Long Beach State Beach

Long Beach State basketball plays in one of college basketball's most distinctive venues, the gleaming silver Walter Pyramid, and carries a program history built on producing NBA-caliber talent from a mid-major perch. The Beach's basketball tradition traces back to the Jerry Tarkanian era, when the program first became a nationally feared mid-major capable of knocking off major-conference opponents. That underdog, upset-minded identity has stuck with the program through decades of Big West competition. Long Beach basketball punches consistently above its conference standing.

Long Beach State's basketball program rose to national prominence under coach Jerry Tarkanian in the late 1960s and early 1970s, reaching multiple NCAA Tournaments and establishing the 49ers (now the Beach) as a mid-major power capable of competing with the sport's biggest programs. The team has never advanced to a Final Four or won a national title, but its Tarkanian-era teams remain some of the most respected mid-major squads in college basketball history. The program has continued making periodic NCAA Tournament appearances as a Big West contender in the decades since. The Walter Pyramid, opened in 1994, gave the program one of the sport's most recognizable modern homes.