The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team is the men's basketball team that represents Western Kentucky University (WKU) in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Hilltoppers currently compete in Conference USA. The team's most recent appearance in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was in 2024. Hank Plona was announced as the team's current head coach on April 2, 2024.

The men's basketball program has the 16th most victories in the history of the NCAA and has attained the eighth best winning percentage in NCAA history. The school made an NCAA Final Four appearance in 1971, which was later vacated, and has made four NIT Final Four appearances, including three in the early days of the NIT when it was on par with the NCAA tournament. The program has won numerous Ohio Valley Conference championships and was very competitive in its previous conference, the Sun Belt Conference, regularly finishing near the top of the conference and competing for the conference championship. In 2014, the Hilltoppers joined Conference USA following conference realignment.

Street & Smith's publication "100 Greatest Programs", ranked WKU #31. WKU has had 30 All Americans and 56 Hilltoppers have played professionally following their collegiate careers.

Conference affiliation history 1914–15 to 1925–26 – Independent 1926–27 to 1947–48 – Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Association & Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association 1948–49 to 1981–82 – Ohio Valley Conference 1982–83 to 2013–14 – Sun Belt Conference 2014–15 to present – Conference USA

Postseason WKU has appeared in 41 national postseason tournaments and in five national final fours. The school currently has a policy of only accepting invitations to the NCAA or NIT tournaments, which precludes participation in other tournaments such as the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament and College Basketball Invitational.

NCAA tournament results The Hilltoppers have appeared in the NCAA tournament 24 times. Their combined record is 19–25. Their appearance in the 1971 NCAA Tournament and third-place finish were later vacated by the NCAA due to a player, Jim McDaniels, having signed a professional contract and accepted money during the season.

1940 Elite Eight Duquesne L 29–30 1960 First RoundSweet SixteenRegional 3rd Place Game Miami (FL)Ohio StateOhio W 107–84L 79–98W 97–87 1962 First RoundSweet SixteenRegional 3rd Place Game DetroitOhio StateButler W 90–81L 73–93L 86–87 1966 First RoundSweet SixteenRegional 3rd Place Game Loyola (IL)MichiganDayton W 105–86L 79–80W 82–62 1967 First Round Dayton L 67–69 OT 1970 First Round Jacksonville L 96–109 1971* First RoundSweet SixteenElite EightFinal FourNational 3rd Place Game JacksonvilleKentuckyOhio StateVillanovaKansas W 74–72W 107–83W 81–78 OTL 89–92 2OTW 77–75 1976 First Round Marquette L 60–79 1978 First RoundSweet Sixteen SyracuseMichigan State W 87–86 OTL 69–90 1980 No. 10 First Round No. 7 Virginia Tech L 85–89 OT 1981 No. 10 First Round No. 7 UAB L 68–93 1986 No. 8 First RoundSecond Round No. 9 NebraskaNo. 1 Kentucky W 67–59L 64–71 1987 No. 10 First RoundSecond Round No. 7 West VirginiaNo. 2 Syracuse W 64–62L 86–104 1993 No. 7 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen No. 10 MemphisNo. 2 Seton HallNo. 3 Florida State W 55–52W 72–68L 78–81 OT 1994 No. 11 First Round No. 6 Texas L 77–91 1995 No. 8 First RoundSecond Round No. 9 MichiganNo. 1 Kansas W 82–76 OTL 70–75 2001 No. 14 First Round No. 3 Florida L 56–69 2002 No. 9 First Round No. 8 Stanford L 68–84 2003 No. 13 First Round No. 4 Illinois L 60–65 2008 No. 12 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen No. 5 DrakeNo. 13 San DiegoNo. 1 UCLA W 101–99 OTW 72–63L 78–88 2009 No. 12 First RoundSecond Round No. 5 IllinoisNo. 4 Gonzaga W 76–72L 81–83 2012 No. 16 First FourFirst Round No. 16 Mississippi Valley StateNo. 1 Kentucky W 59–58L 66–81 2013 No. 16 First Round No. 1 Kansas L 57–64 2024 No. 15 First Round No. 2 Marquette L 69–87

* Vacated by the NCAA

NCAA Tournament seeding history The NCAA began seeding the tournament with the 1979 edition. Years→'80'81'86'87'93'94'95'01'02'03'08'09'12'13'24Seeds→10108107118149131212161615

