Georgia Southern Basketball: A D1 Legacy

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The Georgia Southern Eagles are the athletic teams of Georgia Southern University. The Eagles have competed in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) since 1971 and are members of the NCAA Division I Sun Belt Conference. The men's basketball squad has participated in the NCAA Division I Tournament multiple times, with their head coach, Charlie Henry, being introduced in 2023. The Eagles have a rich history in football, with their first team formed in 1910, and have won several national championships across various sports.

Characteristics Values
Team Name Georgia Southern Eagles
University Georgia Southern University
Division NCAA Division I
Conference Sun Belt Conference
Former Conferences Trans America Athletic Conference (ASUN Conference), Southern Conference (SoCon)
Head Coach Charlie Henry
Previous Head Coaches Tim Stowers, Paul Johnson, Erk Russell
Championships 6 NCAA FCS (I-AA) National Championships, 10 Southern Conference Championships, 1 Sun Belt Conference Championship
Championship Years 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2011, 2012, 2014
Stadium Allen E. Paulson Stadium ("The Prettiest Little Stadium in America")

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Georgia Southern Eagles basketball history

The Georgia Southern Eagles are the athletic teams of Georgia Southern University (GSU) in Statesboro, Georgia. The Eagles compete in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and are members of the NCAA Division I Sun Belt Conference. The men's basketball team currently competes in the Sun Belt Conference and is coached by Charlie Henry, who is the 15th head coach in the program's history.

The first year of men's basketball at Georgia Southern was 1926, and the team played in Division I for the first time in 1971. The Eagles have appeared in the NCAA Division I Tournament three times (1983, 1987, and 1992) and have a combined record of 0-3. They have also competed in three National Invitation Tournaments (NIT), most recently in 2006, with a combined record of 0-3. In addition, the Eagles have appeared in one College Basketball Invitational (CBI) in 2017, losing their only game.

The Georgia Southern Eagles have a rich history in football, with the program restarting in 1982 under the leadership of Coach Erk Russell. Russell led the Eagles to three national championships and extended Division I's longest home win streak from 26 to 37 games. The Eagles have won a total of six NCAA FCS (I-AA) National Championships (1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1999, and 2000) and ten Southern Conference championships. In 2014, they won their first Sun Belt Conference championship, becoming the third team to win a conference championship in their first year at the FBS level.

The Eagles' nickname was chosen by a student vote in 1959 when the school was renamed Georgia Southern College. The team's uniforms originally consisted of plain white pants and blue jerseys without names, along with solid blue helmets with a white strip of tape down the middle. Today, the Georgia Southern Eagles continue to compete across a range of sports, with men's basketball being one of their notable programs.

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The team's NCAA Division I Tournament appearances

The Georgia Southern Eagles are the athletic team of Georgia Southern University. The Eagles compete in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and are members of the NCAA Division I Sun Belt Conference.

The Georgia Southern Eagles men's basketball team has appeared in the NCAA Division I Tournament three times, in 1983, 1987, and 1992. Their combined record in these tournaments is 0-3.

The Eagles have also appeared in three National Invitation Tournaments (NIT) in 1988, 1989, and 2006, with a combined record of 0-3. They have appeared in one College Basketball Invitational (CBI), losing their only game.

The Georgia Southern Eagles have had success in other sports within the NCAA Division I. They have won six NCAA FCS (I-AA) National Championships in football (1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1999, and 2000). They have also won ten Southern Conference championships (1993, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2011, and 2012) and one Sun Belt Conference championship (2014).

The Eagles have appeared in the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs 19 times, with an overall record of 45-13. They have also appeared in the College World Series in 1973 and 1990 and have appeared in 11 NCAA regionals.

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The Eagles' head coaches

The Georgia Southern Eagles men's basketball squad has had 15 head coaches in its history, with the current one being Charlie Henry, who was introduced on March 29, 2023. The Eagles have had a successful basketball programme, participating in the NCAA Division I Tournament in 1983, 1987, and 1992, as well as the NIT in 1988, 1989, and 2006.

