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 229 is UNC Greensboro 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 UNC Greensboro basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 0
- Bids: 4
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 15.4
- Bids per season: 0.11
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 0
- Conference Players of the Year: 3
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 7
- Conference tournament titles: 4
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on UNC Greensboro basketball
The state of North Carolina has so many legendary college basketball programs, and UNC Greensboro is really just on the outside of it. The Spartans have been to four NCAA Tournaments and have won their conference’s regular season title seven times – twice in the Big South and five times in the SoCon.
The early years in DI were very kind to UNCG, winning back-to-back Big South crowns in 1995 and 1996. Mike Dement coached the first one, with Randy Peele coaching the second, proving it was a mix of great coaching jobs and talent on the court.
After Peele’s time ended with some rough seasons, Fran McCafferey took over, going 90-87 in six seasons. While he really didn’t do an outstanding job, they did go dancing in 2001.
After McCafferey left for Siena, the Spartans hired Dement again, but his second stint didn’t go as well. After a 2-8 start in 2011-12, Dement resigned, and Wes Miller took over. It ended up being a huge success, as UNCG was patient to let Miller do his thing. In his fifth full season, he led UNCG to a 25-win season. It would be the start of five straight 20-win seasons with tourney bids in 2018 and 2021.
While Mike Jones didn’t replicate, he also helped keep UNCG afloat, with four winning seasons and a 93-69 record through five campaigns. Now Jerod Haase walks into a good situation, hoping to make it greater.
And that’s really the state of this UNC Greensboro basketball program. Before a losing record last year, they had put together nine straight winning seasons. That’s a lot of longevity for a mid-major program.
Despite lots of winning records, only two former Spartans have won SoCon Player of the Year. Kyle Hines did it in 2007, with Isaiah Miller going back-to-back in 2020 and 2021.
In the current age of NIL and the transfer portal, it’s unfortunate that UNCG seems like a feeder program. But it shouldn’t stop them from recruiting well for their level and having more winning records to come.