Troy Men’s Basketball in the Postseason
As all of Trojan Nation awaits our date with destiny on March 21, 2025, I thought it would be apropos to dive into Troy’s history in the postseason.
The Red Wave/Trojans have been into the postseason a whopping 20 times, including 2025. These trips have taken place at three different collegiate classifications and across six different tournaments.
To clarify postseason, I am not including conference tournaments, simply the postseason events they were invited or earned an automatic qualifier.
NAIA
Troy’s first foray into the postseason was back during the 1952-53 season. As a part of the NAIA, schools would play a regional tournament to decide their entrant into the NAIA National Tournament. For much of Troy’s time under this format, it was in District 19.
Leonard Serfustini’s Red Wave built up an 18-7 record in Troy’s second recorded season playing college basketball. (Basketball goes back much further than the 1950-51 start date.)
During that first year in the NAIA District Regionals (held on February 27th), the Red Wave would be matched up against Mississippi Southern (now Southern Miss). They would go on to lose 90-48 in a crushing defeat.
They would rebound against Howard College (Samford) to win the Third Place Game 63-50.
Remarkably, Troy would go on a tear under Serfustini and later John Archer, making at least an NAIA District Regional every season from 1952-53 until 1964-65, save 1954-55.
In 1953-54, the 22-6 Red Wave went into the March 2 District opener and cruised past Delta State, 59-51, to make it to the District Regionals Final. There they found Southern Miss waiting again.
This time it was a much closer affair, with Troy only falling 70-61.
The following year marked Troy’s final year under Serfustini, as well as, its worst postseason performance to that point.
The Red Wave entered the tournament with an 18-9 record, but fell victim to Southern Miss once again, this time 49-44. In the third place game, they fell to Birmingham Southern 74-60.
The John Archer era started off great in 1956-57 with Troy going 19-8 and winning the District 19 Regional. This was due to the fact that no regional was held, so Troy was invited to the NAIA National Tournament for the first time.
The Red Wave met a Ball State team who was ready to play, sending Troy home with a 98-70 loss.
In 1957-58, Archer and Troy won the District 19 Regional properly on the back of a 19-6 season, knocking off William Carey 90-78. For the NAIA National Tournament, Troy was facing off against Indiana State College (now Indiana University of Pennsylvania).
Editor’s Note: this is an independent college in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and is not connected to the Indiana University System.
IUP walloped Troy 96-73, bouncing Troy from the tournament early once again.
1958-59 marked Troy’s third straight trip to the NAIA National Tournament. It went 19-11 overall and beat St. Bernard, 78-73, to win District 19.
For the third straight time, however, the Red Wave was bounced in the first round, losing to Illinois State Normal, 98-50.
A strong 18-9 campaign in 1959-60 saw Troy surging into the NAIA District 19 Regionals, but a loss to Florence State (North Alabama) cost Archer’s squad any chance of making it four years in a row to the NAIA National Tournament.
Troy won the third place game against William Carey, 106-92, to end the season with a win.
A major change in 1960-61 saw Troy join the Alabama Collegiate Conference in basketball, the newly renamed Alabama Intercollegiate Conference.
The Red Wave would win the ACC Regular Season Championship with a 22-6 record, but would lose to St. Bernard 102-87 in the District 19 Tournament.
Archer and the team improved on the previous year in 1961-62. This time, they won both the ACC Regular Season Championship and the ACC Tournament Championship, with a 25-6 record.
However, Florence State waited in the District 19 Championship. In a high-scoring affair, the future North Alabama outlasted them for the title in a 123-103 game in Eufaula.
Troy’s unfortunate District luck would continue until the move to Division II. In 1962-63, a 20-10 squad would fall to Huntingdon, 77-60.
The following year, the potential was there, with a 22-8 record and the ACC Regular Season Championship, but Athens State would end the season in the District Regionals, 93-82.
The 1964-65 would be the last trip to the NAIA District Regionals for Troy under John Archer. The region was new now, combining Mississippi and Louisiana with Alabama.
Entering with a 22-8 record, Troy would fall in the District 27 first round to Huntingdon, 92-88, for the second time in three years.
Troy’s final trip to the NAIA District 27 Regionals would be in 1975-76 under Wes Bizilia, who took over from Archer in 1973-74.
Posting a 16-18 record, Troy would whup Jax State in the first round of the Regional 88-85, but fell to Alabama-Huntsville, 74-69, in the Regional Championship.
This year was confusing because in the Troy media guide, it lists Troy as playing those two games in the NCAA Division II South Regional. Neither Troy, JSU, nor UAH were listed in the brackets for that tournament.
I did however find an article from the Kansas City Star, dated March 4, 1976, which listed the results of the NAIA District Regionals, with these games listed there.
NCAA Division II
Troy made the 1976-77 NCAA Division II Tournament the next year, playing in the South Central Region. Troy finished the regular season at 14-13, but won their Round of 32 matchup with Lincoln (out of Missouri), 81-65.
Unfortunately, the Trojans met their basketball nemesis in the Sweet 16, North Alabama. UNA would beat them to advance, 77-70.
That would be Wes Bizilia’s final postseason opportunity. It would also be Troy’s last for nearly ten years.
During that interim, Troy hired some coach named Don Maestri at the outset of the 1982-83 season. Maestri, as you may know, would revolutionize Troy basketball and bring it to heights never seen before.
Maestri’s sixth season was the year his first postseason opportunity presented itself. Troy finished the 1987-88 season with a 24-10 record and arguably the second-greatest season in school history.
Troy finished third in the Gulf South and earned a spot in the NCAA Division II Tournament. It was put into the South Atlantic Regional in Richmond, VA. Game 1 would be a 75-71 win over Virginia Union.
It took an overtime period for Troy to get past North Carolina Central, 66-65. This put Troy in the Elite Eight, the deepest run thus far in school history. The media guide mentions the Elite Eight, but doesn’t go far enough.
Troy won its matchup with Gannon 100-79, putting Troy into the Final Four for the first time ever. Unfortunately, Troy’s dream run ended there, falling to Alaska-Anchorage, 77-72.
The Trojans would lose one final time to Florida Southern, 94-84, in the third place game, bringing this special season to an end. The icing on the cake was Darryl Thomas earning All-Tournament honors for his play.
The next trip to the Big Dance came during the special 1991-92 season. Troy State finished 23-6 and travelled to Jacksonville, Alabama for the South Atlantic Regional.
The hometown chickens would beat Troy and the 258 team 96-91 to advance.
Troy would salvage a win against Rollins, 110-92, to finish third in the Regional.
The next year became, in my opinion, the greatest season in Troy basketball history. The 1992-93 team finished the season with a 27-5 overall record. They would be in the South Regional and, for the first time, would host the Regional.
Maestri’s men defeated Florida Southern (75-72) and Delta State (110-93) to advance to the Elite Eight for the second time. There they met Washburn and blazed past 94-82, earning a spot in the Final Four, also for the second time.
This time, Troy State would do what the team couldn’t in ’88. It beat New Hampshire College, 126-123, to reach the National Championship Final for the first (and only) time in school history.
Unfortunately, Cal State-Bakersfield was the better team that day, ending the dance before the final step, 85-72.
Trojan Basketball Legend Terry McCord would win All-Tournament Honors. This was Troy’s final Division II Tournament appearance before moving up to Division I.
NCAA Division I
It would be another decade before the basketball gods fated Troy to reach THE Big Dance, the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament. March Madness itself.
Maestri’s 2002-03 team won the Atlantic Sun Regular Season and Tournament Championships in a 26-6 season, securing an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Trojans traveled to Nashville to take on the twelfth-ranked, 3-seeded Xavier Musketeers.
The Musketeers handled the Trojans 71-59, ending the tournament experience abruptly.
The following year, Troy finished 24-7 and was one step away from making it back to the tournament for the second straight year. Sadly, it lost in the A-Sun title game to UCF.
In Division I though, that doesn’t mean the season was over.
Troy was invited to the National Invitational Tournament. The Trojans would have to travel all the way to Buffalo, NY to take on Niagara in the First Round.
Unfortunately, like trying to stop the falls that share Niagara’s name, the Purple Eagles were too much for the Trojans to handle, sending them back home with an 87-83 loss.
Maestri would have two more tournament runs before he retired. In 2008-09, Troy finished with a 19-13 record and a second place finish in the Sun Belt East.
It would receive an invitation to play in the College Basketball Invitational. For the first time since 1992-93 (and the second time ever), Troy would host a tournament game.
Troy faced the College of Charleston on March 18th. The Cougars clawed out a 93-91 win in Sartain Hall, giving the Trojans yet another postseason exit.
The 2009-10 season saw Troy finish with a 20-13 and a tie for first for the Sun Belt Regular Season Championship. Troy was the #1 seed going into the SBC Tournament, but much like 03-04, itlost in the Championship game (66-63, North Texas) missing out on another NCAA bid.
The NIT would come calling to give Troy a spot.
Troy would be a 7 seed in the Arizona State Regional, taking on 2 seed Ole Miss in Oxford. The Trojans would battle hard, but Ole Miss would be too much, winning 84-65.
The legendary Don Maestri retired following the 2012-13 season. Then-AD John Hartwell would hire Phil Cunningham to lead the Trojans, a move he would repeat in 2025 at ULM.
Cunningham would only have one winning season in his time at Troy, but it sure was memorable. The team finished 22-15 and sixth in the Sun Belt, but got extremely hot during the Sun Belt Tournament.
The Trojans won four straight to take the SBC Tournament Championship and send Troy to the NCAA Tournament for the second time.
Troy entered into the NCAA East Regional as a 15 seed to face off against 2 seed Duke in Greenville, SC. The Blue Devils were actually ranked as highly as #7 in the polls at the time.
Troy went down 16-4 in the first five minutes, but clawed its way back to within 10 late in the first half. Unfortunately, the Blue Devils were too strong and Troy couldn’t get within nine points of Duke.
The Blue Devils would finish with an 87-65 win to advance to the Round of 32.
Cunningham was relieved of his duties after the 2018-19 season and current coach and Waffle House connoisseur Scott Cross was hired. Cross had done a phenomenal job coaching his alma mater, UT-Arlington, even guiding them to an NCAA Tournament berth.
His first two seasons in Troy were rebuilding jobs, notching 9 and 11 wins respectively. It was in 2021-22 that things began to come together for Troy.
Cross’ team would notch 20 wins for the first time since 2016-17 and finish fourth in the Sun Belt. This was good enough to garner attention from the CBI once more.
Played in Daytona Beach, Troy faced off against Abilene Christian. They would unfortunately end Troy’s run early, 82-70.
Cross would notch two more 20 win seasons in 2022-23 and 2023-24, but everything worked the Trojans’way in 2024-25. The Trojans finished as Sun Belt Regular Season Champions in a four way tie with JMU, Arkansas State, and South Alabama.
Those four teams would met as the final four teams in the Sun Belt Tournament, after Troy downed ODU. JMU would be next, before Troy met Arkansas State in the Championship.
The game was a back and forth affair, but with 10 minutes left, the Red Wolves led 66-58. Troy uncorked a 24-4 scoring run for the next eight minutes to take back the lead.
They won 94-81, securing Troy’s first Sun Belt Tournament since 16-17 and another chance to dance. Tayton Conerway was the Sun Belt Player of the Year and Player of the Tournament. Thomas Dowd also made the All-Tournament Team.
Tonight, March 21, 22 years to the day that Troy played its first NCAA Tournament game, 14 seed Troy will meet 3 seed Kentucky in Milwaukee in the Midwest Regional. The Wildcats are ranked 18 in the AP Poll and 21 in the Coaches Poll. Troy is currently 23-10 on the season.
I, for one, am hoping it becomes 24-10 by the time I go to sleep tonight.