The college basketball offseason is here, and we decided to have some fun over the next few months, ranking ALL 364 teams in D1. Number 312 is UT-Martin basketball.
Before you say we’re crazy – or that all of this is up for debate, let’s go over the very intricate process of how we came to this conclusion. We took a very statistical approach – with the help of Chat GPT – taking into consideration everything from March Madness wins and finishes, to AP Poll appearances, to conference players of the year. And then, a good friend of ours, Scott Blanchard, took our approach to the MAX.
Click here to visit the FIRST article, which explains how the formula works!
Here’s the breakdown of UT-Martin basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 0
- Bids: 0
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 11.9
- Bids per season: 0
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 1
- Conference Players of the Year: 2
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 4
- Conference tournament titles: 0
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on UT-Martin basketball
Tennessee-Martin joined the DI scene in 1992 and has played in the Ohio Valley Conference ever since. And it’s interesting how, despite four regular season titles and a pair of conference POYs, the Skyhawks have never had a trip to the big dance.
To be fair, it took 10 seasons for UT-Martin basketball to finally finish with a winning record. But over the past two decades and change, they’ve had a lot of great seasons that have fallen just short.
The 2007-08 and 08-09′ seasons were extra special, with future NBA Draft pick Lester Hudson leading the way. Hudson averaged 26.6 points per game across both seasons, winning the OVC POY both seasons. However, in his senior year, the Skyhawks ran into Kenneth Faired and Morehead State, falling short of an NCAA Tournament bid.
However, things went downhill for a bit as Hudson graduated and went to the league, and coach Bret Campbell was asked to resign, due to the way some of the program’s summer camps were held.
The program would dip under Jason James, would rise up quickly as Heath Schroyer came in, and went 41-28 in two seasons. Since Schroyer joined the team in 2014, UT-Martin basketball has had 5 20-win seasons under 5 head coaches. The current head coach is Jeremy Shulman, who led them to a 22-11 record in just his second season.
It’s actually almost mind-boggling how, for the past dozen years, half the time UT-Martin has been a top contender in the OVC, but has never punched a ticket to March. Sometimes that’s just the way it rolls, and it’s been unfortunate for a program that otherwise has been quite good.