The St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers men's basketball program represented St. Francis College (SFC) in intercollegiate men's basketball up through the 2022–23 season, which was its last in intercollegiate competition. The team was a member of the Division I Northeast Conference. From 1971 through the 2021–22 season, they had played in the Daniel J. Lynch '38 Gym in the Generoso Pope Athletic Complex, located on SFC's former Brooklyn Heights campus. However, after the 2021–22 school year, SFC closed its Brooklyn Heights campus to move to a new campus on Livingston Street in Downtown Brooklyn. With the new campus lacking any athletic facilities, SFC arranged to use other nearby venues on at least a short-term basis. The Terriers' final game at the Pope Athletic Complex was held on November 19, 2022. From late November 2022 until March 2023, the Terriers played home games at the Activity Resource Center (branded as "The ARC") at Pratt Institute in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn. The Terriers have also hosted home games at Madison Square Garden and at the Barclays Center. On March 20, 2023, St. Francis College announced that it would end intercollegiate athletics following the spring semester, making the 2022–23 season the program's final season in existence.
The St. Francis Brooklyn men's basketball program was founded in 1896 and was the oldest collegiate program in New York City. The Terriers have an overall record of 1223–1295, 48.6 W–L%, over a 99-year span from the 1920–1921 to the 2019–2020 season. The program has won 6 regular season championships and has participated in 4 National Invitational Tournaments. In 2010, Glenn Braica was announced as the 17th head coach in the history of the St. Francis Terriers men's basketball program. Braica was previously an assistant under Norm Roberts at St. John's University. Braica has qualified nine times for the NEC tournament and in 2015 led the team to its first post season tournament in 52 years. Braica coached the team until the Terriers final season in 2022–23.
The Terriers were one of seven NCAA Division I programs in New York City and in 2011 attending a Terriers game was named one reason to love New York by New York Magazine in their seventh annual Reasons to Love New York 2011 piece. The Terriers are also one of only four original Division I programs (since 1939) to have never participated in the NCAA tournament. The Terriers have been one win away from participating on three occasions, first in the 2000–01 season, then in the 2002–03 season, and again in the 2014–15 season. Beginning on November 27, 2012, St. Francis College rebranded its Athletics programs from St. Francis (NY) to St. Francis Brooklyn. After the 2022–23 season, St. Francis Brooklyn dropped all intercollegiate athletics, including basketball, from the college after over 120 years of history.
History Early years (1896–1940) The St. Francis College's men's basketball program was founded in 1896 and was the oldest collegiate program in New York City. The program had players on the court only 5 years after Dr. James Naismith invented the game in 1891. The College's first official game came in 1901 against Brown University. The Boys from Brooklyn, as they were referred to, finished the 1901 season with a 13–1 mark. From the 1902 to the 1920 season the Terrier basketball records are incomplete. Then from 1920 to 1940 the Terriers compiled a 246–187 record and established themselves as a premier basketball program in New York City, playing their home games in Brooklyn. The Terriers had played as Independents for most of these years, but in 1933 they were a founding member of the now defunct Metropolitan New York Conference. During this time period the Terriers hosted their home games in their gymnasium at the Butler Street Campus in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn or at the 13th Regiment Armory.
The Terriers had 6 head coaches during this period, the most successful of which was Rody Cooney. Who in his 9 years at the helm of the program didn't have a single losing season and compiled a 116–77 record. During this period the Terriers also had their first 20-win season. Cooney's 1935-36 team was the first to participate in a post-season tournament. The Terriers were invited to play in the District 1 tryouts at Madison Square Garden for the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Golden years (1941–1968) Joseph Brennan era (1941–47) Joseph Brennan was the Terriers head coach with the highest winning percentage and he was also elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975. Brennan helped make the Terriers into a popular team during New York City's Basketball glory days of the 1940s and 50s. Due to their popularity the Terriers would play 2 to 3 games a year at Madison Square Garden and the Terriers were one of the few programs hosting Division I games in Brooklyn at the Park Slope Armory, their home court. Brennan's 1941-42 squad averaged 56 points per game, which was quite high during those years. The Terriers also had the first college player to score 20 or more points at Madison Square Garden, Vincent T. Agoglia. He did it twice in the 1941–1942 season, first against LaSalle College of Philadelphia. Brennan ended his head coaching career with a 90–46 (66.2%) record over 7 seasons.
Daniel Lynch era (1948–1968) The greatest head coach in the program's history was Daniel Lynch. Lynch was a graduate of St. Francis College and played basketball at his alma mater from 1934–38 under head coach Rody Cooney. When Lynch took over in 1948 the Terriers became the first team in the New York City area to have a game televised. The Terriers defeated Seton Hall in its inaugural telecast on WPIX. Lynch is the Terrier head coach with the most wins in the programs history (283). Part of that wins total came during a 6-year span from 1950 to 1956, where Lynch guided the Terriers to five consecutive winning seasons going 121–43. As a tribute, the Terriers home court is in the Daniel Lynch Gymnasium, which is part of the Generoso Pope Athletic Complex.
