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 268 is Lafayette 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 Lafayette basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 1
- NCAA wins: 0
- Bids: 4
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 12.2
- Bids per season: 0.03
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 0
- Conference Players of the Year: 9
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 18
- Conference tournament titles: 3
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Lafayette basketball
Lafayette basketball has a wild history that dates back to 1900 as an Independent. But they didn’t become a full-time major program until 1913-14, never leaving the highest level of college basketball since.
Across that time period, the Leopards have made just four NCAA Tournaments. Their first came in 1957, finishing 22-5. Since the tournament was so small and just 16 teams, it counts as a Sweet 16 appearance! They also did nearly move on, falling to Syracuse by just four points.
Lafayette would have to wait a while, not making it again until 1999 and 2000 in back-to-back seasons under head coach Fran O’Hanlon. O’Hanlon held the job from 1995 until 2022, also bringing them to the big dance in 2015, and winning 361 career games with the Leopards. He was a 3x Patriot League Coach of the Year.
Under O’Hanlon’s watch, Lafayette saw a trio of Conference POYs: Stefan Ciosici (1998) and Brian Ehlers (1999 and 2000), completing a very good run of Leopards hoops. In total, Lafayette players have taken home a conference POY award nine times.
But the number to know for Lafayette? 18 regular season conference titles. It’s an insane amount, but when you’ve played well over 100 years, history runs deep! Here’s the tracker for you:
- 1945-46: 17-3 overall, 7-1 in MASCN
- 1948-49: 20-9 overall, 6-2 in MASCN
- 1949-50: 18-6 overall, played in Mid-3 (just Lafayette, Rutgers, and Lehigh)
- 1951-52: 15-9 overall, played in Mid-3
- 1969-70: 12-14, overall, 7-3 in Mid-Atl (Western)
- 1970-71: 17-9 overall, 9-1 in Mid-Atl (West)
- 1972-73: 16-10 overall, 7-3 in Mid-Atl (West)
- 1974-75: 22-6 overall, 7-1 in ECC (West)
- 1975-76: 19-7 overall, 9-1 in ECC (West)
- 1976-77: 21-6 overall, 9-1 in ECC (West)
- 1977-78: 23-8 overall, 10-0 in ECC (West)
- 1979-80: 21-8 overall, 13-3 in ECC (West)
- 1980-81: 15-13 overall, 8-8 in ECC (West)
- 1987-88: 19-10 overall, 11-3 in ECC
- 1997-98: 19-9 overall, 10-2 in Patriot League
- 1998-99: 22-8 overall, 10-2 in Patriot League
- 1999-00: 24-7 overall, 11-1 in Patriot League
- 2020-21: 9-6 overall, 9-5 in Patriot League (Central)
Of course, a good chunk of these were division champs, but still, Lafayette has a long history of leading the pack that matters most – the conference.
Also, while O’Hanlon is a legend on campus, you can’t go without talking about Tom Davis. In six seasons at Lafayette, he never had a losing record and coached them to four regular season conference championships. Davis would later coach at Boston College, Stanford, Iowa, and Drake, winning 597 career games – good for 47th all-time.
So for Lafayette, NCAA Tournament success may be lacking, but the program has a lot of other evidence of being a notable mid-major that’s made an impact even on a lower level. But you can’t discredit that history!