Charleston Cougars men's basketball

The Charleston Cougars men's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team competing in the Coastal Athletic Association. Home games are played at TD Arena, located on College of Charleston's campus in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. While a member of the NAIA, they were National Champions in 1983. History The College of Charleston has sponsored a men's basketball team since 1898. They have been NCAA Division I since 1991 in the Trans-Atlantic Athletic Conference (now ASUN Conference), the Southern Conference and presently the Coastal Athletic Association (formerly the Colonial Athletic Association). In 2012, ESPN ranked Charleston as the 73rd best college basketball program in the previous 50 years, which was the highest ranking of all Division I teams in the state of South Carolina. John Kresse era (1979–2001) Under head coach John Kresse, the team had its greatest success. In 1983, the Cougars won the NAIA Championship. In the 1991–92 season, the Cougars made the jump to Division I and beat UNC–Charlotte in their first game. In the 1998–99 season, the team joined the Southern Conference, winning its only SoCon tournament championship that year. In 1994, 1997, 1998 and 1999, the Cougars reached the NCAA tournament, with a record of 1–4, beating Maryland in the opening round in 1997. In 1995 and 1996, the Cougars made the NIT. The program's biggest regular season win in school history was over then-No. 3 North Carolina on the road on December 6, 1998. Kresse's career record at Charleston is 560–143.