ETSU also suffered their most famous loss when they lost by 1 point to top ranked Oklahoma as a 16th seed in the 1989 NCAA tournament.

When Les Robinson left for NC State after the 1990 season, longtime assistant Alan Leforce took over a veteran team led by Senior Keith "Mister" Jennings.

In 2003 Dechellis helped ETSU win their first Southern Conference Tournament title and first NCAA berth since 1992.

ETSU faced Wake Forest University in the first round where they lost in the final seconds 73–76 after having a chance to win the game with the last shot.

In 2003 ETSU hired Murry Bartow after Ed Dechellis took the head coaching position at Penn State.

Bartow took over a senior led team that won 27 games and nearly went undefeated in conference play in his first season; additionally, ETSU won their second straight Southern Conference Tournament and headed back to the NCAA tournament for the second straight year.

[4] After Murry Bartow was fired, Steve Forbes became the 16th head coach in ETSU's 95-year history on March 30, 2015.

Forbes' recruiting ties and his extensive background as an assistant coach at the NCAA Division I level – which included a five-year stop at the University of Tennessee – made him a perfect fit for ETSU, according to ETSU Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. Richard Sander.

Forbes led the team to another conference regular season championship in 2019-20 and a school record 30 wins.

On April 30, 2020, Forbes left ETSU to accept the head coaching job at Wake Forest.

[7] In the 2020-21 season, Shay led the Buccaneers to a 13-12 overall record and an appearance in the semifinals of the 2021 Southern Conference Tournament.

Top 8 all-time home crowds to attend an ETSU basketball game in Johnson City.