1982–83 Georgia Southern Eagles men's basketball team

1982–83 Georgia Southern Eagles men's basketball
1982–83 Georgia Southern Eagles men's basketball
TAAC tournament champion
NCAA tournament
Conference	Trans America Athletic Conference
Record	18–12 (8–6 TAAC)
Head coach	Frank Kerns (1st season);
Home arena	Hanner Fieldhouse

1982–83 Trans America Athletic Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Arkansas–Little Rock	12	–	2	.857	23	–	6	.793
Houston Baptist	10	–	4	.714	20	–	9	.690
†	8	–	6	.571	18	–	12	.600
Centenary	8	–	6	.571	16	–	13	.552
Mercer	6	–	8	.429	13	–	15	.464
Samford	6	–	8	.429	13	–	15	.464
Northwestern State	5	–	9	.357	9	–	19	.321
Hardin–Simmons	1	–	13	.071	3	–	25	.107
Nicholls State*	0	–	0	–	16	–	12	.571

† 1983 TAAC tournament winner *Provisional member; played no conference games. Rankings from AP Poll

The 1982–83 Georgia Southern Eagles men's basketball team represented Georgia Southern University during the 1982–83 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles, led by first year head coach Frank Kerns, played their home games at Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro, Georgia as members of the Trans America Athletic Conference. The team finished third in the regular season conference standings and won the TAAC tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament – the first appearance in program history. As one of two No. 12 seeds in the Mideast region, the Eagles lost in the Play-in round to Robert Morris, 64–54 to finish with a 18–12 record (8–6 TAAC).

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G		Eric Hightower	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—
F		Dennis Murphy	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference Regular season
Dec 17, 1982*		vs. No. 20 West Virginia	L 58–85	0–4	Charleston Civic Center Charleston, West Virginia
Dec 18, 1982*		vs. Robert Morris	W 66–63	1–4
Dec 22, 1982*		vs. Georgia	L 55–57	1–5	Martin Luther King Arena Savannah, Georgia
TAAC Regular season
TAAC tournament
Mar 10, 1983*		Samford	W 58–57	16–11	Hanner Fieldhouse Statesboro, Georgia
Mar 11, 1983*		vs. Houston Baptist Semifinals	W 58–55	17–11	Barton Coliseum Little Rock, Arkansas
Mar 12, 1983*		at Arkansas–Little Rock Championship game	W 68–67	18–11	Barton Coliseum Little Rock, Arkansas
NCAA tournament
Mar 15, 1983*	(12 ME)	vs. (12 ME) Robert Morris Play-in Game	L 54–64	18–12	University of Dayton Arena Dayton, Ohio
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ME=Mideast. All times are in Eastern.

Source^[1]^[2]

Georgia Southern Eagles men's basketball
Venues	Alumni Building (1932–1955) Hanner Gymnasium (1955–1969) Hanner Fieldhouse (1969–2024) Hill Convocation Center (2024–present)
Rivalries	Georgia State
Culture & lore	Freedom GUS "Georgia Southern Fight Song"
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–46 1946–47 1947–48 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 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