By Christine Bronski
Athletic Communications contributor

Northeastern men's basketball 1960's era bred three NBA draft choices, nine Hall of Famers and would help the program move to Division I status. When the program first started in 1920, the first four decades would produce 11 winning seasons with an overall record of 280-401. During this time the Huskies cycled through 12 different coaches posting one winning season under Al McCoy. If Northeastern wanted to put their name on the map, there was still a lot of work to be done.

The Huskies would take on one of the youngest head coaches in the country at that time, Richard 'Dick' Dukeshire. Under Dukeshire, the 1960's decade basketball program became one of the best in the Northeast, soon gaining national recognition. Dukeshire would etch his name in the history books at Northeastern as one of the winningest coaches of all time with 204 wins. Coach Dukeshire led Northeastern to 11 consecutive winning seasons, making the 60's the only decade in 100 years of Northeastern basketball that did not experience a single losing season. The young star was a no-nonsense coach who was knowledgeable and committed, making him the game-changer that the Huskies needed in their program. 

Through grit and hard work, Northeastern's talent would kick-off its NCAA run. Players such as Paul Solberg, John Malvey, Jim Bowman, Tom Martin, Fran Ryan and Bill Tully remember the excitement on campus and recognition that the program was finally getting. The Huskies were headed to Rochester, N.Y. where their NCAA appearance streak would begin, and they'd be on the national stage. Things were finally turning around for the team with their newfound success. Playing among some of these elite players was guard, Mike Jarvis, a Hall of Fame coach who led Boston University (1985-90) to three NCAA tournament appearances, George Washington (1990-98) to four NCAA appearances, including a Sweet 16 run in 1993 falling to the Michigan Wolverines 'Fab Five' squad, and led St. John's (1998-2004) to a NCAA Elite Eight in 1999 and a NIT championship in 2003.

Putting the Huskies on the map wasn't a one-man job. Al Sheilds, the sports information director at the time, was able to get Northeastern basketball notoriety by working his connections with newspapers in Boston and making the team one to look out for. Sheilds was credited with getting the program mentioned in the Boston Globe and other publications at a time when college sports weren't top of mind in this pro-town. News spread of the Huskies and their success, and soon Cabot Gym was sold out game after game. The atmosphere inside Cabot would give the players the confidence and motivation they needed. The team wasn't just playing for themselves anymore, they had full bleachers packed with an active audience.

The Huskies began to dominate on the court and would earn NCAA appearances in 1962, '63, '64, '66, '67 and '68. Their epic journey would begin and end in Rochester. The 1962 team tallied victories over St. Anselm's and Fairfield to advance to the National Finals in Evansville, Ind. The Huskies won over the fans in Rochester when the home team was eliminated in the other semifinal game. The support of the fans helped the Huskies in a huge upset over Fairfield in the final.

In 1967, the team averaged over 82 points per game over 26 games, while limiting their opponents to 66 points per game. The nearly +16.0 scoring margin was the best in recent history for the Huskies. Leo Osgood led the team this season in scoring with 15.3 points per game, while Michael Wallent dominated in the paint with 9.4 rebounds per game. All this scoring was done prior to the three-point line.

The final two seasons of the 60's saw Northeastern move to the University Division. With no league affiliation and an insufficient strength of schedule, the 1968-69 and 1969-70 Husky teams had no real chance to qualify for postseason play in either the prestigious NIT or NCAA University Division Tournament. In fact, there would be a 12-year hiatus before the Huskies would return to postseason play in 1981.

With three NBA Draft choices and nine Hall of Famers, the 60's paved the way for the Northeastern men's basketball program we know today. Rick Weitzman, Harry Barnes and Osgood would head to the draft while Paul Solberg, John Malvey, Fran Ryan, Jim Bowman, Weitzman, Barnes, Osgood, Kevin Shea and Jim Moxley would forever hold their accolades and names in the Northeastern Athletics Hall of Fame. Weitzman would get picked up by the Celtics in the eighth round of the 1967 NBA Draft while Barnes was selected by the San Diego Rockets in the fourth round of the 1968 draft.

The decade of the 1960's paved the way for the Huskies to make their way to the biggest stage, the NCAA Division I tournament. Due to the success of that era, the Huskies attracted Naismith Hall of Fame Coach Jim Calhoun, winning 240 games and taking Northeastern to the NCAA Division I tournament in 1981, '82, '84, '85 and '86. Coach Calhoun was able to continue the tradition set by Coach Dukeshire with talent such as Boston Celtics first-round draft pick Reggie Lewis and Boston Celtics third-round draft pick Perry Moss.

Fast-forward to today, the Huskies continue to lead all the New England teams with the highest RPI ranking over the last four seasons and NCAA tournament appearances in 2015 and '19, while also claiming a CAA-best four regular-season championships in 2012-13, 2014-15, 2017-18 and 2020-21. Head Coach Bill Coen broke the all-time wins record with 251, leading Northeastern past William & Mary in the CAA quarterfinals in 2021 and continues to shine a light on this great basketball program.

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