The Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball team represents Southern Illinois University Carbondale in Carbondale, Illinois. The Salukis compete in the NCAA Division 1, and they play their home games at Banterra Center. As of March 2024, former South Dakota State and Wright State coach, Scott Nagy, has become the newest head coach of the Southern Illinois basketball program. Southern Illinois has appeared 10 times in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, most recently in 2007.

History Prior to joining the NCAA, the Salukis competed in the NAIA men's basketball. Appearing five times, with a combined tournament record of 9 wins and 4 losses. Most notable tournament appearances came in 1945, in which the Salukis finished third, and then the following year in the 1946 tournament where the Salukis were NAIA national champions. The Salukis would not place again in the following three tournament appearances in 1947, 1948, 1960.

In 1967, SIU, led by guard Walt Frazier, who went on to be named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, won the National Invitation Tournament under coach Jack Hartman. At the time, the tournament was considered much more prestigious than it is today. The Salukis were in their final season members of the College Division (now Division II) and became the only non-Division I/University Division team to win the NIT. After the NCAA began operating the NIT in 2006, non-Division I teams were no longer eligible to participate. Frazier was named Most Valuable Player of the 1967 NIT.

In 1977, future NBA player Mike Glenn led the Salukis to the NCAA Division I Tournament Sweet Sixteen.

From 1993 to 1995, SIU advanced to three straight NCAA Division I Tournaments. Prior to that, the Salukis participated in the National Invitation Tournament for four consecutive years from 1989 to 1992.

Part of the SIU Saluki men's basketball team's 2003 season was chronicled in MTV's True Life: I Am A College Baller.

The Saluki men's basketball team garnered national attention by advancing to the Sweet Sixteen in 2002 and 2007.

In the 2006–2007 season, the Salukis, coached by Chris Lowery, reached their highest ranking in the AP Coaches Poll and the ESPN/USA Today Poll with a position of #11, before dropping to #14 after losing the MVC to Creighton prior to entering the NCAA tournament.

After achieving success at SIU, former coaches Bruce Weber and Matt Painter accepted head coaching positions at schools in the Big Ten. Weber took over at Illinois in 2003 and Painter – an alumnus of and former basketball player at Purdue University – accepted the Boilermakers' offer to become top assistant and designated successor to Gene Keady in 2004, becoming head coach in March 2005.

Prior to the 2018–19 season, the Salukis became the first NCAA men's basketball team to win a completed game against the Cuban national team during a pre-season visit to the country.

Nine Salukis have gone on to play in the NBA:

Chico Vaughn - St. Louis Hawks (1963–66), Detroit Pistons (1966-67) Walt Frazier - New York Knicks (1968–77), Cleveland Cavaliers (1978–80) Dick Garrett - Los Angeles Lakers (1970), Buffalo Braves (1971-73), New York Knicks (1974), Milwaukee Bucks (1974) Nate Hawthorne - Los Angeles Lakers (1974), Phoenix Suns (1975–76) Joe C. Meriweather - Houston Rockets (1976), Atlanta Hawks (1977), New Orleans Jazz (1978–79), Kansas City Kings (1981–85) Mike Glenn - Buffalo Braves (1978), New York Knicks (1979-81), Atlanta Hawks (1982–85), Milwaukee Bucks (1986-87) Ashraf Amaya - Vancouver Grizzlies (1996), Washington Bullets (1997) Chris Carr - Phoenix Suns (1996), Minnesota Timberwolves (1997–98), New Jersey Nets (1999), Golden State Warriors (2000), Chicago Bulls (2000), Boston Celtics (2001) Troy Hudson - Utah Jazz (1998), Los Angeles Clippers (1999-2000), Orlando Magic (2001-02), Minnesota Timberwolves (2003–07), Golden State Warriors (2007–08)

