1999–2000 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
The 1999–2000 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 11, 1999, with the Coaches Vs. Cancer Classic, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 2000 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on April 3, 2000, at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Season headlines
- Tom Izzo led Michigan State to its second National Championship behind the play of the "Flintstones," a trio of players from Flint, Michigan. Mateen Cleaves, Morris Peterson and Charlie Bell led the Spartans to an 89–76 win over Florida, with Cleaves named Final Four Most Outstanding Player and Peterson also making the All-Tournament team.
- Cincinnati was 28–2 and had been arguably the best team in the country when Player of the Year Kenyon Martin had a season-ending leg fracture three minutes into their first-round Conference USA tournament game against Saint Louis. The Bearcats lost that game and gave the NCAA Tournament selection committee a difficult decision to make about seeding. Ultimately, the Bearcats were made a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and lost in the second round to Tulsa.
- The preseason AP All-American team was named on November 10. Chris Porter of Auburn was the leading vote-getter. The rest of the team included Quentin Richardson of DePaul, Mateen Cleaves of Michigan State, Scoonie Penn of Ohio State and Terence Morris of Maryland.
Season outlook
Pre-season polls
The top 25 from the AP Poll November 9, 1999 and the ESPN/USA Today Poll November 4, 1999.Conference membership changes
These schools joined new conferences for the 1999–2000 season.| School | Former conference | New conference |
| Air Force | Western Athletic Conference | Mountain West Conference |
| Alabama A&M | NCAA Division II | Southwestern Athletic Conference |
| Albany | NCAA Division II | NCAA Division I Independent |
| Belmont | NCAA Division II | NCAA Division I Independent |
| BYU | Western Athletic Conference | Mountain West Conference |
| Centenary | Trans America Athletic Conference | NCAA Division I Independent |
| Colorado State | Western Athletic Conference | Mountain West Conference |
| Denver | NCAA Division I Independent | Sun Belt Conference |
| Elon | NCAA Division II | Big South Conference |
| High Point | NCAA Division II | Big South Conference |
| New Mexico | Western Athletic Conference | Mountain West Conference |
| Sacred Heart | NCAA Division II | Northeast Conference |
| San Diego State | Western Athletic Conference | Mountain West Conference |
| Stony Brook | NCAA Division III | NCAA Division I Independent |
| UNLV | Western Athletic Conference | Mountain West Conference |
| Utah | Western Athletic Conference | Mountain West Conference |
| Wyoming | Western Athletic Conference | Mountain West Conference |
Regular season
Conference winners and tournaments
29 conference seasons concluded with a single-elimination tournament, with only the Ivy League or the Pac-10 choosing not to conduct conference tournaments. Conference tournament winners generally received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Mountain West Conference began operation in 1999-00 and their tournament winner did not receive an automatic bid.Statistical leaders
Post-Season Tournaments
NCAA tournament
Final Four – [RCA Dome], [Indianapolis, Indiana]
National Invitation Tournament
Semifinals & Finals
- Third Place – Penn State 74, N.C. State 72
Award winners
Consensus All-American teams
Major player of the year awards
- Wooden Award: Kenyon Martin, Cincinnati
- Naismith Award: Kenyon Martin, Cincinnati
- Associated Press Player of the Year: Kenyon Martin, Cincinnati
- NABC Player of the Year: Kenyon Martin, Cincinnati
- Oscar Robertson Trophy : Kenyon Martin, Cincinnati
- Adolph Rupp Trophy: Kenyon Martin, Cincinnati
- Sporting News Player of the Year: Kenyon Martin, Cincinnati
Major freshman of the year awards
- USBWA Freshman of the Year: Jason Gardner, Arizona
- Sporting News Freshman of the Year: Jason Williams, Duke
Major coach of the year awards
- Associated Press Coach of the Year: Larry Eustachy, Iowa State
- Henry Iba Award : Larry Eustachy, Iowa State
- NABC Coach of the Year: Gene Keady, Purdue
- Naismith College Coach of the Year: Mike Montgomery, Stanford
- CBS/Chevrolet Coach of the Year: Mike Krzyzewski, Duke
- Sporting News Coach of the Year: Bob Huggins, Cincinnati & Bill Self, Tulsa
Other major awards
- Pete Newell Big Man Award : Marcus Fizer, Iowa State
- NABC Defensive Player of the Year: Shane Battier, Duke & Kenyon Martin, Cincinnati
- Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award : Scoonie Penn, Ohio State
- Robert V. Geasey Trophy : Pepe Sanchez, Temple
- NIT/Haggerty Award : Craig "Speedy" Claxton, Hofstra
