Albany Great Danes men's basketball
| Albany Great Danes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| University | University at Albany, State University of New York | ||
| Conference | America East | ||
| Location | Albany, NY | ||
| Head coach | Will Brown (16th year) | ||
| Arena |
SEFCU Arena (Capacity: 4,553) |
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| Nickname | Great Danes | ||
| Colors | Purple and Gold |
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| Uniforms | |||
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| NCAA Tournament appearances | |||
| 2006, 2007, 2013, 2014, 2015 | |||
| Conference tournament champions | |||
| 2006, 2007, 2013, 2014, 2015 | |||
| Conference regular season champions | |||
| 2006, 2015 | |||
The Albany Great Danes Basketball team is the basketball team that represent the University at Albany, State University of New York in Albany, New York. The school's team currently competes in the America East Conference and plays its home games at SEFCU Arena. The team played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2006, 2007, 2013, and 2014, 2015 and are currently coached by Will Brown.
Richard “Doc” Sauers served as Great Danes men's basketball coach from 1955–1997, with a short break in the 1987-88 season. He led the program to eleven NCAA College Division/Division III and four NAIA post-season tournament appearances in his tenure. Sauers finished his career with a 702–330 record in 41 seasons. Sauers achieved the 700-win mark on February 8, 1997 in an 89–71 victory over the University of Bridgeport. He would retire one month later and be inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 2004. A banner is flown in the rafters of the SEFCU Arena honoring Sauers accomplishment of 702 wins.
The process to become a Division I program was slow. From the 1999–2000 season, the first year in Division I, to the end of the 2004–05 season, UAlbany recorded a 48–118 record. The team finished with over 10 victories in only two seasons. However, in the 2005–06 campaign, the Great Danes compiled a 21–11 season. In that season, the Great Danes would take on both the Florida Gators and UCLA Bruins, Who would play each other for the National Championship. On March 11, 2006, the men's basketball team won the America East conference tournament, earning the school (and the SUNY system) its first ever berth to the NCAA Tournament, defeating the University of Vermont 80–67 in a sold out RACC. The Great Danes were seeded #16 in the Washington, D.C. region and were matched up against top-seeded UConn. Despite the #16 seed being 0–87 before Albany took the floor, Head Coach Will Brown believed that his team had a chance to beat UConn in the tournament. With that, the team took the motto, "Why Not Us?".
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