The Ospreys compete in the ASUN Conference (A-Sun) in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

The North Florida Ospreys men's basketball team played its first games in the 1992–93 season, spending their first year as a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Independent.

[2][6] After six seasons, Zvosec was succeeded as head coach by former National Basketball Association (NBA) player Sidney Green.

In 2009, new athletic director, Lee Moon, relieved Kilkullen of his position and replaced him with former Baylor University assistant coach Matthew Driscoll for the Ospreys' first year as full Division I members.

In the 2011 A-Sun tournament the Ospreys upset Jacksonville and East Tennessee State to advance to the championship game, but were defeated 87–46 by Belmont.

On December 6, 2014, they defeated the Purdue Boilermakers on the road, marking their first ever victory over a Big Ten Conference opponent.

[17] They also won the Atlantic Sun regular season title for the first time and posted the best record in team history with 23 wins and 11 losses.

[24] The two universities contest the "River City Rumble", in which the school with the most wins annually over the other across all sports receives a trophy, the SunTrust Old Wooden Barrel.

[25] The first game between North Florida and Jacksonville was played on November 23, 2004 when JU defeated UNF, a Division II program, 78–73.

After beginning their Division I era 0–5 against the Dolphins, UNF finally defeated JU in the 2011 A-Sun Tournament quarterfinals in one of the young program's most significant wins.