Coaching changes
| Team | Former Coach | Interim Coach | New Coach | Reason |
| Air Force | Reggie Minton | Joe Scott | Air Force hired Pete Carril disciple Scott to install the Princeton offense. | |
| Albany | Scott Hicks | Scott Beeton | ||
| American | Art Perry | Jeff Jones | American tabbed former Virginia coach Jones. | |
| Appalachian State | Buzz Peterson | Houston Fancher | ||
| Arkansas-Little Rock | Sidney Moncrief | Porter Moser | Arkansas legend Moncrief left after only one season to become an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks. | |
| Ball State | Ray McCallum | Tim Buckley | McCallum left his alma mater for Houston. Wisconsin assistant Buckley was tapped to replace him. | |
| Butler | Barry Collier | Thad Matta | Collier left for Nebraska, turning the program over to top assistant Matta. | |
| Cal State Fullerton | Bob Hawking | Donny Daniels | ||
| Charleston Southern | Tom Conrad | Jim Platt | ||
| Colorado State | Ritchie McKay | Dale Layer | ||
| Cornell | Scott Thompson | Steve Donahue | ||
| Delaware | Mike Brey | David Henderson | Brey left to take the Notre Dame job and was replaced by former Duke player and assistant coach Henderson. | |
| Delaware State | Tony Sheals | Greg Jackson | ||
| Eastern Kentucky | Scott Perry | Travis Ford | EKU hired former Kentucky player Ford. | |
| Eastern Michigan | Milton Barnes | Jim Boone | ||
| Eastern Washington | Steve Aggers | Ray Giacoletti | ||
| Florida International | Shakey Rodriguez | Donnie Marsh | ||
| Georgia Tech | Bobby Cremins | Paul Hewitt | Cremins stepped down after 19 seasons and resurrecting the Yellow Jackets program. | |
| Hartford | Paul Brazeau | Larry Harrison | ||
| Houston | Clyde Drexler | Ray McCallum | Houston legend Drexler left after two disappointing seasons at the helm. | |
| Howard | Kirk Saulny | Billy Coward | Frankie Allen | Saulny was fired midseason after an investigation found that he had broken NCAA and school rules. |
| Illinois | Lon Kruger | Bill Self | Kruger left for the head coaching position with the Atlanta Hawks | |
| Indiana | Bob Knight | Mike Davis | Mike Davis | Knight was fired on September 10, 2000, after an altercation with an IU student – a violation of the "zero tolerance" agreement he was under. Assistant Davis was hired as interim coach, then given the permanent job after the 2000–01 season. |
| Jacksonville State | Mark Turgeon | Mark LaPlante | ||
| Kansas State | Tom Asbury | Jim Wooldridge | ||
| Loyola | Dino Gaudio | Scott Hicks | Gaudio resigned after three seasons and was replaced by Albany head man Hicks. | |
| Loyola Marymount | Charles Bradley | Steve Aggers | ||
| Memphis | Johnny Jones | John Calipari | Memphis made a big name hire by bringing in former UMass and New Jersey Nets coach Calipari. | |
| Miami | Leonard Hamilton | Perry Clark | Miami hired former Tulane boss Clark after Hamilton left to coach the Washington Wizards. | |
| UMKC | Bob Sundvold | Dean Demopoulos | ||
| Nebraska | Danny Nee | Barry Collier | Nebraska fired Nee and hired Butler's Collier. | |
| North Carolina | Bill Guthridge | Matt Doherty | Guthridge retired after three seasons. Doherty was hired after a lengthy search that followed Kansas' Roy Williams staying in Lawrence. | |
| Northwestern | Kevin O'Neill | Bill Carmody | Northwestern brought in Princeton coach Carmody to replace O'Neill, who left for an assistant coach position with the New York Knicks. | |
| Notre Dame | Matt Doherty | Mike Brey | Doherty left South Bend after only one year. | |
| Oregon State | Eddie Payne | Ritchie McKay | Payne was fired unexpectedly and replaced by Colorado State's McKay. | |
| Princeton | Bill Carmody | John Thompson III | Top aide Thompson III was hired to replace Carmody. | |
| Robert Morris | Jim Boone | Danny Nee | ||
| Sacramento State | Tom Abatemarco | Jerome Jenkins | ||
| Siena | Paul Hewitt | Louis Orr | Siena hires former Syracuse star Orr. | |
| St. Peter's | Rodger Blind | Bob Leckie | ||
| Southwest Texas State | Mike Miller | Dennis Nutt | ||
| Stephen F. Austin | Derek Allister | Danny Kaspar | ||
| Tennessee State | Frankie Allen | Nolan Richardson III | Tennessee State hired the son of National Championship coach Nolan Richardson. | |
| Tulane | Perry Clark | Shawn Finney | Tulane tapped Kentucky assistant Finney after losing Clark to Miami. | |
| Tulsa | Bill Self | Buzz Peterson | Tulsa tapped Appalachian State's Peterson after losing Self to Illinois. | |
| Western Carolina | Phil Hopkins | Steve Shurina | ||
| Western Michigan | Bob Donewald | Robert McCullum | ||
| Wichita State | Randy Smithson | Mark Turgeon | ||
| William & Mary | Charlie Woollum | Rick Boyages | Woollum retired after 25 seasons as a head coach. The Tribe hired Ohio State assistant Boyages. |