Purchase College Athletics

The fourth men's basketball team to win a Skyline Conference Championship, making men's basketball the only program in the department with four titles.

Arguably the greatest team in Purchase history, the Panthers finished the season with a 26-3 overall record and went 17-1 in Skyline matchups. 

They easily claimed the No.1 seed in the playoffs, and proceeded to cruise past No.5 Old Westbury and No.2 Mount Saint Mary College to win the league. With their fourth title in five years, the Purchase dynasty was complete.
 

David Houghton '14 was named the Skyline Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player after he averaged 12.5 points and 17.0 rebounds over the two wins.

The award was just one of countless from the squad throughout the year. However, the most impressive achievement of the 2013-14 season came at the very end of it.

To cap off the "best season ever," the Blue and Orange became the first and only team in program history to host an NCAA Tournament game/s here on campus. The first game was an easy win over Hartwick College, as the Panthers secured just their second NCAA win of all-time.

Over a decade later, the NCAA host banner still hangs in the Purchase gym, not only as a reminder of the outstanding achievement, but also to inspire the next generation of Panthers of what is possible.

Some of the other accolades from the season included:

• Andre Nixon '14 winning nearly every award individual award under the sun - Skyline Conference Player of the Year and All-First Team, D3Hoops.com All-Atlantic Region Player of the Year and First Team, All-Met First Team, NABC DIII All-District First Team, Reese's DIII All-Star Game Participant and MVP, NABC DIII All-American Second Team and ECAC All-Stars First Team
• Joel Neri '16 also collected a bunch of recognitions, such as All-Skyline First Team, D3Hoops.com All-Atlantic Region Second Team, NABC DIII All-District Second Team and ECAC All-Stars First Team
• Head coach Jeff Charney was named a finalist for the Glenn Robinson Coach of the Year award (the most prestigious award in DIII hoops), as well as winner of the All-Met DIII Coach of the Year for the second time in his career.
• The team earned a national NCAA ranking of 15th in the country by the end of the season

No doubt, the 2013-14 Purchase College men's basketball team will live on for years and years to come. Long after all the current staff is gone, the history of what this team meant will carry on through the next generations.

This squad cemented the years of work by Charney and crew of building an empire. While it was the last title the team won, it was also arguably the most impressive.

It book-ended five straight years in the Skyline Conference title game, which saw four championships, two wins in the NCAA tourney, countless accolades and awards, and yet the most important part of all of it - the brotherhood that was created.

Through all the wins and the variations of each Panther squad, the thing that remained constant was the support the previous groups gave the next group. Each time they succeeded, they all succeeded.