the Catamounts.[42]
January 28 – Towson defeated UNC Wilmington 66–61, ending the longest losing streak in Division I men's basketball history at 41 games.[43]
March 16 – In the NCAA tournament's Round of 64, Michigan State's Draymond Green recorded a triple-double with 24 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.[50] Green also had recorded a triple-double in a 2011 tournament game, making him one of only three players in history to record multiple triple-doubles in its history, and the only one officially recognized by the NCAA to have accomplished this feat.[51] The others were Hall of FamersOscar Robertson (4) and Magic Johnson (2).[50]
April 2 – By winning the national championship game, Kentucky records its 38th win, setting a new all-time single season record for a men's Division I basketball program.
The 2011–12 season saw the first wave of membership changes resulting from a major realignment of NCAA Division I conferences. The cycle began in 2010 with the Big Ten Conference and the then-Pacific-10 Conference announcing their intentions to expand. The fallout from these conferences' moves later affected a majority of Division I conferences.
Bowling Green, which had played since 1960 at the on-campus Anderson Arena, opened the Stroh Center, also on campus. In the first regular-season game in the new arena, the Falcons defeated Howard 63–48 on November 11.[53]
UNC Asheville, like Bowling Green, moved from one on-campus facility to another, leaving behind their home since 1963, the Justice Center, for the new Kimmel Arena. The Bulldogs brought in top-ranked North Carolina for the arena's regular-season opening on November 13. The Tar Heels, playing in head coach Roy Williams'hometown, won 91–75.[55] (UNC Asheville was also christening a new arena for the second consecutive season; the 2010–11 team defeated Auburn in the first regular-season game at the Tigers' new Auburn Arena.)
UT Arlington moved in midseason. The Mavericks started the season at Texas Hall, which opened in 1965 when the team was known as the Arlington State Rebels. On February 1, the Mavericks opened College Park Center, located on the opposite side of their campus, defeating UTSA 67–66.[56]
Major rule changes
Beginning in 2011–12, the following rules change was implemented:
The charge circle was instituted – a semi-circle in front of the basket. Secondary defenders must be outside of this circle to effectively draw a charge. Otherwise they will be assessed an automatic blocking foul.[57]
† 2012 Big East tournament winner As of March 31, 2012[99] *Syracuse: 30 reg. season games, 4 postseason games vacated due to sanctions against the program; Disputed record: Syracuse–(34–3)(17–1) **Louisville: 25 reg. season games, 5 postseason games vacated due to sanctions against the program; Disputed record: Louisville–(30-10)(10-8) Rankings from AP Poll
After the NCAA Tournament field was announced, the NCAA invited 32 teams to participate in the National Invitation Tournament. The tournament began on March 13, with all games prior to the semifinals played on campus sites. The semifinals and final were respectively held on March 27 and 29 at the traditional site of Madison Square Garden.
The fifth College Basketball Invitational (CBI) Tournament was held beginning March 13 and ended with a best-of-three final, which went to the maximum number of games and ended on March 30.
The fourth CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament was held beginning March 15 and ended with a championship game on March 28. This tournament places an emphasis on selecting successful teams from "mid-major" conferences who were left out of the NCAA Tournament and NIT.
Reynolds was fired February 8. ESPN wrote that "His intensity on the bench began to rub the Falcons the wrong way, zapping the fun from the game."[129] Dave Pilopovich was named interim coach, then later given the job permanently.
