The Siena Saints men's basketball team (formerly the Siena Indians) represents Siena University in Loudonville, New York, United States. The NCAA Division I program competes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and the annual Franciscan Cup.
The Saints are currently coached by Nevada Smith. He replaced Gerry McNamara who left for the head coaching job at his alma mater Syracuse on March 24, 2026 after 2 seasons.
Siena plays its home games at the 14,500 all-seater MVP Arena in downtown Albany. Prior to joining a conference, Siena had success in the 1950s, winning the National Catholic Invitational Tournament in 1950 and finishing the 1950–51 season ranked 18th in the AP poll. Since 1988, the team has appeared in seven NCAA tournaments (1989, 1999, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2026) and five National Invitation Tournaments (1988, 1991, 1994, 2000, and 2003). Siena has advanced to the Round of 32 three times in program history. In 1989 they defeated 3rd-seeded Stanford 80–78. In 2008 Siena beat 4th seeded Vanderbilt 83–62 and the following year they edged 8th seeded Ohio State 74–72 in double overtime.
Siena has won seven conference tournaments throughout program history. They won the 1989 title in the North Atlantic Conference, with a win over Boston University, famously played in front of no fans as a result of a measles outbreak. They have won seven conference championships as a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Their most recent championship came in 2026 when they won the MAAC tournament defeating Merrimack 64-54 for the title and automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Siena was a 16 seed and took the tournament’s overall number one seed Duke to the wire leading by 13 points with 17 minutes left before running out of gas losing 71-65 in the Round of 64.
