| UC Riverside Highlanders | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
 | ||||
| University | University of California, Riverside | |||
| Head coach | Mike Magpayo (4th season) | |||
| Conference | Big West | |||
| Location | Riverside, California | |||
| Arena | Student Recreation Center Arena (capacity: 3,168) | |||
| Nickname | Highlanders | |||
| Colors | Blue and gold[1] | |||
| Uniforms | ||||
| ||||
| NCAA tournament runner-up | ||||
| Division II: 1995 | ||||
| NCAA tournament Final Four | ||||
| Division II: 1970, 1989, 1995 | ||||
| NCAA tournament Elite Eight | ||||
| Division II: 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1980, 1989, 1995 | ||||
| NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| Division II: 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1994, 1995 | ||||
| NCAA tournament appearances | ||||
| Division II: 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997 | ||||
The UC Riverside Highlanders men's basketball team represents the University of California, Riverside in Riverside, California, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Big West Conference and is led by coach Mike Magpayo. The Highlanders play their home games at the Student Recreation Center Arena. The program had its greatest success as a Division II program, making it to three Final Fours and the national title game in 1995.
In 2020, the future of the program was placed into doubt, as UC Riverside's leadership reportedly began considering cutting the university's entire athletics department in response to financial strain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in May 2021, the university announced that they had decided against eliminating athletics and will continue competing at the NCAA Division I level in all sports,[2][3] thus saving the men's basketball program from extinction.
- ^ "UCR Colors | Brand Identity". June 13, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
- ^ Medcalf, Myron (6 May 2021). "UC Riverside won't cut sports, will remain at Division I level despite pandemic". ESPN.com. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
- ^ Wolken, Dan (12 November 2021). "Opinion: From brink of program elimination, UC-Riverside authors one of college basketball's shining moments". USA Today. Retrieved 12 December 2021.