1975–76 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team

{{short description|American college basketball season}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox NCAA team season

|CoachRank=

|APRank=

|mode=Basketball

|year=1975–76

|team=Weber State Wildcats

|image=

|image_size=

|conference=Big Sky Conference

|division=

|short_conf=Big Sky

|record=21–11

|conf_record=9–5

|head_coach=Neil McCarthy

|hc_year = 1st

|asst_coach1=

|asst_coach2=

|mvp=

|stadium=Wildcat Gym

|champion=Big Sky regular season co–champions

|bowl=

|bowl_result=

}}

{{1975–76 Big Sky men's basketball standings}}

The 1975–76 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team represented Weber State College during the 1975–76 NCAA Division I basketball season. Members of the Big Sky Conference, the Wildcats were led by first-year head coach Neil McCarthy and played their home games on campus at Wildcat Gym in Ogden, Utah. They were {{nowrap|20–10}} overall in the regular season and {{nowrap|9–5}} in conference play.

This was McCarthy's first full season as head coach; he had been promoted in the middle of the previous season, following the sudden resignation of Gene Visscher in late January.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TK5fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2jIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5742%2C6289487 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |agency=Associated Press |title=Visscher quits Weber post; McCarthy picked |date=January 25, 1975 |page=3B}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=99JSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YX8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3641%2C5087217 |work=Deseret News |location=(Salt Lake City, Utah) |title=McCarthy moves up |date=January 25, 1975 |page=6A}}

The Wildcats were regular season co-champions with Idaho State and Boise State,{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=L_NLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=de0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=2870%2C362230 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |title=College hoop standings |date=March 2, 1976 |page=16}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2JBfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pzAMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5922%2C120852 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |title=College cage standings |date=March 1, 1976 |page=3B}} and the league champion hosted the new conference tournament. The seeding of the three co-champions for the four-team bracket was done by a random draw in late February, conducted via a Saturday night conference telephone call by commissioner John Roning from Moscow, Idaho.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2JBfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pzAMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2840%2C111224|work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho)|agency=Associated Press |title=Top four head for tourney |date=March 1, 1976 |page=2B}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LvNLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=de0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6383%2C133107 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |title=Weber hosts Sky playoffs |date=March 1, 1976 |page=16}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uqQqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vVsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7073%2C114862 |work=Deseret News |location=(Salt Lake City, Utah) |title=Wildcats win tourney 'draw' |date=March 1, 1976 |page=B7}}

Weber was drawn as the top seed, which included the right to host at Wildcat Gym in Ogden. At this time, both Weber and Boise still played in small gymnasiums, while ISU's Minidome had more than double the seating capacity of the others.

The Wildcats defeated fourth-seeded Northern Arizona in the semifinal,{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VP4xAAAAIBAJ&sjid=730DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4188%2C1168892 |work=Deseret News |location=(Salt Lake City, Utah) |last=Blodgett |first=Gary R. |title=Big Sky feud: Weber-Boise State |date=March 6, 1976 |page=6A}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3ZBfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pzAMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2739%2C1496986 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |agency=Associated Press |title=Weber, Boise advance in Big Sky |date=March 6, 1976 |page=2B}} but lost to Boise State in the final in double overtime.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wKQqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vVsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7020%2C1499626 |work=Deseret News |location=(Salt Lake City, Utah) |last=Blodgett |first=Gary R. |title=Boise faces tough Rebels |date=March 8, 1976 |page=C3}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3pBfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pzAMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3288%2C1867774 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |agency=Associated Press |title=Boise rules Big Sky after overtime win |date=March 7, 1976 |page=1B}}

For the third consecutive year, senior forward Jimmie Watts was named to the all-conference team, this time as a unanimous choice. Senior center Al DeWitt was on the second team, and senior forward Paul Marigney was honorable mention.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2pBfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pzAMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2843%2C602981 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |agency=Associated Press |title=Trio tops Big Sky all-star team |date=March 3, 1976 |page=2B}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=u6QqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vVsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6933%2C293958 |work=Deseret News |location=(Salt Lake City, Utah) |agency=UPI |title=Watts gets 'Sky honor for 3rd year |date=March 2, 1976 |page=B6}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6flLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0fgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4362%2C344025 |work=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=(Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Gonzaga's Jim Grady 2nd-team Sky choice |date=March 2, 1976 |page=20}}