Team History
Many historians believe that the first intercollegiate men's basketball game in the East was Haverford's 6-4 defeat of Temple in 1895.
The college did not have a varsity, however, until 1918-19 when intramural player Ben Cooper '18 inspired the program after his graduation. The Fords' men's basketball MVP award is named for Cooper, who later served Haverford as alumni secretary.
Playing home games in the friendly confines
of the (now Ryan) Gymnasium, Haverford produced its first 1,000-point
career scorer in slashing guard Phil D'Arrigo '56, who once scored
100 points (48 and 52) in successive games against excellent opponents.
Alumni Field House opened in 1957 to chants of "Roll, Fords, Roll" as former Penn star Ernie Prudente built a fast-break offense around quality big men. Larry Forman '60, an acrobatic 1,000-point scorer, led HC to wins over Delaware and Navy. Haverford regularly qualified for the Middle Atlantic Conference playoffs behind 6'8" Hunter Rawlings '66, who was MAC South MVP, an NCAA Postgraduate Scholar, and former president of the University of Iowa and Cornell University.
Haverford teams reached similar heights in the mid-'70's under head coach Tony Zanin. Dick Voith '77, an uncanny shooter and first team Division III All-America whose #4 was retired in 2002, earned long looks from the NBA Philadelphia 76ers and Golden State Warriors after becoming HC's only 2,000-point scorer. He and classmate David Stubbs led the Fords to the 1975 and '77 MAC South finals with wins over reigning powers F&M and Widener, respectively. Powerful Mike Racke '81 became Haverford's all-time career rebounder as a teammate of Doug Gardner '83 and Calvin Gooding '83, victims of the 9/11 WTC attacks for whom venues in the college's new athletic center are named.
The program awakened after a sluggish decade in 1995-96 when senior 1,000-point scorers Jamal Elliott and Chris Guiton helped the Fords advance to the Centennial Conference semifinals. Guiton, a great long-range shooter who later played professionally in Europe, and Elliott, a magical playmaker, both earned first-team all-Centennial during their careers and were co-recipients of The Varsity Cup, Haverford's highest athletic honor.
In 2003-2004, the Fords earned a berth in the Centennial Conference playoffs behind strong play from all-conference performers Mark Gabriel '05 and Jeremy Bass '06. Gabriel, Bass and Matt Stein '05 all surpassed 1,000 career points. In 2005 Haverford made its first trip to the conference semifinals in nine years. Two years later marked the Fords third trip to the conference championship game in school history.