1986–87 NCAA Division I men's basketball season

1986–87 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Preseason AP #1	North Carolina
NCAA Tournament	1987
Tournament dates	March 12, 1987 – March 30, 1987
National Championship	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana
NCAA Champions	Indiana
Other champions	Southern Miss (NIT)
Player of the Year (Naismith, Wooden)	David Robinson, Navy
NCAA Division I basketball seasons «1985–86  1987–88»

The 1986–87 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1986 and ended with the Final Four in New Orleans, Louisiana on March 30, 1987.

Major rule changes

Beginning in 1986–87, the following rules changes were implemented:

• The three-point field goal was introduced and set at 19 feet, 9 inches from the center of the basket.
• A television replay could be used to prevent or rectify a scorer’s or timer’s mistake or a malfunction of the clock.

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The top 20 from the AP Poll during the pre-season.

Associated Press Ranking Team 1 North Carolina 2 Louisville 3 Indiana 4 Purdue 5 UNLV 6 Georgia Tech 7 Oklahoma 8 Kansas 9 Navy 10 Iowa 11 Kentucky 12 Auburn 13 Alabama 14 Illinois 15 Syracuse 16 Pittsburgh 17 NC State 18 Georgetown 19 Arizona 20 Cleveland State

Regular season

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference	Regular Season Winner	Conference Player of the Year	Conference Coach of the Year	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue (City)	Tournament Winner
AMCU–8	Southwest Missouri State	Winston Garland, Southwest Missouri State	Charlie Spoonhour, Southwest Missouri State	1987 AMCU-8 Men's Basketball Tournament	Hammons Student Center (Springfield, Missouri)	Southwest Missouri State
Atlantic 10 Conference	Temple	Nate Blackwell, Temple	John Chaney, Temple	1987 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Tournament	McGonigle Hall (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)	Temple
Atlantic Coast Conference	North Carolina	Horace Grant, Clemson	Cliff Ellis, Clemson	1987 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament	Capital Centre (Landover, Maryland)	NC State
Big East Conference	Georgetown, Pittsburgh & Syracuse	Reggie Williams, Georgetown	John Thompson, Georgetown	1987 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament	Madison Square Garden (New York City, New York)	Georgetown
Big Eight Conference	Missouri	Danny Manning, Kansas	Norm Stewart, Missouri	1987 Big Eight Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Kemper Arena (Kansas City, Missouri) (Semifinals and Finals)	Missouri
Big Sky Conference	Montana State	Tom Domako, Montana State	Bobby Dye, Boise State & Jim Boutin, Idaho State	1987 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Walkup Skydome (Flagstaff, Arizona)	Idaho State
Big South Conference	Baptist	Clarence Grier, Campbell	Billy Lee, Campbell	1987 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Savannah Civic Center (Savannah, Georgia)	Baptist
Big Ten Conference	Indiana & Purdue	Dennis Hopson, Ohio State	Tom Davis, Iowa	No Tournament
Colonial Athletic Association	Navy	David Robinson, Navy	John Thurston, James Madison	1987 CAA Men's Basketball Tournament	Hampton Coliseum (Hampton, Virginia)	Navy
East Coast Conference	Bucknell	Daren Queenan, Lehigh & Ron Simpson, Rider	Charlie Woollum, Bucknell	1987 East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Towson Center (Towson, Maryland)	Bucknell
ECAC Metro	Marist	Rik Smits, Marist	Dave Magarity, Marist	1987 ECAC Metro Men's Basketball Tournament	McCann Field House (Poughkeepsie, New York)	Marist
ECAC North Atlantic	Northeastern	Reggie Lewis, Northeastern	Karl Fogel, Northeastern	1987 ECAC North Men's Basketball Tournament	Matthews Arena (Boston, Massachusetts)	Northeastern
