Bucknell Bison men's basketball

Bucknell Bison
Bucknell Bison
	2024–25 Bucknell Bison men's basketball team
University	Bucknell University
Head coach	John Griffin III (2nd season)
Conference	Patriot
Location	Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
Arena	Sojka Pavilion ; (capacity: 4,000)
Nickname	Bison
Colors	Blue and orange;
Uniforms
Home	Away ;
Pre-tournament Premo-Porretta champions
	1901
NCAA tournament round of 32
	2005, 2006
NCAA tournament appearances
	1987, 1989, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2018
Conference tournament champions
	ECC: 1987, 1989 ; Patriot League: 2005, 2006, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2018
Conference regular season champions
	ECC: 1979, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989 ; Patriot League: 1992, 1993, 1995, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

The Bucknell Bison men's basketball team represents Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania in NCAA Division I competition. The school's team competes in the Patriot League and plays home games in Sojka Pavilion.^[2] John Griffin III was appointed the program's 22nd head coach on March 21, 2023.^[3]

Bucknell began varsity intercollegiate competition in men's basketball in 1896.^[4] The Bison were retroactively recognized as the pre-NCAA tournament national champion for the 1900–01 season by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll.^[5] In the tournament era, the Bison have appeared eight times in the NCAA tournament, most recently in 2018.

Postseason

Bucknell has appeared in 11 postseason tournaments, with three wins in total. In 2005, Bucknell defeated #3 seed Kansas in the first round as a #14 seed, in the biggest upset of the 2005 NCAA Tournament. They received the award for "Best Upset" at the 2005 ESPY Awards. The following year, they received a #9 seed (highest in Patriot League history) and defeated the #8 seeded Arkansas in the first round.

NCAA tournament results

The Bison have appeared in eight NCAA Tournaments. Their combined record is 2–8.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1987	#16	First Round	#1 Georgetown	L 53–75
1989	#15	First Round	#2 Syracuse	L 81–104
2005	#14	First Round Second Round	#3 Kansas #6 Wisconsin	W 64–63 L 62–71
2006	#9	First Round Second Round	#8 Arkansas #1 Memphis	W 59–55 L 56–72
2011	#14	First Round	#3 UConn	L 52–81
2013	#11	First Round	#6 Butler	L 56–68
2017	#13	First Round	#4 West Virginia	L 80–86
2018	#14	First Round	#3 Michigan State	L 78–82

From 2011–2015 the round of 64 was known as the Second Round

NIT results

The Bison have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) three times. Their record is 1–3.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2012	First Round Second Round	Arizona Nevada	W 65–54 L 67–75
2015	First Round	Temple	L 67–73
2016	First Round	Monmouth	L 80–90

Seasons

Records

Award winners

Conference Player of the Year

Nana Foulland (left) and Zach Thomas (right) won back-to-back Patriot League Player of the Year awards as teammates in 2017 and 2018.

Year	Player	Conference
1985	Jaye Andrews	East Coast Conference
1992	Patrick King	Patriot League
1993	Mike Bright	Patriot League
2006	Charles Lee	Patriot League
2011	Mike Muscala	Patriot League
2013	Mike Muscala (2)	Patriot League
2014	Cameron Ayers	Patriot League
2017	Nana Foulland	Patriot League
2018	Zach Thomas	Patriot League

Conference Coach of the Year

Year	Player	Conference
1984	Charlie Woollum	East Coast Conference
1985	Charlie Woollum (2)	East Coast Conference
1987	Charlie Woollum (3)	East Coast Conference
1993	Charlie Woollum (4)	Patriot League
1995	Pat Flannery	Patriot League
1997	Pat Flannery (2)	Patriot League
2006	Pat Flannery (3)	Patriot League
2011	Dave Paulsen	Patriot League
2012	Dave Paulsen (2)	Patriot League
2016	Nathan Davis	Patriot League
2017	Nathan Davis (2)	Patriot League

Retired numbers

The Bison have retired three jersey numbers in program history.^[6]

No.	Player	Years
22	Al Leslie	1977–1981
31	Mike Muscala	2009–2013
44	Hal Danzig	1956–1959

NBA draft

Bucknell has had three players drafted into the National Basketball Association (NBA). Mike Muscala is the only current active Bison playing in the NBA.

Player	Draft	Round	Pick	Team	Notes
Al Leslie	1981	2	37	Indiana Pacers	Highest drafted in program history
Jaye Andrews	1985	7	169	Philadelphia 76ers	—
Mike Muscala	2013	2	44	Atlanta Hawks	Only Bison to play in the NBA

Bisons in international leagues

Bryan Cohen (born 1989), American-Israeli basketball player
Nate Sestina (born 1997), basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League

References

^ "Bucknell University Brand Guidelines". Retrieved March 16, 2018.
^ Bucknell Bison men's basketball 2007-08 media guide Archived April 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Accessed April 19, 2008.
^ "John Griffin III ’08 Named Men’s Basketball Head Coach at Bucknell," Bucknell University Athletics, Tuesday, March 21, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
^ "Bucknell Bison". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
^ ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. p. 529. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "Bucknell to Retire Jerseys of Former Basketball Stars Hal Danzig, Al Leslie". CBS Sports. February 6, 2006. Archived from the original on September 3, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2018.

External links

Official website

[1] "Bucknell University Brand Guidelines". Retrieved March 16, 2018.

[MDG-2] Bucknell Bison men's basketball 2007-08 media guide Archived April 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Accessed April 19, 2008.

[3] "John Griffin III ’08 Named Men’s Basketball Head Coach at Bucknell," Bucknell University Athletics, Tuesday, March 21, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2023.

[4] "Bucknell Bison". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 25, 2015.

[5] ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. p. 529. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[6] "Bucknell to Retire Jerseys of Former Basketball Stars Hal Danzig, Al Leslie". CBS Sports. February 6, 2006. Archived from the original on September 3, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2018.

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