LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds men's basketball
The LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds men's basketball team represented the Brooklyn campus of Long Island University, located in downtown Brooklyn in New York City, New York, in NCAA Division I basketball competition. The Blackbirds most recently played their home games at the Steinberg Wellness Center, formerly known as the Wellness, Recreation & Athletics Center, and were members of the Northeast Conference.
Their final head coach was Derek Kellogg, who was hired after his firing from Massachusetts in 2017, with 2017-18 season was his first as head coach. On March 12, 2013, the team achieved what was the greatest run in Northeast Conference history with a third straight NCAA Tournament bid.
In October 2018, LIU announced that it would merge its two existing athletic programs—the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds and LIU Post Pioneers, the latter an NCAA Division II member—effective with the 2019–20 school year. The merged athletic program now competes as the LIU Sharks, with the new colors of blue and gold, with Kellogg becoming the Sharks' first head men's basketball coach.
History
LIU was a national powerhouse in the 1930s and 1940s under Clair Bee, who compiled the highest winning percentage in major college basketball history. The Blackbirds were retroactively recognized as the pre-NCAA Tournament national champion for the 1935–36 season by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll. However, after several players were implicated in the point-shaving scandal of 1951, LIU shuttered its entire athletic program. It returned to the College Division in 1957, and only returned to the University Division in the late 1960s.Postseason
NCAA Division I Tournament results
The Blackbirds appeared in the NCAA Division I Tournament seven times. Their combined record was 0–7.| 1981 | #12 | First Round | #5 VCU | L 69–85 |
| 1984 | #11 | Preliminary Round | #11 Northeastern | L 87–90 |
| 1997 | #13 | First Round | #4 Villanova | L 91–101 |
| 2011 | #15 | First Round | #2 North Carolina | L 87–102 |
| 2012 | #16 | First Round | #1 Michigan State | L 67–89 |
| 2013 | #16 | First Four | #16 James Madison | L 55–68 |
| 2018 | #16 | First Four | #16 Radford | L 61–71 |
NCAA Division II tournament results
The Blackbirds appeared in the NCAA Division II Tournament three times. Their combined record was 6–3.| 1965 | Regional Semifinals Regional Finals | Cheyney Philadelphia Textile | W 57–48 L 58–61 |
| 1966 | Regional Semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight | Drexel Cheyney Akron | W 62–54 W 67–64 L 68–74 |
| 1967 | Regional Quarterfinals Regional Semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight | Rochester Central Connecticut State Saint Michael's Winston-Salem State | W 85–76 W 114–66 W 72–64 L 54–62 |
NIT results
The Blackbirds appeared in the National Invitation Tournament ten times. Their combined record was 7–8 and they were NIT champions in 1939 and 1941.| 1938 | Quarterfinals | NYU | L 37–39 |
| 1939 | Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship Game | New Mexico A&M Bradley Loyola | W 52–45 W 36–33 W 45–32 |
| 1940 | Quarterfinals | DePaul | L 38–45 |
| 1941 | Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship Game | Westminster Seton Hall Ohio | W 48–36 W 49–26 W 56–42 |
| 1942 | Quarterfinals | West Virginia | L 49–58 |
| 1947 | Quarterfinals | Kentucky | L 62–66 |
| 1950 | Quarterfinals | Syracuse | L 52–80 |
| 1968 | First Round Quarterfinals | Bradley Notre Dame | W 80–77 L 60–62 |
| 1982 | First Round | Illinois | L 78–126 |
| 1998 | First Round | Dayton | L 92–95 |