NIT results The Hilltoppers have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 15 times. When the NIT started, it was considered the premiere national college basketball tournament and remained on par with the NCAA Tournament through the mid-1950s, until the NCAA began giving automatic bids to conference champions in 1956.Miller, Ralph (1990). "Ralph Miller: Spanning the Game." Sagamore Publishing LLC. p. 56. . "Had the Aggies lost one, we would have been forced to have a playoff, and that was the problem. We had already accepted a bid to play in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). The tournament picture was much different then. There was no announcement of NIT teams following the selection of the NCAA field as exists today. The reason was that the NIT was still considered a premier tournament." Western Kentucky's first eight appearances occurred during this early period, including their 2nd-place finish in 1942, 3rd place in 1948, and 4th place in 1954. WKU also made the NIT Final Four in 2018. Their combined record is 13–16.

1942 QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinals CCNYCreightonWest Virginia W 49–46W 49–36L 45–47 1943 Quarterfinals Fordham L 58–60 1948 QuarterfinalsSemifinals3rd Place Game La SalleSaint LouisDePaul W 68–61L 53–60W 61–59 1949 Quarterfinals Bradley L 86–95 1950 First RoundQuarterfinals NiagaraSt. John's W 79–72L 46–65 1952 First RoundQuarterfinals LouisvilleSt. Bonaventure W 62–59L 69–70 1953 Quarterfinals Duquesne L 61–69 1954 QuarterfinalsSemifinals3rd Place Game Bowling GreenHoly CrossNiagara W 95–81L 69–75L 65–71 1965 First RoundQuarterfinals FordhamArmy W 57–53L 54–58 1982 First Round Purdue L 65–72 1992 First Round Kansas State L 74–85 2005 Opening RoundFirst Round Kent StateWichita State W 88–80L 81–84 2006 First Round South Carolina L 55–74 2018 First RoundSecond RoundQuarterfinalsSemifinals Boston CollegeUSCOklahoma StateUtah W 79–62W 79–75W 92–84L 64–69 2021 First RoundQuarterfinals Saint Mary'sLouisiana Tech W 69–67L 65–72

Other tournament results In 1936 Western Kentucky was invited to the National Olympic Playoffs representing the South. They played two games against the Southwest representative, Arkansas, in Little Rock, losing both games by scores of 36–43 and 30–38.

The Hilltoppers were scheduled to appear in the 1938 National Intercollegiate Basketball tournament;NAIA Through the Decades, NAIA.org retrieved May 20, 2020 however, the team was unable to make the trip and withdrew from the tournament.The Historical NAIA Tournament VSN (admin) Published Wednesday, July 04, 2018, retrieved May 20, 2020 The NAIA lists the game as a forfeit, but Western Kentucky does not recognize the contest as part of their official record.

The Hilltoppers appeared in the 1951 National Campus Basketball Tournament where they were defeated by Bradley 71–75 in the first round.

Milestones DateMilestoneRivalResult 1914–1915 First win Bethel (Ky.) 38–21 (W) 1/28/1932 100th win Birmingham Southern 37–25 (W) 12/5/1949 500th win Kentucky Wesleyan 89–45 (W) 2/19/1977 1,000th win Murray State 82–81 (W) 2/5/2005 1,500th win Arkansas State 76–72 (W) 2/6/1943 500th game LaSalle 52–44 (W) 12/6/1960 1,000th game Lamar 74–71 (W) 1/25/1997 2,000th game New Orleans 70–66 (L)

E.A. Diddle Arena The E.A. Diddle Arena is a 7,326-seat multi-purpose arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States. The arena, built in 1963 is named after legendary WKU men's coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Edgar "E.A." Diddle.

Current coaching staff Hank Plona - Head Coach

Former Head Coaches L.T Smith (1922–1922) E. A. Diddle (1923–1964) John Oldham (1965–1971) Jim Richards (1972–1978) Gene Keady (1979–1980) Clem Haskins (1981–1986) Murray Arnold (1987–1990) Ralph Willard (1991–1994) Matt Kilcullen (1995–1998) Al Seibert (1998) Dennis Felton (1999–2003) Darrin Horn (2004–2008) Ken McDonald (basketball) (2009–2012) Ray Harper (2012–2016) Rick Stansbury (2017–2023) Steve Lutz (2023–2024)

