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 212 is High Point 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 High Point basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 1
- Bids: 2
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 15.9
- Bids per season: 0.07
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 1
- Conference Players of the Year: 5
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 7
- Conference tournament titles: 2
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on High Point basketball
Has any mid-major program in college basketball been as good as High Point over the past three years? Sure, it’s a small sample size, but a combined 87-20 record is otherworldly, as the Panthers have totally revamped their program.
It’s hard to believe that this was a program living at the bottom of the Big South for a while. In fact, High Point has had 14 losing seasons, compared to just 12 winning seasons, and one .500 record.
This isn’t to say they hadn’t had some success before now. While Jerry Steele couldn’t get more than 11 wins in four years as their head coach in DI, Bart Lundy had a respectable 96-87 record with the program, and Scott Cherry went 146-134.
While the team actually struggled under Tubby Smith, something changed in that era, as a mid-major program with zero March Madness bids, went and hired a pretty notable coach. Of course, Smith played at High Point from 1969-73, but coming back after all he accomplished was a bit of a statement. And after just one full year of GG Smith as the head coach, Alan Huss came in and brought the Panthers up multiple levels in one season.
Look at the roster High Point had under Huss in 2023-24: Kezza Giffa, Kimani Hamilton, Duke Miles, Juslin Bodo Bodo, and more made up an insane roster that would go 27-9 with a Big South regular season title. The next season, they would mostly run it back, with Miles as the only one from that group to move on. It resulted in a 29-6 record, another Big South title, and a March Madness bid – the first in program history.
Of course, this past season saw an even higher level achieved, as the Panthers went 31-5 under first-year coach Flynn Clayman, capped off by an upset over 5-seed Wisconsin and nearly another over 4-seed Arkansas, for a little bit of a Cinderella story. And who can forget Chase Johnston’s near half-court pull-up late in the second half in the round of 64?
It was a miraculous season for a program that likely isn’t slowing down, especially for however long Clayman is there after one heck of an opening season.
One more crazy fact for you – High Point has taken home five Big South Player of the Year nods, but NONE in the last three years. Danny Gathings (2004), Arizona Reid (2007 & 2008), and John Brown (2014 & 2016) all won the award. Just hard to believe that in the last three seasons, no Panthers player was named the top in the conference.