Long Island University is a legendary basketball program that has a Hall of Fame coach in its history. Once known as the Blackbirds, LIU was a power early in college basketball and is making its eighth NCAA Tournament appearance in 2026. Arizona and Long Island play in the NCAA Tournament first round on Friday.
Long Island enters the 2025-26 NCAA Tournament with a 24-10 record. The Sharks won the Northeast Conference regular season with a record of 15-3 and the postseason tournament. Long Island earned the NCAA Tournament automatic bid by advancing to the Northeast Conference Tournament Championship Game.
Long Island beat Mercyhurst 79-70 in the Northeast Conference Tournament Championship Game. Mercyhurst is in the second year of a four-year transition to NCAA Division I and is not eligible for the NCAA Tournament. Once Mercyhurst advanced to the NEC Championship game, LIU earned the automatic bid.
Long Island is coached by 17-year NBA veteran Rod Strickland. Strickland is making his first appearance as a head coach, but he played in eight NCAA Tournament games with DePaul from 1986 through 1988. Led by Strickland, DePaul advanced to the regional semifinals in 1986 and 1987.
NEW: @RobDauster talks with @LIUAthletics' Rod Strickland on the Sharks punching their ticket to the tourney! 👀
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) March 11, 2026
🎥: https://t.co/XuKPPd6aMn pic.twitter.com/aCTDHr6ERz
LIU Hall of Fame Coach
Clair Bee led Long Island to 360 wins and 80 losses in 20 seasons. Led by Bee, Long Island won the 1939 National Invitation Tournament and Helms Foundation National Championship in 1939 and added another NIT Title in 1941. The NIT was considered the bigger tournament in that era.
Long Island had a 43-game winning streak from 1937 through 1939. Bee was a huge innovator who was responsible for the 1–3–1 zone defense and the three-second rule. Bee was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1968 and the New York City Basketball HOF inaugural class in 1990.
Long Island changed their name from the Blackbirds to the Sharks in 2019 when their Brooklyn Campus consolidated sports teams with the programs at their campus in Brookville, New York in Nassau County, known as the C.W. Post Pioneers.
Long Island is making is first NCAA Tournament appearance in Men's Basketball as the Sharks. Strickland has a 51–74 record in four seasons as a head coach. The Sharks have improved in every season under Strickland. LIU was 3-26 in Strickland's first season in 2022-23, 7-22 in 2023-24 and 17-16 in 2024-25.