1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season

The 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 28, 1980, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1981 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship game on March 30, 1981, at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. The Indiana Hoosiers won their fourth NCAA national championship with a 63–50 victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Rule Changes

  • On free throw attempts, players can now enter the free-throw lane after the foul shooter releases the ball. Previously, players had to wait until the ball touched either the rim or backboard before entering the lane.
  • The time allotted to replace a disqualified (fouled out) player was reduced from 60 to 30 seconds.
  • Starting in the 1981–82 season, the national third-place game was abolished.
  • Conferences were allowed to experiment with the three-point shot in conference games only. The Southern Conference was the first to use the shot in their conference games, adopting a distance of 22 feet.

Season headlines

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The top 20 from the AP and UPI polls during the pre-season.

Associated Press
Ranking Team
1 Kentucky (30)
2 DePaul (18)
3 Louisville (2)
4 Maryland (2)
5 Indiana (2)
6 UCLA (2)
7 Oregon State (1)
8 Virginia (1)
9 Ohio State (1)
10 Notre Dame
11 Missouri
12 Louisiana State
13 North Carolina
14 Iowa
15 Texas A&M
16 Georgetown
17 St. John's
18 Brigham Young
19 Syracuse
20 Arkansas
UPI Coaches
Ranking Team
1 Kentucky
2 DePaul
3 Louisville
4 Indiana
5 Maryland
6 Oregon State
7 Virginia
8 UCLA
9 Ohio State
10 Missouri
11 North Carolina
12 Notre Dame
13 Louisiana State
14 Texas A&M
15 Iowa
16 Georgetown
17 Brigham Young
18 Kansas State
19 St. John's
20 Arizona State

Regular season

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference Regular
season winner
Conference
player of the year
Conference
tournament
Tournament
venue (City)
Tournament
winner
Atlantic Coast Conference Virginia Ralph Sampson, Virginia 1981 ACC men's basketball tournament Capital Centre
(Landover, Maryland)
North Carolina
Big East Conference Boston College John Bagley, Boston College 1981 Big East men's basketball tournament Carrier Dome
(Syracuse, New York)
Syracuse
Big Eight Conference Missouri Andre Smith, Nebraska 1981 Big Eight Conference men's basketball tournament Kemper Arena
(Kansas City, Missouri)
(Semifinals and Finals)
Kansas
Big Sky Conference Idaho Brian Kellerman, Idaho 1981 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament Kibbie Dome
(Moscow, Idaho)
Idaho
Big Ten Conference Indiana None Selected No Tournament
East Coast Conference American (East)
Lafayette & Rider (West)
Len Hatzenbeller, Drexel 1981 East Coast Conference men's basketball tournament The Palestra
(Philadelphia)
St. Joseph's
Eastern Athletic Association (Eastern 8) Duquesne & Rhode Island Earl Belcher, St. Bonaventure 1981 Eastern 8 men's basketball tournament Civic Arena
(Pittsburgh)
Pittsburgh
Eastern College Athletic
Conference (ECAC)
Division I ECAC members
played as independents
during the regular season
(see note)
1981 ECAC Metro Region tournament Nassau Coliseum
(Uniondale, New York)
LIU-Brooklyn
1981 ECAC South Region tournament Hampton Coliseum
(Hampton, Virginia)
James Madison
ECAC North Northeastern Mike Ferrara, Colgate 1981 ECAC North men's basketball tournament Cabot Center
(Boston)
Northeastern
Ivy League Princeton Larry Lawrence, Dartmouth No Tournament
Metro Conference Louisville David Burns, Saint Louis & Derek Smith, Louisville 1981 Metro Conference men's basketball tournament Freedom Hall
(Louisville, Kentucky)
Louisville
Mid-American Conference Ball State, Northern Illinois, Toledo, W. Michigan & Bowling Green Harvey Knuckles, Toledo 1981 MAC men's basketball tournament Crisler Arena
(Ann Arbor, Michigan)
Ball State
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference North Carolina A&T James Ratiff, Howard 1981 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament Winston–Salem Memorial Coliseum
(Winston-Salem, North Carolina)
Howard
Midwestern City Conference Xavier Darius Clemons, Loyola (IL) & Rubin Jackson, Oklahoma City 1981 Midwestern City Conference men's basketball tournament Final at Riverfront Coliseum
(Cincinnati)
Oklahoma City
Missouri Valley Conference Wichita State Lewis Lloyd, Drake 1981 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament Levitt Arena
(Wichita, Kansas)
Creighton
Ohio Valley Conference Western Kentucky Jerry Beck, Middle Tennessee St. 1981 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament E. A. Diddle Arena
(Bowling Green, Kentucky)
Western Kentucky
Pacific-10 Conference Oregon State Steve Johnson, Oregon State No Tournament
Pacific Coast Athletic Association Fresno State Kevin Magee, UC Irvine 1981 Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball tournament Anaheim Convention Center
(Anaheim, California)
Fresno State
Southeastern Conference LSU Dominique Wilkins, Georgia 1981 SEC men's basketball tournament Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex
(Birmingham, Alabama)
Mississippi
Southern Conference Appalachian State, Davidson & UT-Chattanooga Charles Payton, Appalachian State 1981 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament Roanoke Civic Center
(Roanoke, Virginia)
UT-Chattanooga
Southland Conference Lamar Mike Olliver, Lamar 1981 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament McDonald Gym
(Beaumont, Texas) (Semifinals and finals)
Lamar
Southwest Conference Arkansas Rob Williams, Houston 1981 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament HemisFair Arena
(San Antonio, Texas)
Houston
Southwestern Athletic Conference Alcorn State & Southern-BR Harry Kelly, Texas Southern & Robert Williams, Grambling State 1981 SWAC men's basketball tournament LSU Assembly Center
(Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
Southern-BR
Sun Belt Conference VCU, South Alabama & UAB Ed Rains, South Alabama 1981 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum
(Jacksonville, Florida)
VCU
Trans America Athletic Conference Houston Baptist Benton Wade, Mercer 1981 TAAC men's basketball tournament Hirsch Coliseum
(Shreveport, Louisiana)
Mercer
West Coast Athletic Conference Pepperdine &
San Francisco
Quintin Dailey, San Francisco No Tournament
Western Athletic Conference Utah & Wyoming Danny Ainge, BYU No Tournament

