History of FGCU Men's Basketball

When people think of FGCU men’s basketball, there are two words that normally come into mind: Dunk City. But it did not start that way just yet. Some could say it was Dunk City before it was Dunk City. FGCU men’s basketball started as an independent member in NCAA Division II. They were coached by David Balza, who now coaches at DII Palm Beach Atlantic. In their inaugural season with Balza as head coach, FGCU went 23-9, although they did not play any playoff games since they were an independent team.

In 2007, with Balza still as head coach, FGCU joined the NCAA Division I Atlantic Sun Conference, however, the first four seasons fell badly. They ended up 39-82 overall.

Although FGCU joined as a NCAA Division I team, they could not compete in the national tournament, and the reason is this: when a new university with multiple athletics in DII or lower moves up and joins to be a DI team in the NCAA, the rule is they have to wait four years before they can be eligible to compete for a chance to be in any national tournament. They could still compete in the conference tournaments, however the rule is if a new university wins the conference in season or in the tournament, they are not eligible to go to the national tournament and the team with the best or second best record overall, depending on the team, would go.

During the 2010-11 season, it was marked as Balza’s last season with FGCU and the team went 10-20.

In the beginning of the 2011-12 season, FGCU was eligible to compete for a national tournament opportunity, but they were a ship without a captain and they needed to hire a new coach to replace Balza and the top candidate was Andy Enfield. Enfield had plenty of experience coaching basketball. He was an assistant coach in the NBA for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics six years (1994-2000). After a five-year tenure as an assistant coach for Florida State, Enfield was hired as head coach for FGCU.

In his first year, despite having a 15-17 record and being the sixth seed in the A-SUN, he led the team to the finals of the A-SUN Conference Tournament, however, they fell to then champion and former conference member, Belmont University, by a score of 83-69.

It was 2012-13 season that sparked the minds of many teams to look at. FGCU finished 13-5 in conference behind former conference member, Mercer University. FGCU beat Mercer in the finals and qualified for the national tournament, and then the Cinderella story and birth of Dunk City began. Playing as the No. 15 seed in the South Regional of the 2013 national tournament against No. 2 seed Georgetown. It would look like the Hoyas would win because they were a stronger and much higher seed, but shockingly led by then senior Sherwood Brown and then sophomore Bernard Thompson, FGCU won 78-68 and advance to the second round where they faced number seven San Diego State and won 81-71 before falling to Florida in the Sweet Sixteen. Because of that, FGCU won an ESPY Award for their Cinderella story.

I took the liberty of talking to former Dunk City Member Filip Cvjeticanin, who was the last active member of the original Dunk City.

“During the time, I was playing for FGCU as the original Dunk City,” Cvjeticanin said.

After the 2012-13 season, Enfield parted ways with FGCU and received an offer to be the head coach for the USC Trojans, leaving FGCU once again be a ship without a captain. FGCU hired their next top candidate with coaching experience: Joe Dooley. After a 10-year tenure with the University of Kansas as an assistant coach, under head coach Bill Self, Dooley took the job as head coach for FGCU.

In Dooley's first season, FGCU went 22-13 with a 14-4 record in conference. They would fall to Mercer in the conference tournament finals.

Although their chance to go to the national tournament that season was out, FGCU went to participate in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), but fell in the first round to FSU.

In Dooley's second season as head coach, after going 22-11 with a 11-3 conference record, Dooley took FGCU to the A-SUN semifinals, but would fall to USC Upstate. FGCU did get an invite to play in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT), but lost in the first round to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

It did not look like things were going to shape up, but then in the 2015-16 season, it changed. FGCU went 22-11 and 8-6 in conference and were able to finish fourth in the conference season. They beat No. 5 Kennesaw State in the quarterfinals and No.1 seed UNF in the semifinal before beating Stetson in the A-SUN Championship Finals. At that moment, Dunk City was coming back to the national tournament.

“I was excited," Cvjeticanin said. "After my last year in 2016, when we went to the national tournament again, I felt more alive than I was in 2013.”

Cvjeticanin, during the 2015-16 season, was fighting through a concussion, but was able to play in tournament. FGCU would go back to the national tournament for the first time since 2013, but were not in the big tournament yet, for they had to play in the First Four to qualify as the No. 16 seed and their opponent was Fairleigh Dickinson. After a blowout win against FDU in the First Four, FGCU would enter in as the number 16 seed against number one seed UNC. Historically, no No. 16 seed has ever beaten a number one seed and gone to at least the second round of the tournament. FGCU, despite an impressive first half being down 41-40, would fall to UNC.

Former FGCU basketball player Julian Debose said “Playing in the second run for Dunk City was something I would never forget. I’m glad to try to play once more for FGCU, even if it was my last."