The Marist Athletic Department including the men's basketball program transitioned up to the Division I level before the 1981–82 season.

Also on those teams was Rudy Bourgarel and Alain Forestier from France, Peter Krasovec from Hungary, Curtis Celestine from Canada and Serbian player Miroslav Pecarski.

[2] At the time, Pecarski was considered by some to be Europe's top 17-year-old player, but he was injured in the preseason, creating an opportunity for Smits.

In the 1986 NCAA Tournament, Marist lost 68–53 against a Georgia Tech team which would send four members of its starting lineup to the NBA.

The team won 20 games for the first time in its Division I history and lost to University of Pittsburgh in the NCAA first round.

Magarity’s staff included Jeff Bower, formerly the general manager and head coach of the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets.

Other players of note were shooting forward Kareem Hill (13.7 pts and 8.7 rbs/game) and guard Danny Basile (15 pts/game), who combined for 55 points in that NIT loss.

Jordan led the nation in assists for the second straight year while Whittington, a three-point shooting specialist, contributed 17.6 pts/game.

On April 10, 2013, Jeff Bower was named the tenth Head Coach in Marist's Division I history replacing Chuck Martin who was fired on March 14.

[15][16] One June 2, 2014, after leading Marist to a 12–19 record in one season, Bower resigned his position to become General Manager of the Detroit Pistons of the NBA.