La Salle

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Division: NCAA Division I Conference (basketball): Atlantic 10 Conference Arena: Tom Gola Arena

The La Salle University Explorers compete as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference in NCAA Division I basketball. The school terminated its football program with the conclusion of the 2007 season. La Salle is a private Catholic (Lasallian) institution located in the northwestern reaches of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school has an undergraduate enrollment of around 4,000. The nickname, interestingly, is the result of a case of mistaken identity on the part of a sportswriter who assumed the school was named for a French explorer rather than a Catholic saint.

The campus is bounded by Belfield Avenue, Ogontz Avenue, Olney Avenue, and Wister Street; it's somewhat difficult to get to by auto from out of town as all routes to the campus from nearby freeways are circuitous. From the north, Ogontz Avenue turns into the Fort Washington Expressway (PA 309) a couple of miles north of campus; to the south, the freeway section of Roosevelt Boulevard (US 1) can be reached via Belfield Avenue and Broad Street. McCarthy Stadium (7,500) is the former home of the defunct football team, located on North 20th Street in the middle of campus. Just to the west on Olney Avenue is Tom Gola Arena (4,000), home of Explorers basketball since 1998. Prior to that, the team played its home games at venues closer to downtown, such as The Palestra, the Philadelphia Civic Center, and The Spectrum.

La Salle's primary rivals are the other Philadelphia Big Five schools: Saint Joseph's (PA), Temple, Villanova, and Pennsylvania. The most heated of these rivalries for the Explorers is that with Saint Joe's, being both conference mates and Catholic schools.

Only two La Salle alumni ever played in the NFL; linemen George Somers and Mike Mandarino combined for a total of 53 games prior to the end of World War II. The school has been much more prominent in the NBA and ABA, with 22 former Explorers seeing action. Most prominent of these are Hall-of-Famer Tom Gola (who would return to coach the team for a few years after retiring from the NBA), eight-time All-Star Larry Foust, Lionel Simmons (third-leading scorer in NCAA Division I history), and Michael Brooks.

Conference Affiliations

Football

no team		2008-present
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference	NCAA I FCS	1997-2007
no team		1942-1996
NCAA Independents	NCAA	1931-1941

Basketball

Atlantic 10 Conference	NCAA I	1995-present
Midwestern Collegiate Conference	NCAA I	1992-1995
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference	NCAA I	1983-1992
East Coast Conference	NCAA I	1974-1983
Middle Atlantic Conference University Division	NCAA I	1973-1974
Middle Atlantic Conference University Division	NCAA University	1959-1973
Middle Atlantic Conference	NCAA University	1957-1959
Middle Atlantic Conference	NCAA	1951-1956
NCAA Independents	NCAA	1931-1951

Post-Season Appearances

Football

La Salle football never appeared in the post-season.

Basketball

NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game	1954
National Invitation Tournament Championship Game	1952
NCAA Division I Men's Tournament	1954, 1955, 1968, 1975, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992
National Invitation Tournament	1948, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1963, 1965, 1971, 1984, 1987, 1991

Championships

Football

La Salle football never won a championship of any kind.

Basketball

NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Champions	1954
National Invitation Tournament Champions	1952
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament Champions	1988, 1989, 1990, 1992
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Regular Season Champions	1984, 1988, 1989
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Southern Division Champions	1990
East Coast Conference Tournament Champions	1975, 1978, 1980, 1983
East Coast Conference East Division Regular Season Champions	1975, 1978, 1983
Middle Atlantic Conference University Division Tournament Champions	1968
Middle Atlantic Conference University Division Regular Season Champions	1968

External Links

La Salle University Athletics