Ivy League	Penn	Perry Bromwell, Penn	None selected	No Tournament
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference	Saint Peter's	Kevin Houston, Army	Ted Fiore, Saint Peter's	1987 MAAC Men's Basketball Tournament	Meadowlands Arena (East Rutherford, New Jersey)	Fairfield
Metro Conference	Louisville	Herbert Crook, Louisville	Larry Finch, Memphis State	1987 Metro Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Freedom Hall (Louisville, Kentucky)	Memphis State
Mid-American Conference	Central Michigan	Booker James, Western Michigan	Charlie Coles, Central Michigan	1987 MAC Men's Basketball Tournament	Centennial Hall (Toledo, Ohio)	Central Michigan
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference	Howard	George Cale, North Carolina A&T	A. B. Williamson, Howard	1987 MEAC Men's Basketball Tournament	Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, North Carolina)	North Carolina A&T
Midwestern Collegiate Conference	Evansville & Loyola (IL)	Andre Moore, Loyola (IL)	Jim Crews, Evansville	1987 Midwestern Collegiate Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Market Square Arena (Indianapolis, Indiana)	Xavier
Missouri Valley Conference	Tulsa	Hersey Hawkins, Bradley	Eddie Fogler, Wichita State	1987 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Tulsa Convention Center (Tulsa, Oklahoma)	Wichita State
Ohio Valley Conference	Middle Tennessee State	Bob McCann, Morehead State	Max Good, Eastern Kentucky	1987 Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Murphy Center (Murfreesboro, Tennessee)	Austin Peay
Pacific-10 Conference	UCLA	José Ortiz, Oregon State	Walt Hazzard, UCLA	1987 Pacific-10 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Pauley Pavilion (Los Angeles, California)	UCLA
Pacific Coast Athletic Association	UNLV	Armon Gilliam, UNLV	Jerry Tarkanian, UNLV	1987 Pacific Coast Athletic Association Men's Basketball Tournament	The Forum (Inglewood, California)	UNLV
Southeastern Conference	Alabama	Derrick McKey, Alabama	Wimp Sanderson, Alabama	1987 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament	Omni Coliseum (Atlanta, Georgia)	Alabama
Southern Conference	Marshall	Gay Elmore, VMI	Butch Estes, Furman	1987 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Asheville Civic Center (Asheville, North Carolina)	Marshall
Southland Conference	Louisiana Tech	Jerome Batiste, McNeese State	Tommy Joe Eagles, Louisiana Tech	1987 Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Thomas Assembly Center (Ruston, Louisiana)	Louisiana Tech
Southwest Conference	TCU	Carven Holcombe, TCU	Jim Killingsworth, TCU	1987 Southwest Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Reunion Arena (Dallas, Texas)	Texas A&M
Southwestern Athletic Conference	Grambling State	George Ivory, Mississippi Valley State & Avery Johnson, Southern	Bob Hopkins, Grambling State	1987 SWAC Men's Basketball Tournament		Southern
Sun Belt Conference	Western Kentucky	Tellis Frank, Western Kentucky	Murray Arnold, Western Kentucky	1987 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	E. A. Diddle Arena (Bowling Green, Kentucky)	UAB
Trans America Athletic Conference	Arkansas–Little Rock	Brian Newton, Georgia Southern	Frank Kerns, Georgia Southern	1987 TAAC Men's Basketball Tournament	Barton Coliseum (Little Rock, Arkansas)	Georgia Southern
West Coast Athletic Conference	San Diego	Scott Thompson, San Diego	Hank Egan, San Diego	1987 West Coast Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	War Memorial Gymnasium (San Francisco, California)	Santa Clara
Western Athletic Conference	UTEP	Fennis Dembo, Wyoming	Don Haskins, UTEP	1987 WAC Men's Basketball Tournament	The Pit (Albuquerque, New Mexico)	Wyoming

