2003–04 Florida A&M Rattlers basketball team

2003–04 Florida A&M Rattlers basketball
2003–04 Florida A&M Rattlers basketball
MEAC tournament champions
NCAA tournament
Conference	Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Record	15–17 (10–8 MEAC)
Head coach	Mike Gillespie;
Home arena	Jake Gaither Gymnasium
	Seasons ← 2002–03 2004–05 →

2003–04 MEAC men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
South Carolina State	14	–	4	.778	18	–	11	.621
Coppin State	14	–	4	.778	18	–	14	.563
Delaware State	11	–	7	.611	13	–	15	.464
Hampton	11	–	7	.611	13	–	17	.433
Florida A&M †	10	–	8	.556	15	–	17	.469
Norfolk State	10	–	8	.556	12	–	17	.414
Morgan State	9	–	9	.500	11	–	16	.407
Bethune–Cookman	7	–	11	.389	8	–	21	.276
Maryland Eastern Shore	6	–	12	.333	8	–	21	.276
Howard	4	–	14	.222	6	–	22	.214
North Carolina A&T	3	–	15	.167	3	–	25	.107

† 2004 MEAC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 2003–04 Florida A&M Rattlers men's basketball team represented Florida A&M University during the 2003–04 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rattlers, led by head coach Mike Gillespie, played their home games at the Teaching Gym as members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. They finished the season 15–17, 10–8 in MEAC play to finish in fifth place in the conference regular season standings. They broke through to capture the MEAC tournament and secure the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Playing as one of two No. 16 seeds in the Midwest region, The Rattlers defeated fellow No. 16 seed Lehigh in the play-in game^[2] before losing to No. 1 seed Kentucky, 96–76.^[3]

Roster

2003–04 Florida A&M Rattlers men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	12	Brandin Jay	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	Memphis, Tennessee

Head coach

Mike Gillespie (DePaul)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

^[4]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 23, 2003*		at Illinois State	L 70–87	0–1	Redbird Arena Normal, Illinois
Nov 25, 2003*		Cleveland State	L 88–97	0–2	Gaither Athletic Center Tallahassee, Florida
Nov 28, 2003*		at No. 25 NC State	L 62–92	0–3	RBC Center Raleigh, North Carolina
Dec 2, 2003*		at No. 2 Florida	L 78–102	0–4	Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida
Dec 5, 2003*		at Georgia	L 59–77	0–5	Stegeman Coliseum Athens, Georgia
Dec 14, 2003*		at Alabama State	L 69–75	0–6	Joe L. Reed Acadome Montgomery, Alabama
Dec 22, 2003*		at Marquette	L 63–83	1–8	Bradley Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin
MEAC regular season
MEAC tournament
Mar 11, 2004*		vs. Hampton Quarterfinals	W 72–71	12–16	Arthur Ashe Athletic Center Norfolk, Virginia
Mar 12, 2004*		vs. South Carolina State Semifinals	W 65–53	13–16	Arthur Ashe Athletic Center Norfolk, Virginia
Mar 13, 2004*		vs. Coppin State Championship game	W 58–51	14–16	Arthur Ashe Athletic Center Norfolk, Virginia
NCAA tournament
Mar 16, 2004*	(16 MW)	vs. (16 MW) Lehigh Play-in game	W 72–57	15–16	UD Arena Dayton, Ohio
Mar 19, 2004*	(16 MW)	vs. (1 MW) No. 2 Kentucky First round	L 76–96	15–17	Nationwide Arena Columbus, Ohio
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[5]

References

^ sports-reference.com 2003-04 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Season Summary
^ "FAMU Beats Lehigh, Advances to Play Kentucky". Orlando Sentinel. March 17, 2004. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
^ "Fitch scores 26 in high-scoring affair". ESPN. March 20, 2004. Archived from the original on July 23, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
^ "2003-04 Men's Basketball Roster". Florida A&M University Athletics. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
^ "2003-04 Men's Basketball Schedule". Florida A&M University Athletics. Retrieved July 23, 2023.

[1] sports-reference.com 2003-04 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Season Summary

[2] "FAMU Beats Lehigh, Advances to Play Kentucky". Orlando Sentinel. March 17, 2004. Retrieved July 23, 2023.

[3] "Fitch scores 26 in high-scoring affair". ESPN. March 20, 2004. Archived from the original on July 23, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.

[4] "2003-04 Men's Basketball Roster". Florida A&M University Athletics. Retrieved July 23, 2023.

[5] "2003-04 Men's Basketball Schedule". Florida A&M University Athletics. Retrieved July 23, 2023.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e Florida A&M Rattlers basketball
Venues	Jake Gaither Gymnasium (1963–2009) Al Lawson Center (2009–present)
Culture & lore	"Rattler Orange and Green"
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons Records lost 1932–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25