2001–02 UNC Wilmington Seahawks men's basketball team

The 2001–02 UNC Wilmington Seahawks men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina Wilmington during the 2001–02 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Seahawks, led by eighth-year head coach Jerry Wainwright, played their home games at the Trask Coliseum and were members of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).

2001–02 UNC Wilmington Seahawks men's basketball
CAA regular season and tournament champions
NCAA tournament, second round
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Record	23–10 (14–4 CAA)
Head coach	Jerry Wainwright (8th season)
Home arena	Trask Coliseum
Seasons ← 2000–01 2002–03 →

2001–02 CAA men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
UNC Wilmington†	14	–	4		.778			23	–	10		.697
George Mason	13	–	5		.722			19	–	10		.655
VCU	11	–	7		.611			21	–	11		.656
Drexel	11	–	7		.611			14	–	14		.500
Delaware	9	–	9		.500			14	–	16		.467
Old Dominion	7	–	11		.389			13	–	16		.448
Towson	7	–	11		.389			11	–	18		.379
William & Mary	7	–	11		.389			10	–	19		.345
James Madison	6	–	12		.333			14	–	15		.483
Hofstra	5	–	13		.278			12	–	20		.375
† CAA tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

After finishing atop the CAA regular season standings, the Seahawks won the CAA tournament to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 13 seed in the South region. After upsetting No. 4 seed USC in the opening round,^[1] UNC Wilmington lost to eventual National runner-up Indiana in the Round of 32.^[2] As of 2021, this is the farthest a UNC Wilmington men's basketball team has advanced in NCAA Tournament play.

In addition to the school's first NCAA Tournament win and win over a ranked opponent, junior shooting guard Brett Blizzard became the first player in program history to be named CAA Player of the Year and an AP Honorable Mention All-American.^[3]

Roster

2001–02 UNC Wilmington Seahawks men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 11 Brett Blizzard 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Tallahassee, Florida	Head coach Jerry Wainwright Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 12, 2001*		at Wake Forest	L 78–79	0–1	Lawrence Joel Coliseum  Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Nov 17, 2001*		Miami (OH)	W 50–42	1–1	Trask Coliseum  Wilmington, North Carolina
Nov 24, 2001*		at High Point	W 74–66	2–1	Millis Center  High Point, North Carolina
Nov 26, 2001*		at Radford	L 72–85	2–2	Donald N. Dedmon Center  Radford, Virginia
Dec 2, 2001*		at Ohio State	L 54–80	2–3	Value City Arena  Columbus, Ohio
Dec 4, 2001*		at Minnesota	W 58–50	3–3	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, Minnesota
Dec 8, 2001*		Duquesne	W 64–52	4–3	Trask Coliseum  Wilmington, North Carolina
Dec 10, 2001*		at Bowling Green	L 83–84 ^OT	4–4	Anderson Arena  Bowling Green, Ohio
Dec 15, 2001*		College of Charleston	L 58–60	4–5	Trask Coliseum  Wilmington, North Carolina
Dec 21, 2001		at Old Dominion	W 71–67	5–5 (1–0)	ODU Fieldhouse  Norfolk, Virginia
Dec 28, 2001*		Fairfield	W 82–57	6–5	Trask Coliseum  Wilmington, North Carolina
Dec 30, 2001		Towson	W 76–37	7–5 (2–0)	Trask Coliseum  Wilmington, North Carolina
Jan 5, 2002		at Hofstra	W 69–58	8–5 (3–0)	Mack Sports Complex  Hempstead, New York
Jan 9, 2002		George Mason	W 68–51	9–5 (4–0)	Trask Coliseum  Wilmington, North Carolina
Jan 12, 2002		Delaware	L 60–65	9–6 (4–1)	Trask Coliseum  Wilmington, North Carolina
Jan 16, 2002		at William & Mary	W 58–56	10–6 (5–1)	Kaplan Arena  Williamsburg, Virginia
Jan 19, 2002		James Madison	W 63–59	11–6 (6–1)	Trask Coliseum  Wilmington, North Carolina
Jan 23, 2002		Old Dominion	W 66–56	12–6 (7–1)	Trask Coliseum  Wilmington, North Carolina
Jan 26, 2002		at VCU	L 68–74	12–7 (7–2)	Siegel Center  Richmond, Virginia
Jan 28, 2002		at Towson	W 56–46	13–7 (8–2)	Towson Center  Towson, Maryland
Feb 2, 2002		Hofstra	W 78–54	14–7 (9–2)	Trask Coliseum  Wilmington, North Carolina
Feb 4, 2002		Drexel	W 63–50	15–7 (10–2)	Trask Coliseum  Wilmington, North Carolina
Feb 9, 2002		at James Madison	W 69–61	16–7 (11–2)	JMU Convocation Center  Harrisonburg, Virginia
Feb 11, 2002		at George Mason	L 56–59	16–8 (11–3)	Patriot Center  Fairfax, Virginia
Feb 13, 2002		William & Mary	W 66–58	17–8 (12–3)	Trask Coliseum  Wilmington, North Carolina
Feb 16, 2002		at Delaware	W 69–66	18–8 (13–3)	Bob Carpenter Center  Newark, Delaware
Feb 18, 2002		at Drexel	L 65–68	18–9 (13–4)	Daskalakis Athletic Center  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 23, 2002		VCU	W 73–62	19–9 (14–4)	Trask Coliseum  Wilmington, North Carolina
CAA tournament
Mar 2, 2002*	(1)	vs. (9) James Madison Quarterfinals	W 78–62	20–9	Richmond Coliseum  Richmond, Virginia
Mar 3, 2002*	(1)	vs. (5) Delaware Semifinals	W 69–54	21–9	Richmond Coliseum  Richmond, Virginia
Mar 4, 2002*	(1)	at (3) VCU Championship	W 66–51	22–9	Richmond Coliseum (7,512) Richmond, Virginia
NCAA tournament
Mar 14, 2002*	(13 S)	vs. (4 S) No. 18 USC First Round	W 93–89 ^OT	23–9	ARCO Arena  Sacramento, California
Mar 16, 2002*	(13 S)	vs. (5 S) Indiana Second Round	L 67–76	23–10	ARCO Arena  Sacramento, California
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[4]

Awards and honors

• Brett Blizzard – AP Honorable Mention All-American, CAA Player of the Year, CAA tournament MVP

References

1. "Off to a Slamming Start". The Washington Post. March 15, 2002. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
2. "Hoosiers hold off furious Seahawks rally to advance". ESPN. March 16, 2002. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
3. "UNCW 2001-02 Season Review" (PDF). UNCW Athletics. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
4. "UNC Wilmington Men's Basketball Records". UNC Wilmington Athletics. Retrieved August 8, 2021.