One of the most notable head coaches in the history of the Georgia Southern Eagles is Erk Russell, who was hired in 1981 to restart the football programme at the university, then known as Georgia Southern College. Russell led the Eagles to three national championships and extended Division I's longest home win streak from 26 to 37 games, becoming the only 15-0 college team of the twentieth century. His final record at Georgia Southern was an impressive 83-22-1. Russell's legacy was honoured by the university and thousands of fans after his passing in 2006, with the team gathering at Paulson Stadium to mourn his death.

Following Erk Russell's departure, Tim Stowers took over as head coach and led the Eagles to a national championship in 1990. Paul Johnson succeeded Stowers and added two more national titles in 1999 and 2000 with the help of all-time Division I rushing leader Adrian Peterson.

The current head coach, Charlie Henry, has big shoes to fill, but with the rich history and tradition of Georgia Southern Eagles athletics, there is no doubt that the programme will continue to thrive and achieve success in the future.

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Rivalries and notable games

The Georgia Southern Eagles men's basketball team has a long-standing rivalry with the Georgia State University team, with both teams playing annually from 1971–1981, 1995–1997, and 2009–2014 out-of-conference. They also played as conference mates in the Trans America Athletic Conference (now the Atlantic Sun Conference) from 1985–1992 and in the Sun Belt Conference since 2014. The rivalry intensified with the hire of former Appalachian State (longtime rival of Georgia Southern) athletic director Charlie Cobb to Georgia State University. During Cobb's introduction, Georgia Southern's athletic director Tom Kleinlein stated, "welcome, now the war is on." Both schools are referred to as GSU, creating a point of conflict between the two fan bases, each claiming their university as "the real GSU."

The rivalry series includes all sports, with the winner taking home a trophy and bragging rights at the following year's football game. Georgia Southern leads the all-time basketball series against Georgia State with a record of 38-26. Notable games include Georgia Southern's 76-75 victory in the regular season finale and their 78-64 win over Southern Miss in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament's second round. Another memorable game was their 69-31 win over Georgia State in front of 28,427 fans, after which Georgia Southern fans claimed the stadium as their own, further fuelling the rivalry.

The Eagles have appeared in three NCAA tournaments, most recently in 1992, with a combined record of 0-3. They have also competed in one Division II tournament, three National Invitation Tournaments (NIT), and one College Basketball Invitational (CBI). While the team has had limited success in post-season tournaments, they have a rich history of rivalry with Georgia State and continue to compete in the Sun Belt Conference under the leadership of coach Charlie Henry.

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The team's performance in other sports

The Georgia Southern Eagles are the athletic team(s) of Georgia Southern University. The Eagles compete in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and are members of the NCAA Division I Sun Belt Conference.

The Eagles have a rich history in football, with the first team formed in 1910. However, football was suspended during World War II and only restarted in 1982. The Eagles have won six national championships during their time in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS/I-AA) level. The team calls Allen E. Paulson Stadium home, which is known as "The Prettiest Little Stadium in America."

One of the most notable moments in Georgia Southern Eagles football history was the Hugo Bowl. In 1989, a Thursday Night Football game between the Eagles and the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders was almost cancelled due to the impending landfall of Hugo, a Category 4 hurricane. The game went ahead, and the Eagles defeated MTSU 26-0.

The Eagles have also achieved success in other sports. In basketball, the team has participated in the NCAA Division I Tournament multiple times and won several conference championships. In addition, Georgia Southern University broke new ground by awarding a scholarship to Roger Moore, the first African-American athlete in the University System of Georgia, to play on the men's basketball team.

The women's swimming and diving team competes outside the Sun Belt Conference in the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association. Rifle, a fully co-educational sport with a women-only team, competes in the Southern Conference (SoCon). Meanwhile, the men's soccer team will compete in the Mid-American Conference starting in the fall of 2021 due to the disbandment of the Sun Belt men's soccer league.

Frequently asked questions

Georgia Southern Eagles have had some success in Division I basketball. The team participated in the NCAA Division I Tournament in 1983, 1987 and 1992, and the NIT in 1988, 1989 and 2006. They have also won six NCAA FCS (I-AA) National Championships and ten Southern Conference championships.

The head coach of the Georgia Southern men's basketball squad is Charlie Henry, who was introduced on March 29, 2023.

The Georgia Southern Eagles play in the NCAA Division I Sun Belt Conference.

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