Note: From 1975 to 1982, the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), a loosely organized sports federation of Northeastern colleges and universities, organized Division I ECAC regional tournaments for those of its members that were independents in basketball. Each 1981 tournament winner received an automatic bid to the 1981 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in the same way that the tournament champions of conventional athletic conferences did. The ECAC North was a separate, conventional conference.

Informal championships

Conference Regular
season winner
Conference
player of the year
Conference
tournament
Tournament
venue (City)
Tournament
winner
Philadelphia Big 5 La Salle, Penn, Saint Joseph's, Temple, & Villanova None selected No Tournament

NOTE: All five teams finished with a 2–2 record in head-to-head competition, resulting in a five-way tie.

Statistical leaders

Points Per Game
Rebounds Per Game
Field Goal Percentage
Free Throw Percentage
Player School PPG Player School RPG Player School FG% Player School FT%
Zam Fredrick S. Carolina 28.9 Darryl Watson Miss. Valley St. 14.0 Steve Johnson Oregon St. 74.6 Dave Hidahl Portland St. 92.7
Mike Ferrara Colgate 28.6 Wayne Sappleton Loyola (IL) 13.4 Kevin Magee UC Irvine 67.1 Jack Moore Nebraska 92.2
Kevin Magee UC Irvine 27.5 Michael Cage San Diego St. 13.1 Orlando Woolridge Notre Dame 65.0 Steve Bontrager Oral Roberts 90.1
Lewis Lloyd Drake 26.3 Kevin Magee UC Irvine 12.5 Buck Williams Maryland 64.7 Jim Stack Northwestern 90.0
Rob Williams Houston 25.0 LaSalle Thompson Texas 12.3 Thomas Best Lafayette 64.3 John Leonard Manhattan 89.1

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

Indiana won its fourth NCAA title with a 63–50 win over North Carolina and coach Dean Smith. Precocious sophomore Isiah Thomas was named Final Four Most Outstanding Player in a title game delayed due to the shooting of President Ronald Reagan.

Final Four

Played at The Spectrum in Philadelphia

National Semifinals National Finals
      
E1 Virginia 65
W2 North Carolina 78
W2 North Carolina 50
ME3 Indiana 63
ME3 Indiana 67
MW1 LSU 49
  • Third Place – Virginia 78, LSU 74

National Invitation tournament

Coach Nolan Richardson led Tulsa to the NIT Championship in his first year as a division I head coach – an 86–84 win over Syracuse. The Golden Hurricane's Greg Stewart was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

NIT Semifinals and Final

Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City

Semifinals Finals
      
  Syracuse 70
  Purdue 63
  Syracuse 84
  Tulsa 86
  West Virginia 87
  Tulsa 89
  • Third Place – Purdue 75, West Virginia 72

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

Consensus First Team
Player Position Class Team
Mark Aguirre F Junior DePaul
Danny Ainge G Senior Brigham Young
Steve Johnson C Senior Oregon State
Ralph Sampson C Sophomore Virginia
Isiah Thomas G Sophomore Indiana


Consensus Second Team
Player Position Class Team
Sam Bowie C Sophomore Kentucky
Jeff Lamp F Senior Virginia
Durand Macklin F Senior LSU
Kelly Tripucka F Senior Notre Dame
Danny Vranes F Senior Utah
Al Wood F Senior North Carolina

Major player of the year awards

Major coach of the year awards

Other major awards

Coaching changes

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

Team Former
Coach
Interim
Coach
New
Coach
Reason
Appalachian State Bobby Cremins Kevin Cantwell
Brown Joe Mullaney Mike Cingiser
Georgia Tech Dwane Morrison Bobby Cremins
Gonzaga Dan Fitzgerald Jay Hillock
Hardin–Simmons Jim Shuler Jim Hatfield
Mississippi State Jim Hatfield Bob Boyd
Providence Gary Walters Joe Mullaney
Rice Mike Schuler Tommy Suitts
Richmond Lou Goetz Dick Tarrant
Saint Joseph's Jim Lynam Jim Boyle
Samford Cliff Wettig Mike Hanks
Seton Hall Bill Raftery Hoddy Mahon
Tulane Roy Danforth Ned Fowler
UCLA Larry Brown Larry Farmer
UMass Ray Wilson Tom McLaughlin
Vanderbilt Richard Schmidt C. M. Newton

This page was last updated at 2023-02-03 23:39 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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