1978–79 Jacksonville Dolphins men's basketball team

1978–79 Jacksonville Dolphins men's basketball
1978–79 Jacksonville Dolphins men's basketball
Sun Belt tournament champions
NCAA tournament
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Record	19–11 (5–5 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Tates Locke (1st season);
Home arena	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum
	Seasons ← 1977–78 1979–80 →

1978–79 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
South Alabama	10	–	0	1.000	20	–	7	.741
South Florida	6	–	4	.600	14	–	14	.500
UNC Charlotte	6	–	4	.600	16	–	11	.593
Jacksonville †	5	–	5	.500	19	–	11	.633
New Orleans	3	–	7	.300	11	–	16	.407
Georgia State	0	–	10	.000	7	–	20	.259

† 1979 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1978–79 Jacksonville Dolphins men's basketball team represented Jacksonville University as members of the Sun Belt Conference during the 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Dolphins, led by first-year head coach Tates Locke, played their home games at Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum in Jacksonville, Florida.

After finishing fourth in the Sun Belt regular season standings, Jacksonville won the conference tournament to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 9 seed in the Midwest region. The team was beaten by No. 8 seed Virginia Tech, 70–53, in the opening round to end the season 19–11 (5–5 Sun Belt). This season closed out the most successful decade in program history, as four of the school's five NCAA tournament appearances all-time occurred during the 1970s.

Roster

1978–79 Jacksonville Dolphins men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F		James Ray	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	L.B. Landry	New Orleans, LA

Head coach

Tates Locke (Ohio Wesleyan)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 24, 1978*		Wake Forest	L 68–70	0–1	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, Florida
Dec 2, 1978*		Memphis State	W 91–87	1–1	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, Florida
Dec 6, 1978*		at Stetson	L 71–83	1–2	Edmunds Center DeLand, Florida
Dec 9, 1978*		at No. 14 North Carolina	L 56–85	1–3	Carmichael Auditorium Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Sun Belt Conference tournament
Feb 23, 1979*		vs. New Orleans Quarterfinals	W 56–47	17–10	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Feb 24, 1979*		vs. South Alabama Semifinals	W 85–77	18–10	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Feb 25, 1979*		vs. South Florida Championship game	W 68–54	19–10	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
NCAA tournament
Mar 9, 1979*	(9 MW)	vs. (8 MW) Virginia Tech First round	L 53–70	19–11	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Eastern.

Source^[1]^[2]

References

^ "Jacksonville Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). Jacksonville University Athletics. March 16, 2022. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
^ "1985–86 Jacksonville Dolphins Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved February 20, 2023.

[1] "Jacksonville Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). Jacksonville University Athletics. March 16, 2022. Retrieved February 20, 2023.

[2] "1985–86 Jacksonville Dolphins Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved February 20, 2023.

[1]

[2]

v t e Jacksonville Dolphins men's basketball
Venues	Swisher Gymnasium (1953–present) Jacksonville Coliseum (1969–1999) Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena (2003–2015)
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics