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 127 is Jacksonville 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 Jacksonville basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 1
- Final Fours: 1
- Elite Eights: 1
- Sweet 16s: 1
- NCAA wins: 4
- Bids: 5
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 14.3
- Bids per season: 0.08
- AP Polls: 49
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 1
- NBA players drafted & played: 10
- Conference Players of the Year: 1
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 2
- Conference tournament titles: 2
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Jacksonville basketball
Next up is a Jacksonville basketball program that hasn’t been great for a long time, but had one of the best runs in college basketball history.
In 1969-70, the Dolphins, led by Artis Gilmore, went 27-2 and lost in the National Championship game. The 7-2 Gilmore and 7-0 Pembrook Burrows were too big for a Bob Lanier-less St. Bonaventure team in the Final Four, and ultimately lost by 11 to UCLA in the natty. Senior guard Rex Morgan also played outstanding during the season, averaging 18.2 points, 9.0 assists, and 6.4 rebounds per game. But it was Gilmore’s 26.5 PPG and 22.2 RPG that stole the show. And Jacksonville scored like few teams could, dropping 109 on Western Kentucky, 104 on Iowa, and 106 on Kentucky in their tournament run.
Jacksonville went dancing the following season again, which was Gilmore’s senior year. He had another 20/20 season average, but the Dolphins fell in the first round to Western Kentucky by two points. That year was also a coaching change, as Joe Williams left for Furman and Tom Wasdin came in. Wasdin only stayed three years, going 63-18 overall and leading them back to the NCAA Tournament in 1973.
Jacksonville would continue to put some solid teams on the floor, going to the big dance in 1979 under Tates Locke and in 1986 under Bob Wenzel. But you could argue the constant coaching changes affected the program, as the Dolphins haven’t been back since.
And since Wenzel left, the program really hasn’t been close to being back. A bright spot was Dee Brown, who was their best player since Gilmore. But in the 39 seasons since Wenzel, they’ve had just 14 winning records. The best product they put on the floor since was from 2007-11, as Cliff Warren led them to five straight winning seasons and a pair of A-Sun regular season titles. But despite rebuilding the program, his tenure didn’t end as cleanly.
Lately, Jacksonville has been as up-and-down as it gets, but no one can forget when they were nothing short of a mid-major powerhouse with a dream season.