Statistical leaders

Points Per Game				Rebounds Per Game				Assists Per Game				Steals per game
Player	School	PPG		Player	School	RPG		Player	School	APG		Player	School	SPG
Kevin Houston	Army	32.9		Jerome Lane	Pittsburgh	13.5		Avery Johnson	Southern	10.7		Tony Fairley	Baptist	4.1
Dennis Hopson	Ohio St.	29.0		Chris Dudley	Yale	13.3		Mark Wade	UNLV	10.7		Doug Usitalo	Boise St.	3.5
David Robinson	Navy	28.2		Andre Moore	Loyola (IL)	12.4		Tony Fairley	Baptist	9.6		Joe Jeter	Delaware St.	3.4
Terrance Bailey	Wagner	28.1		David Robinson	Navy	11.8		Tyrone Bogues	Wake Forest	9.5		Roderick Ford	UT Arlington	3.4
Hersey Hawkins	Bradley	27.2		Brian Rowsom	UNC Wilmington	11.5		Andre Van Drost	Wagner	9.3		Duane Washington	Middle Tenn. St.	3.2

Blocked shots per game				Field goal percentage				Three-point field goal percentage				Free throw percentage
Player	School	BPG		Player	School	FG%		Player	School	3FG%		Player	School	FT%
David Robinson	Navy	4.5		Alan Williams	Princeton	70.3		Reginald Jones	Prairie View	57.1		Kevin Houston	Army	91.2
Derrick Lewis	Maryland	4.4		Tyrone Howard	E. Kentucky	67.8		Eric Rhodes	SF Austin	54.7		Daryl Johnson	Michigan St.	91.0
Lester Fonville	Jackson St.	3.9		Horace Grant	Clemson	65.6		Anthony Davis	George Mason	53.6		Scott Haffner	Evansville	90.9
Dallas Comegys	DePaul	3.5		Robert Godbolt	Louisiana Tech	64.7		Scott Dimak	SF Austin	53.5		Nate Blackwell	Temple	90.4
Tim Perry	Temple	3.2		Claude Williams	NC A&T	63.7		Steve Alford	Indiana	53.0		Michael Smith	BYU	90.4

Conference standings

Template:1986–87 AMCU-8 Conference men's basketball standings	Template:1986–87 Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball standings	Template:1986–87 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball standings
1986–87 Big East men's basketball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT #4 Georgetown† 12 – 4   .750     29 – 5   .853 #12 Pittsburgh 12 – 4   .750     25 – 8   .758 #10 Syracuse 12 – 4   .750     31 – 7   .816 Providence 10 – 6   .625     25 – 9   .735 St. John's 10 – 6   .625     21 – 9   .700 Villanova 6 – 10   .375     15 – 16   .484 Seton Hall 4 – 12   .250     15 – 14   .517 Boston College 3 – 13   .188     11 – 18   .379 Connecticut 3 – 13   .188     9 – 19   .321 † 1987 Big East Tournament winner As of March 30, 1987; Rankings from AP Poll	Template:1986–87 Big Eight Conference men's basketball standings	Template:1986–87 Big Sky Conference men's basketball standings
1986–87 Big South Conference men's basketball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT Baptist College † 12 – 2   .857     21 – 9   .700 Campbell 10 – 4   .714     17 – 13   .567 UNC Asheville 5 – 3   .625     15 – 11   .577 Radford 7 – 7   .500     17 – 14   .548 Winthrop 1 – 7   .125     8 – 20   .286 Coastal Carolina 4 – 4   .500     12 – 16   .429 Armstrong 2 – 6   .250     6 – 22   .214 Augusta State 3 – 11   .214     8 – 19   .296 † 1987 Big South Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll	1986–87 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT #3 Indiana 15 – 3   .833     30 – 4   .882 #7 Purdue 15 – 3   .833     25 – 5   .833 #6 Iowa 14 – 4   .778     30 – 5   .857 #11 Illinois 13 – 5   .722     23 – 8   .742 Michigan 10 – 8   .556     20 – 12   .625 Ohio State 9 – 9   .500     20 – 13   .606 Michigan State 6 – 12   .333     11 – 17   .393 Wisconsin 4 – 14   .222     14 – 17   .452 Minnesota 2 – 16   .111     9 – 19   .321 Northwestern 2 – 16   .111     7 – 21   .250 Rankings from AP Poll	Template:1986–87 Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball standings
Template:1986–87 CAA men's basketball standings	Template:1986–87 East Coast Conference men's basketball standings	Template:1986–87 ECAC North Atlantic men's basketball standings
Template:1986–87 Gulf Star Conference men's basketball standings	Template:1986–87 Independent men's basketball standings	Template:1986–87 Ivy League men's basketball standings
Template:1986–87 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men's basketball standings	Template:1986–87 Metro Conference men's basketball standings	Template:1986–87 Midwestern Collegiate Conference men's basketball standings
1986–87 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT Central Michigan† 14 – 2   .875     22 – 8   .733 Kent State 11 – 5   .688     19 – 10   .655 Bowling Green 10 – 6   .625     15 – 14   .517 Eastern Michigan 8 – 8   .500     14 – 15   .483 Miami 7 – 9   .438     14 – 14   .500 Ohio 7 – 9   .438     14 – 14   .500 Western Michigan 7 – 9   .438     12 – 16   .429 Toledo 4 – 12   .250     11 – 17   .393 Ball State 4 – 12   .250     9 – 18   .333 † Mid-American Conference Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll	Template:1986–87 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference men's basketball standings	Template:1986–87 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Template:1986–87 Northeast Conference men's basketball standings	Template:1986–87 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings	1986–87 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT UCLA† 14 – 4   .778     25 – 7   .781 Arizona 13 – 5   .722     18 – 12   .600 Washington 10 – 8   .556     20 – 15   .571 California 10 – 8   .556     20 – 15   .571 Oregon State 10 – 8   .556     19 – 11   .633 Stanford 9 – 9   .500     15 – 13   .536 Oregon 8 – 10   .444     16 – 14   .533 Arizona State 6 – 12   .333     11 – 17   .393 Washington State 6 – 12   .333     10 – 18   .357 USC 4 – 14   .222     9 – 19   .321 † 1987 Pacific-10 Tournament winner As of March 25, 1987; Rankings from AP Poll
Template:1986–87 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings	Template:1986–87 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings	1986–87 Southern Conference men's basketball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT Marshall† 15 – 1   .938     25 – 6   .806 Chattanooga 14 – 2   .875     21 – 8   .724 Davidson 12 – 4   .750     20 – 10   .667 Furman 10 – 6   .625     17 – 12   .586 The Citadel 6 – 10   .375     13 – 15   .464 VMI 5 – 11   .313     11 – 17   .393 Western Carolina 4 – 12   .250     10 – 19   .345 Appalachian State 3 – 13   .188     7 – 21   .250 East Tennessee State 3 – 13   .188     7 – 21   .250 † Tournament winner As of April 30, 1987; Rankings from AP Poll
Template:1986–87 Southland Conference men's basketball standings	Template:1986–87 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings	Template:1986–87 Southwestern Athletic Conference men's basketball standings
Template:1986–87 Trans America Athletic Conference men's basketball standings	Template:1986–87 West Coast Conference men's basketball standings	Template:1986–87 WAC men's basketball standings

