Fewer college basketball programs can say they’ve experienced anything close to what the College of Charleston Cougars have in their history. For decades, cheap College of Charleston basketball tickets were easy to find because the program toiled in anonymity. However, the Cougars eventually made their mark at the NAIA level before making the jump to the Division I level. Nowadays, the Cougars are a fierce mid-major in the Colonial Athletic Association, putting last-minute College of Charleston basketball tickets in high demand.

The Godfather

Without question, John Kresse is the Godfather of the College of Charleston basketball. He took over the Cougars in 1979 when they were a mediocre NAIA program. By his fourth season, he had turned College of Charleston into NAIA national champions, kicking off a stretch in which the Cougars averaged over 28 wins per season over the next seven years. Kresse then led Charleston’s transition to the Division I level. After four seasons as an independent, the Cougars joined the Atlantic Sun Conference and won both the conference regular-season and tournament championships in their first season.

Southern Kings

Under Kresse, College of Charleston made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1994. That season would end up being the first of nine straight regular-season conference titles under Kresse, even as the Cougars made the leap to the Southern Conference in 1998. During those nine years, Kresse led the Cougars to the NCAA Tournament four times before retiring. That stretch also included Charleston’s first win in the Big Dance, an upset of Maryland in 1997 that cemented the program’s reputation as a giant killer.

The Earl of Charleston

Unfortunately, the College of Charleston basketball took a nosedive after Kresse retired in 2002. Many coaches, including longtime Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins, struggled to replicate Kresse’s success. However, Earl Grant has helped rebuild the Cougars into a formidable mid-major once again. In 2018, he snapped a nearly 20-year NCAA Tournament drought for the program, winning both the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season and tournament titles. The Cougars are back to being one of the best teams in the Colonial and a program that is poised to continue to be a giant killer in the future.