All-Americans Year Name Position Ref.1938 Red McCrocklin Center (Chuck Taylor)1940 Carlisle Towery Center (Chuck Taylor)1941 Carlisle Towery Center (Chuck Taylor)1943 Oran McKinney Center (Helms Foundation)1948 Dee Gibson Guard (Associated Press***)1948 Don Ray Forward (Helms Foundation*)1948 Odie Spears Forward (Associated Press***)1949 Bob LavoyCenter (Associated Press***)1949 John Oldham Guard (United Press**, Associated Press***)1950 Buddy Cate Forward (Associated Press***)1950 Bob Lavoy Center (Chuck Taylor*, Associated Press***)1953 Tom Marshall Forward (Look Magazine**, Associated Press***)1953 Art SpoelstraCenter (Associated Press***)1954 Tom Marshall Forward (Associated Press*, United Press*, Look Magazine*)1958 Ralph Crosthwaite Center1962 Bobby RascoeGuard1964 Darel Carrier Guard (Helms Foundation)1965 Clem Haskins Forward (Associated Press***, United Press***)1966 Clem Haskins Forward (Associated Press, United Press, Converse*)1967 Clem Haskins Forward (USBWA, Associated Press, United Press, Helms Foundation, NABC*)1969 Jim McDaniels Center (Helms Foundation, Associated Press***, United Press***, Converse***)1970 Jim McDaniels Center (Helms Foundation, Associated Press***, United Press***, Converse*)1971 Jim McDaniels Center (NABC, USBWA, Associated Press, Sporting News, United Press, NBA)1976 Johnny Britt Guard (Associated Press***)1984 Kannard Johnson Forward (Sporting News All-Freshman)1987 Tellis Frank Forward (Associated Press***, Sporting News***)1989 Brett McNeal Guard (Associated Press***, Basketball Times***)1993 Darnell Mee Guard (Associated Press***)1996 Chris RobinsonForward-Guard (Basketball Weekly***)2001 Chris MarcusCenter (Associated Press***, Lindy's Basketball Annual)Marcus honored by publication, WKU center lands on All-America team, By Justin Willis, Bowling Green Daily News, Aug 3, 2001 retrieved 27 April 20202002 Chris MarcusCenter (Associated Press***, Basketball America***)2004 Mike Wells Guard (Associated Press***)2006 Anthony Winchester Guard (Associated Press***)2008 Courtney Lee Guard (Associated Press***, The NBA Draft Report**, Basketball Times**)2009 Orlando Mendez-Valdez Guard (Associated Press***)2021 Charles Bassey Center (Associated Press***, Basketball Times*, USBWA**, Lute Olsen) *Second team – **Third team – ***Honorable mention 2011–12 WKU media guide

Retired jerseys The first jerseys retired in honor of Hilltopper basketball greats were hung in E.A. Diddle Arena during the 1999–2000 season. Also even though the jerseys are retired current and future players can and do use the numbers of the players whose jerseys are retired.

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers retired jerseys No.PlayerYearsJer. ret.Ref. 22 Clem Haskins 1964–1967 2017 #21 RETIRED UNIFORM 32 Courtney Lee 2004–2008 2017 Courtney Lee Jersey Retirement, 8 Jun 2017 35 Darel Carrier 1961–1964 2014 Former Hilltopper sharpshooter Carrier to have jersey number retired at halftime, 22 Feb 2014 at bgdailynews.comDarel Carrier’s No. 35 jersey retired at College Heights Herald by Tyler Lashbrook - February 25, 2014 35 Dwight Smith 1964–1967 2023 41 Tom Marshall 1951–1954 MJ to honor legendary Tom Marshall, 9 Feb 2011 at Wilson Post 42 John Oldham 1942–1943; 1947–1949 2011 John Oldham, coach of WKU's 1971 Final Four basketball team, dies at age 97 by Jason Frakes at Louisville Courier Journal, 23 Nov 2020 42 Carlisle Towery 1938–1941 2003 All-American Towery dies at bgdailynews.com, 27 Nov 2012 44 Jim McDaniels 1968–1971 2000 Jim McDaniels, 69, Dies; Led Western Kentucky to Final Four at The New York Times, 8 Sep 2017 45 Bobby Rascoe 1959–1962 — E. A. Diddle Coach, 1922–1964 E. A. Diddle coach's jersey retired at bgdailynews.com — Wes Strader Radio voice

Season-by-season results

Cumulative all-time statistics and achievements

All Time Wins: 1,911 (18th All-time)