| Cal Poly Mustangs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
 | ||||
| University | California Polytechnic State University | |||
| Head coach | Mike DeGeorge (1st season) | |||
| Conference | Big West | |||
| Location | San Luis Obispo, California | |||
| Arena | Mott Athletics Center (capacity: 3,032) | |||
| Nickname | Mustangs | |||
| Colors | Poly green, copper gold, and stadium gold[1] | |||
| Uniforms | ||||
| ||||
| NCAA tournament Final Four | ||||
| 1981* | ||||
| NCAA tournament Elite Eight | ||||
| 1977*, 1981* | ||||
| NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 1977*, 1980*, 1981*, 1982* | ||||
| NCAA tournament appearances | ||||
| 1971*, 1974*, 1977*, 1980*, 1981*, 1982*, 1986*, 2014 *at Division II level | ||||
| Conference tournament champions | ||||
| Big West: 2014 | ||||
| Conference regular season champions | ||||
| CCAA: 1955, 1956, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1981 (co), 1986, 1987 (co) American West: 1996 | ||||
The Cal Poly Mustangs men's basketball team represents California Polytechnic State University, located in San Luis Obispo, California. The school's team currently competes in the Big West Conference. The Cal Poly men's basketball team's first season was 1907 and its first season as a four-year institution was 1941–42.[2][3] The Mustangs are coached by Mike DeGeorge and play their home games at Robert A. Mott Athletics Center.
The team began playing at the Division I level in 1994–95, and shortly thereafter won a regular-season conference title in the four-team American West Conference (since disbanded) with a 5–1 record in 1996. The 1995–96 championship season saw Cal Poly's Ben Larson average 3.45 steals per game, the third-most in NCAA history,[4] while winning the AWC Player of the Year award. The Mustangs then joined the Big West ahead of the 1996–97 school year.
In 2009, ESPN selected Ernie Wheeler (1972–86) as the top coach in school history, along with Derek Stockalper as the best player in program history (joined by Jim Schultz, Mike Wozniak, Mike LaRoche and Varnie Dennis as the network's then-all time starting five).[5] Wozniak became the all-time scoring leader in school history.[6] Just a year later, however, Chris Bjorklund broke Wozniak's career program record of 1,903 points, graduating in 2001 after scoring a still-standing total of 2,006.[7]
Cal Poly advanced to its first Division I NCAA Tournament in 2014 after a historic run in the Big West Conference tournament, becoming the first 7th seed to win the championship, as the Mustangs defeated CSUN, 61–59,[8] following a go-ahead 3-pointer made by Ridge Shipley[9] at the Honda Center.[10] Cal Poly earned the 16th seed and defeated Texas Southern[11] in the NCAA first round in Dayton. Cal Poly then advanced to the 2nd Round, where they were defeated by unbeaten top seed Wichita State 64–37.
Prior to the 2014 conference tournament championship-game victory, Cal Poly advanced to the Big West Championship Game on two other occasions: in 2003 (falling to Utah State[12]) and 2007 (to Long Beach State[13]).[14][15]
- ^ "Cal Poly Athletics Brand Guidelines" (PDF). February 9, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
- ^ "From the Dirt Courts to the Big Dance". gopoly.com. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
- ^ "Cal Poly Men's Basketball Season-by-Season Overall and Conference Records" (PDF). gopoly.com. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
- ^ "2021-22 NCAA Men's Basketball Records". NCAA.org. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
- ^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. United States: Ballantine Books. 2009. p. 110. ISBN 9780345513922.
- ^ Zarrabi, Nima (June 1999). "The Wizard of Woz". SLAM. Vol. 6, no. 34. New York, NY: Petersen Publishing. p. 19.
- ^ Hartman, Sid (April 14, 2001). "Baseball in state on shaky ground". Minneapolis (Minn.) Star Tribune (METRO ed.). pp. 03C.
- ^ "Cal Poly wins Big West Tourney as 7th seed". USA TODAY. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
- ^ Benne, Jon (March 16, 2014). "Cal Poly dancing for the first time". SBNation.com. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
- ^ Thomas, Justin. "Champion-Shipley Week: Cal Poly dancing after Hebron product's winning 3-pointer". Star Local. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
- ^ "Cal Poly vs. Texas Southern - Game Recap - March 19, 2014 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
- ^ "ESPN.com: NCB - Utah State holds off Cal Poly for Big West title". ESPN. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
- ^ "49ers in the big dance". San Bernardino Sun. March 11, 2007. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
- ^ Milne, Brian (March 15, 2003). "A Fairy-Tale Final - Poly Downs UCSB, NCAA Bid Now on the Line". The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, CA). pp. C1.
- ^ Milne, Brian (March 10, 2007). "Poly One Victory From History - Cal Poly Storms to a 25-Point Big West Tournament Semifinal Victory Over Cal State Fullerton to Contend for First-Ever NCAA Tournament Berth". The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, CA). pp. D1.