Binghamton Bearcats men's basketball

The Binghamton Bearcats men's basketball team represents Binghamton University and is located in Vestal, New York. The team currently competes in the America East Conference and plays its home games at the Binghamton University Events Center. Since becoming an NCAA Division I basketball program in 2001, the team has played in one NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 2009.

Binghamton Bearcats
2023–24 Binghamton Bearcats men's basketball team
University	Binghamton University
Head coach	Levell Sanders (2nd season)
Conference	America East
Location	Vestal, New York
Arena	Binghamton University Events Center (Capacity: 5,322)
Nickname	Bearcats
Colors	Dark green, white, and black^[1]
Uniforms
Home Away Alternate
NCAA tournament appearances
2009
Conference tournament champions
2009
Conference regular season champions
2009

History

Since the school's founding in 1946 until 1998 the Bearcats, originally known as the Colonials, participated in the NCAA as a Division III basketball program. From 1998 to 2001 the school was able to elevate its status as a Division II program and since has competed in the America East Conference at the Division I level.^[2] Prior to this, no school had elevated divisions faster than Binghamton.

Division I

Since moving to Division I in 2001 the Binghamton basketball team has seen rewarding successes and great disappointments. The Bearcats also have had wins against both Rutgers University and Tulane.

Following an unsuccessful 2007 season head coach Al Walker, the only coach Binghamton had held in their Division I history, stepped down. Kevin Broadus, an assistant coach for Georgetown University was signed to fill Walker's position for the 2008 season. In his second season as head coach, Broadus took the Bearcats to their first regular season conference title in school history.^[3] Binghamton subsequently defeated UMBC 61–51 in the America East tournament championship Game to make their debut in the 2009 NCAA Tournament as a 15th seed. Binghamton would lose to second-seeded Duke in the first round that year.

See also: Binghamton University basketball scandal

Following the March Madness loss, a series of incidents began to make both local and regional headlines regarding academic and ethical violations by both players and coaches of the team.^[4] By the start of the 2009–10 campaign, six players had been kicked off the team from problems stemming back to the 2008–09 season, and head coach Kevin Broadus was suspended. Despite these handicaps, the 09–10 team led by interim head coach Mark Macon managed to finish fifth in conference play with a .500 record and recorded a 13–18 overall record. Towards the end of the basketball season the SUNY system produced an audit outlining the failures of the previous administration in running the basketball team. Due to these failures, Binghamton withdrew itself from the 2010 America East men's basketball tournament.^[5] Numerous coaches and Binghamton staffers were fired as a result of the scandal.

Since then, Binghamton has been barely competitive. The 2011–12 Bearcats set a school record after beginning the season on a 26-game losing streak and finishing 2–29 for the worst winning percentage in program history. The team has yet to record a winning record in either conference or overall play.

NCAA tournament results

Binghamton has been to the tournament one time. Their combined record is 0–1.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
2009	No. 15	First round	No. 2 Duke	L 86–62

Records

Statistics overview

Season	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Al Walker (America East) (2001–2007)
2001–02	Al Walker	9–19	6–10	6th
2002–03	Al Walker	14–13	9–7	4th
2003–04	Al Walker	14–16	10–8	5th
2004–05	Al Walker	12–17	8–10	T–5th
2005–06	Al Walker	16–13	12–4	2nd
2006–07	Al Walker	13–16	6–10	T–6th
Al Walker:		78–94 (.453)	51–49 (.510)
Kevin Broadus (America East) (2007–2009)
2007–08	Kevin Broadus	14–16	9–7	T–4th
2008–09	Kevin Broadus	23–9	13–3	T–1st	NCAA tournament first round
Kevin Broadus:		37–25 (.597)	22–10 (.688)
Mark Macon (America East) (2009–2012)
2009–10	Mark Macon	13–18	8–8	5th	Ineligible
2010–11	Mark Macon	8–23	4–12	T–8th
2011–12	Mark Macon	2–29	1–15	9th
Mark Macon:		25–70 (.263)	13–35 (.271)
Tommy Dempsey (America East) (2012–2021)
2012–13	Tommy Dempsey	3–27	1–15	9th
2013–14	Tommy Dempsey	7–23	4–12	T–7th
2014–15	Tommy Dempsey	6–26	5–11	7th
2015–16	Tommy Dempsey	8–22	5–11	6th
2016–17	Tommy Dempsey	12–20	3–13	T–8th
2017–18	Tommy Dempsey	11–20	2–14	9th
2018–19	Tommy Dempsey	10–23	5–11	7th
2019–20	Tommy Dempsey	10–19	4–12	9th
2020–21	Tommy Dempsey	4–14	4–10	9th
Tommy Dempsey:		71–194 (.268)	33–109 (.232)
Levell Sanders (America East) (2021–present)
2021–22	Levell Sanders	12–17	8–10	6th
Levell Sanders:		12–17 (.414)	8–10 (.444)
Total:		221–400 (.356)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

Head coaches

No.	Tenure	Coach	Years	Record	Pct.
1	1946–1947	Bert Broder	1	7–4	.636
2	1947–1951	Gene Welborn	4	37–46	.446
3	1951–1952	Richard Powell	1	5–18	.217
4	1952–1956	John Natale	4	12–57	.174
5	1956–1972	Frank Pollard	16	92–164	.359
6	1972–1983	John Affleck	11	100–158	.388
7	1983–1991	Dave Archer	8	87–118	.424
8	1991–1996	Dick Baldwin	5	82–51	.617
9	1996–2000	Jim Norris	4	52–53	.495
10	2000–2007	Al Walker	7	92–108	.460
11	2007–2009	Kevin Broadus	2	37–24	.607
12	2009–2012^[a]	Mark Macon	3	23–70	.247
13	2012–2021	Tommy Dempsey	9	72–194	.271
14	2021–present^[b]	Levell Sanders	2	25–35	.417
Totals		14 coaches	77 seasons	723–1,100	.397
Records updated through end of 2022–23 season Source^[9]

1. Macon was named interim head coach of the Bearcats on October 14, 2009, after Kevin Broadus was placed on indefinite leave.^[6] He was named permanent head coach in February of 2011.^[7]
2. Sanders was initially named interim head coach, but was named permanent head coach in February 2022.^[8]

References

1. "Athletics Brand Colors – Binghamton University". Retrieved April 5, 2017.
2. [1] February 14, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
3. [2] June 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
4. Mushnick, Phil (2009-09-27). "Binghamton goes, falls, big time | New York Post". Nypost.com. Retrieved 2015-07-09.
5. Thamel, Pete (11 February 2010). "Report Faults Binghamton's Leaders in Scandal". The New York Times.
6. "Binghamton Bearcats basketball coach Kevin Broadus put on indefinite paid leave of absence". ESPN.com. Associated Press. October 14, 2009. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
7. Austin, Kyle (February 10, 2011). "Former Buena Vista basketball standout Mark Macon gets contract extension at Binghamton". MLive.com. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
8. Russo, Jacob (February 17, 2022). "Levell Sanders named permanent Binghamton MBB head coach after strong 21-22 season". WBNG-TV. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
9. "Binghamton Men's Basketball Media Guide 2022-2023" (PDF). Binghamton Athletics. Retrieved February 25, 2023.

External links

• Official website