VMI Keydets men's basketball
| VMI Keydets | ||||
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| University | Virginia Military Institute | |||
| First season | 1908–09 | |||
| All-time record | 859–1,430 (.375) | |||
| Conference | Southern | |||
| Location | Lexington, VA | |||
| Head coach | Dan Earl (2nd year) | |||
| Arena |
Cameron Hall (Capacity: 5,800) |
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| Nickname | Keydets | |||
| Colors | Red, Yellow, and White |
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| Uniforms | ||||
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| NCAA Tournament Elite Eight | ||||
| 1976 | ||||
| NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 1976, 1977 | ||||
| NCAA Tournament appearances | ||||
| 1964, 1976, 1977 | ||||
| Conference tournament champions | ||||
| 1964, 1976, 1977 | ||||
The VMI Keydets basketball team represents the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. They compete in the Southern Conference of the NCAA Division I. They have played their home games in Cameron Hall since 1981. VMI has played basketball since 1908, and had played in the Southern Conference (SoCon) until 2003, when they moved to the Big South. VMI rejoined the SoCon on July 1, 2014. They are coached by Dan Earl.
The VMI basketball program began in 1908 under head coach Pete Krebs, and team went 3–3 in their inaugural season. VMI enjoyed mild success within the first several years of its existence, achieving twelve winning seasons in seventeen years as an independent between 1908 and 1925, including records of 11–1 and 16–1 1920 and 1921, respectively.Pinky Spruhan, who coached the Keydets from 1919 to 1922, had a 38–9 coaching record which still stands as the highest winning percentage of any VMI head basketball coach (.809).
VMI joined the Southern Conference in 1925 at which time they were led by 4th-year head coach W. C. Raftery. After a 7–8 overall mark and 3–5 conference record in their opening season in the SoCon, VMI finished in 20th place or lower in the conference four of the next six seasons. Raftery departed in 1934 with a 68–112 record; the 68 wins are the 4th-most in VMI history.
Throughout the next 30 years, VMI never placed better than 5th in the conference. This stretch included one winless season and two winless conference marks. From 1943 to 1953, VMI failed to win more than five games in any season. The Keydets saw 13 different head coaches, five of which were only tenured for one year.
Hired in 1958, Louis "Weenie" Miller became the first coach to lead VMI to an NCAA tournament appearance. After seasons of 5–13, 4–16 and 5–17, the Keydets managed to go 9–11 and 6–8 in SoCon play in the 1961–62 season. The nine wins were the most for the program since 1953–54, and they made their first Southern Conference tournament semifinal appearance since 1941.
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