Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils

The Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils play out of the Harrison HPER Complex in the small Delta town of Itta Bena, but the program has a real national imprint. Behind All-American scorer Alphonso Ford, MVSU built a reputation in the 1980s and 1990s as a run-and-gun SWAC program capable of hanging with anyone on a given night. The Delta Devils' NCAA Tournament runs, even in defeat, produced some of the era's most memorable HBCU basketball moments. It's a small campus with an outsized basketball history.

Mississippi Valley State, founded in 1950, first drew national attention in the 1982 NCAA Tournament, when the Delta Devils beat Oregon before a double-overtime loss to N.C. State. The program's high-scoring style continued through the 1980s and 90s, producing standout Alphonso Ford, one of the NCAA's all-time leading scorers. MVSU has reached the NCAA Tournament five times overall, including 1986, 1996, and 2008, each as the SWAC's automatic qualifier. Those tournament trips remain the signature moments of Delta Devils basketball history.