In six seasons as the Griffs' head coach, Parrotta posted a career record of 64–121 and a 30–78 mark in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play. The team went 5–25 overall and 1–17 in league during the 2011–12 campaign.[134]
Zeigler was 75–111 over six seasons. He was given a new, four-year contract two years ago when he was just about to sign his son, Trey, to a scholarship to play for the Chippewas.[135]
Cremins announced his retirement on Monday, March 19 at the College of Charleston. Cremins had coached at the school for six seasons after retiring from Georgia Tech, but took a leave of absence in late January due to exhaustion.[136]
Miles resigned on March 23 to take the job at Nebraska. Miles led the Rams to the NCAA tournament and a fourth-place finish in the Mountain West (8–6) and a 20–12 overall record. Miles spent five years with the Rams and improved the win total every season from seven to nine to 16 to 19 to 20. He also went to the CBI, NIT and now the NCAA tournament.[138]
Everhart was 98–88 in six seasons with Duquesne, going 46–50 in Atlantic 10 play. Questions began to surface when three members of the team – including sophomore point guard T.J. McConnell, the team's best overall player – announced intentions to transfer.[139]
Miller compiled a 75–130 overall record and a 44–84 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference in seven seasons at Eastern Illinois.[140] The Panthers hired Jay Spoonhour, a successful junior college coach and son of Charlie Spoonhour, a longtime college coach who died in February 2012.[141]
Thomas went 26-65 in three seasons. Under Thomas, FIU never won more than 11 games in a season.[143] The Golden Panthers hired Pitino, who had been associate head coach at Louisville under his father Rick.
Weber coached the Illini for nine years, posting a 210–101 record and seven 20-win seasons. However, the Illini missed the NCAA Tournament three of the last five years, and won only two tournament games since reaching the national championship game in 2005.[147]
Stansbury retired after 14 years at Mississippi State, Stansbury led the Bulldogs to a 293–166 record, including 11 postseason appearances – but last went to the NCAA tournament in 2009.[152]
Eaves' contract with the school expires May 30, 2013. Eaves finishes his tenure at A&T with a 99–180 record over nine seasons. He is third on the program's all-time wins list.[156]
Adras resigned as head coach to pursue other opportunities.[157] After a disastrous season that ended with a 16-game losing streak, new AD Lisa Campos hired Murphy, who spent the last three years as an assistant with Memphis.[158]
Baron was fired after the Rams finished 7–24 overall 4–12 in A-10 play and failed to qualify for the league tournament.[159] Dan Hurley was named the new coach on March 21, 2012.
Tillette was the winningest coach in Samford history with an overall record of 229–219. He took the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament in 1999 and 2000. The program had struggled since its transition to the Southern Conference.[162]
Doherty went 80–109 in six season with the Mustangs and just 30–67 in conference play. SMU finished 13–19 this season and lost 11 of its final 14 games.[163]
Horn was fired after the Gamecocks lost 24 of their last 27 SEC games. Horn finishes his career at South Carolina 23–45 in league games and 60–63 overall with three losing seasons in a row.[164]
Lowery had been under fire for the last couple years as the program deteriorated and ultimately bottomed out with an 8–23 record this season – a school record for losses in a season.[165]
After almost forty years of coaching basketball, Reid announced his retirement as head men's basketball coach at Southern Utah. He retires with an overall Division I record of 205–173, including a 54–97 record at SUU.[166]
Wojcik, compiled a career record of 140–92 in his seven seasons at Tulsa and became the school's all-time leader in coaching victories last month. The lack of an NCAA Tournament appearance and a deteriorating fan base may have weighed heavily against Wojcik.[169]
Hurley left to take the Rhode Island job.[173] The Seahawks elevated assistant Mason to the top job, making him the current youngest Division I men's head coach at age 28.[174]
On January 6, McDonald was released from his contract, citing lackluster attendance and a 5–11 start to the season.[175] Ray Harper was named interim coach, then later given the job permanently.
Peele was fired after Winthrop finished with a losing record for the second consecutive season – the first time the Eagles had back-to-back losing seasons since 1997 and 1998.[176]
^The NCAA considers all triple-doubles recorded before the 1986–87 season to be unofficial. Assists were not recorded nationally until the 1984–85 season, and blocked shots and steals were not officially recorded until the 1986–87 season. "Draymond Green earns 7th triple-double". ESPN. Associated Press. March 18, 2011. Archived from the original on March 22, 2011. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