From 1949–1951 the Terriers participated in 4 National Catholic Invitational Tournaments (NCIT). The NCIT was a premier post-season tournament in those years. The Terriers went to the NCIT finals three consecutive times and won the Championship in 1951. Lynch's 1950–51 squad defeated the Seattle University Redhawks 93–79 in the Championship game. Ray Rudzinski scored 26 points, Vernon Stokes scored 22 and Roy Reardon scored 21 points in the NCIT Championship that took place in Albany, New York.
The Terriers appeared in the 1955 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament, losing in the first round to Quincy University. St. Francis first participated in the NAIA District 31 playoffs to qualify for the tournament, in it they defeated St. Peter's (63–55) and Panzer College (80–70). Their record in the tournament is 0–1 and have only made one appearance in their history.
Lynch also led the Terriers to 3 NIT appearances (1954, 1956, and 1963). Lynch's 1953–54 squad won the Metropolitan New York Conference regular season championship and were invited to the 1954 NIT where they defeated Louisville in the first round before losing to Holy Cross in the Quarterfinals. The 1955–56 squad also won the Metropolitan New York Conference regular season championship and participated in the 1956 NIT. They went as far as the 3rd-place game where they lost to St. Joseph's to finish in fourth place. The 1955–1956 season was the Terriers best, as Coach Lynch led them to a 21–4 record that ranked them at 13th nationally in the AP polls. The squad included legends Al Innis, Dan Mannix, Walt Adamushko, and Tony D'Elia. The team at one point won 18 straight games and upset Niagara to reach the NIT Semi-Finals, before falling to Dayton. In the 1963 National Invitation Tournament the Terriers were one of 12 teams selected for the tournament. Lynch's team was the 4th best defense in the country and faced the best offense in Miami. St. Francis had the bigger Miami on the ropes with a 66–65 lead with 3:38 to play, led by Jim Raftery who scored 23 points. Yet the Terriers went on to lose 71–70 to Miami which featured future NBA all-star Rick Barry.
After the Metropolitan New York Conference became defunct in 1963, the Terriers became Independents before joining the Metropolitan Collegiate Conference. The Terriers were a part of the MCC for all four years in which it was active, winning the 1966–67 Conference regular season championship after going 7–2 in conference play. Lynch ended his coaching career with a 283-237 (54.4%) record over a 21-year span. After retiring as the head coach, Lynch became the full-time Athletic Director at St. Francis College, a post he held while he was head coach for several years.
Home court The Terriers originally played most of their home games in their gymnasium at their Butler Street Campus, this lasted until 1955. The Terriers were also occasionally invited to play at Madison Square Garden III by Ned Irish, a basketball promoter. Yet, beginning in the late 1940s the Terriers would also host games at the 14th Regiment Armory in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Starting in the 1950-51 season, St. Francis College was banned from the Garden by Ned Irish for scheduling marquee games at the Park Slope Armory.
By 1956, the Terriers were exclusively hosting games at the Park Slope Armory since the College was in the process of moving its campus from Butler Street to the current Remsen Street location in Brooklyn Heights. The Terriers practices were often interrupted by military drills, and in 1960 the Terriers decided to relocate to the 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan. The 69th Regiment Armory also provided a larger venue for the Terriers. Occasionally their games could not be played there, again because of military drills, as an alternate the Terriers would host games at Bishop Ford High School in Brooklyn. By 1968, the plans for a new gymnasium of their own at the Remsen Street Campus was in progress. Daniel Lynch was a large proponent of the Terriers having their own basketball court, and by 1971 the Terriers finally had their own gymnasium. The building is referred to as the Generoso Pope Athletic Complex and the basketball gym is named after Daniel Lynch.
With SFC noticeably expanding its enrollment in the early 2020s, it outgrew its Remsen Street campus, and moved to a new campus on Livingston Street in Downtown Brooklyn after the 2021–22 school year. The new campus lacks athletic facilities, forcing SFC to move basketball elsewhere. For the immediate future, the Terriers will play at The ARC at Pratt Institute, about 2 miles (3 km) from SFC's new campus in Brooklyn's Clinton Hill neighborhood.
Dark years (1969–90) From the 1969–70 season to the 1990–91 season, a span of 22 years, the St. Francis Terriers men's basketball program only had three winning seasons. Two of those came during the tenure of Lou Rossini, who was formerly a head coach for NYU and Columbia. In the third year of his contract with St. Francis College, it was announced that they would not renew his contract. His team's performance on the court was not the reason and it is believed that differences arose because of the subpar academic performance of the student-athletes.