At the U.S. Naval Academy, optimism is cultivated with purpose and discipline. This season, the Navy Midshipmen men’s basketball team has transformed that discipline into one of the most compelling runs in the Patriot League’s 40-year history.
With a commanding league lead, a new head coach who has stabilized and energized the program, and a roster that has matured into one of the league’s most balanced and resilient teams, Navy has emerged as a legitimate contender for something that has eluded them since 1998 – a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
The Midshipmen stormed into Sojka Pavilion as Patriot League frontrunners last night and sailed out with an 76-60 takedown of the Bucknell Bison. Despite the orange-out condition of a boisterous crowd, the Midshipmen were able to lock up their 12th league win against one loss, and their 20th victory this season, the first time since 2022.
Ironically, the only team in Patriot League men’s basketball history to finish a league season undefeated is Bucknell, which went 14–0 twenty years ago.
This campaign marks Navy’s first full season under head coach Jon Perry, who took over following the retirement of longtime coach, Ed DeChellis. Perry has guided the Midshipmen to a dramatic turnaround, lifting them from a 15-19 finish last season to the best record in the Patriot League.
Success has extended beyond the hardcourt for Navy as the Midshipmen closed their football season, ranked No. 23 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Polls clear-cut evidence that, even in the NIL era of college athletics, success in the classroom and on the field is still possible.
As Coach Jon Perry summed it up, “Our guys prove every day that you don’t have to sacrifice academics to compete at the highest level. Discipline travels whether it’s in the classroom or on the field.”
Navy’s season has been anchored by strong performances from returning veterans. Senior leadership, especially from senior guard Austin Benigni and center Aidan Kehoe, has shaped both the culture and on court execution. Perry’s command has reinvigorated the program, balancing discipline with adaptability. Navy boasts a top‑25 defensive rating nationally (96.1), while their offense is averaging 73.7 points per game.
The Midshipmen finished their football season ranked No. 23 in both the Associated Press (AP) Poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll. All proof that in this NIL world of college athletics, it can be done both academically and athletically.
Fueling Navy’s success is the relentless backcourt fire of Benigni paired who is averaging 18-points per game paired up with the imposing interior muscle of Kehoe who averages nearly 11 boards and 15-points per game. Like the rest of the teams in the Patriot League, Navy is not built around a single superstar, it is a team-oriented roster where contributions routinely come from a rotation comprising of 8-10 players. Such depth has allowed the Midshipmen to withstand injuries, maintain fresh legs deep into the contest and execute Perry’s system with precision.
Early in the season, the Midshipmen traded baskets with the 11th‑ranked North Carolina Tar Heels, who slipped past them 73-61 back on November 18. It was those early games that hardened Navy into a tough and composed team that has confidently dominate Patriot League play.
At some point during the season, the switch turns and doesn’t dial back. For Navy’s that occurred when the weather went Arctic, the Midshipmen caught fire, turning midwinter into their own personal heat wave. Navy’s 85-68 dismantling of Holy Cross on January 21 set the tone, and three days later, their 84-56 victory over longstanding rival Army confirmed loudly and unmistakably that the Midshipmen had become the Patriot League’s most balanced team.
Their lone conference loss on January 12 at American University served as both a setback but also a reset. Poor shooting and rebounding lapses contributed to the 65–51 defeat, but Perry immediately reframed the stumble as fuel rather than failure. “Losses don’t derail us they teach us,” Coach Perry articulated. “We take the lesson, fix the mistakes, and get better.”
Navy is not just winning games they are cutting through the Patriot League like a destroyer at flank speed. Their blend of lockdown defense, timely scoring, and deep, steady personnel make this squad the most seaworthy unit the Academy has launched in years charting a course for a deep run into March.
For a program in a one-bid league, the most straightforward path to the NCAA Tournament is winning the Patriot League Tournament. The league has yet to receive at large bid and perhaps never will.
With Navy’s potential home court advantage at Alumni Hall looming where they are 12-1 this season, the Midshipmen will steer the helm of its own season, charting the course toward March Madness on its terms with an NCAA Tournament berth finally within striking distance.