Yearly records Division I

Postseason results

NCAA Division I tournament results The Salukis have appeared in the NCAA Division I Tournament ten times. Their combined record is 6–10. 1977 QuarterfinalsSweet Sixteen ArizonaWake Forest W 81–77L 81–86 1993 #14 First Round #3 Duke L 70–105 1994 #11 First Round #6 Minnesota L 60–74 1995 #10 First Round #7 Syracuse L 92–96 2002 #11 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen #6 Texas Tech#3 Georgia#2 Connecticut W 76–68W 77–75L 59–71 2003 #11 First Round #6 Missouri L 71–72 2004 #9 First Round #8 Alabama L 64–65 2005 #7 First RoundSecond Round #10 Saint Mary's#2 Oklahoma State W 65–56L 77–85 2006 #11 First Round #6 West Virginia L 46–64 2007 #4 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen #13 Holy Cross#5 Virginia Tech#1 Kansas W 61–51W 63–48L 58–61

NCAA Division II tournament results The Salukis have appeared in the NCAA Division II Tournament seven times. Their combined record is 17–9. 1959 Regional SemifinalsRegional Third Place WittenbergBelmont Abbey L 70–80L 70–79 1961 Regional SemifinalsRegional Finals TrinitySoutheast Missouri State W 96–82L 84–88 1962 Regional SemifinalsRegional FinalsElite EightFinal FourNational Third Place UnionEvansvilleNortheasternMount St. Mary'sNebraska Wesleyan W 70–56W 88–83 W 73–57L 57–58W 98–91 1963 Regional SemifinalsRegional FinalsElite EightFinal FourNational Third Place Southeast Missouri StateLamarEvansvilleSouth Dakota StateOglethorpe W 87–79W 93–84W 86–73L 76–80L 64–68 1964 Regional SemifinalsRegional Finals Ball StateEvansville W 88–81L 59–64 1965 Regional SemifinalsRegional FinalsElite EightFinal FourNational Championship Game Concordia (IL)Central MichiganWashington-St. LouisNorth DakotaEvansville W 71–70W 90–62W 76–67W 97–64L 82–85 OT 1966 Regional SemifinalsRegional FinalsElite EightFinal FourNational Championship Game Indiana StateEvansvilleFresno StateNorth DakotaKentucky Wesleyan W 83–65W 90–77W 93–70W 69–63L 51–54

NAIA tournament results The Salukis have appeared in five NAIA Division I tournaments. Their combined record is 9–4. They were NAIA national champions in 1946.

1945 First RoundElite EightFinal FourThird Place Game WashburnDoaneLoyola (LA)Eastern Kentucky W 64–49W 61–44L 35–37W 49–45 1946 First RoundSecond RoundElite EightFinal FourNational Championship Central MissouriLorasNevadaLoyola (LA)Indiana State W 49–39W 58–55W 66–58W 53–37W 49–48 1947 First Round Dakota Wesleyan L 39–44 1948 First Round Southern OregonManhattan W 54–50L 42–52 1960 First Round Oklahoma Baptist L 71–75

NIT results The Salukis have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) nine times. Their combined record is 8–8. They were NIT champions in 1967. 1967 First RoundQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinals Saint Peter'sDukeRutgersMarquette W 103–58W 72–63W 79–70 W 71–56 1969 First Round South Carolina L 63–72 1975 First Round Pittsburgh L 65–70 1989 First Round Saint Louis L 54–87 1990 First Round Green Bay L 60–73 1991 First RoundSecond RoundQuarterfinals Boise StateMissouri StateStanford W 74–75W 72–69L 68–78 1992 First Round Boston College L 69–78 2000 First Round ColoradoBYU W 94–92L 57–82 2008 First RoundSecond Round Oklahoma StateArizona State W 69–53L 51–65

Retired numbers

Two players have had their numbers retired by the school.

Southern Illinois Salukis retired numbers No.PlayerCareerRef. 20 Chico Vaughn 1958–1962 Charles Vaughn bio at Siusalukis.com 52 Walt Frazier 1963–1967 Frazier bio at Siusalukis.com

References

External links