Postseason tournaments

NCAA Tournament

Main article: 1987 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

Final Four - Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

	National Semifinals					National Championship Game
	E2	Syracuse	77
	S6	Providence	63
						E2	Syracuse	73
						M1	Indiana	74
	M1	Indiana	97
	W1	UNLV	93

National Invitation Tournament

Main article: 1987 National Invitation Tournament

NIT Semifinals and Final

	Semifinals (March 24)					Finals (March 26)
	La Salle		92
	Arkansas–Little Rock		73
						La Salle		80
						Southern Miss		84
	Southern Miss		82
	Nebraska		75

	Third place game
	Arkansas–Little Rock		67
	Nebraska		76

Award winners

Consensus All-American teams

Main article: 1987 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

Consensus First Team

Player	Position	Class	Team
Steve Alford	G	Senior	Indiana
Danny Manning	F	Junior	Kansas
David Robinson	C	Senior	Navy
Kenny Smith	G	Senior	North Carolina
Reggie Williams	F	Senior	Georgetown

Consensus Second Team

Player	Position	Class	Team
Armon Gilliam	F	Senior	UNLV
Horace Grant	F/C	Senior	Clemson
Dennis Hopson	G	Senior	Ohio State
Mark Jackson	G	Senior	St. John's
Ken Norman	F	Senior	Illinois

Major player of the year awards

• Wooden Award: David Robinson, Navy
• Naismith Award: David Robinson, Navy
• Associated Press Player of the Year: David Robinson, Navy
• UPI Player of the Year: David Robinson, Navy
• NABC Player of the Year: David Robinson, Navy
• Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA): David Robinson, Navy
• Adolph Rupp Trophy: David Robinson, Navy
• Sporting News Player of the Year: David Robinson, Navy

Major coach of the year awards

• Associated Press Coach of the Year: Tom Davis, Iowa
• UPI Coach of the Year: John Thompson, Georgetown
• Henry Iba Award (USBWA): John Chaney, Temple
• NABC Coach of the Year: Rick Pitino, Providence
• Naismith College Coach of the Year: Bob Knight, Indiana
• CBS/Chevrolet Coach of the Year: Joey Meyer, DePaul
• Sporting News Coach of the Year: Rick Pitino, Providence

Other major awards

• Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player under 6'0): Muggsy Bogues, Wake Forest
• Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Nate Blackwell, Temple
• NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in NYC): Mark Jackson, St. John's and Kevin Houston, Army

Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.

Team	Former Coach	Interim Coach	New Coach	Reason
Canisius	Nick Macarchuk		Marty Marbach
George Mason	Joe Harrington		Rick Barnes
Long Beach State	Ron Palmer		Joe Harrington
Providence	Rick Pitino		Gordon Chiesa	Following a season in which he led Providence to the Final Four, Pitino accepted the head coaching position for the New York Knicks. He was replaced with top assistant Chiesa.