Many historians believe that the first intercollegiate men's basketball game in the East was Haverford's 6-4 defeat of Temple in 1895.

The college did not have a varsity, however, until 1918-19 when intramural player Ben Cooper 1918 inspired the program after his graduation. The Fords’ men's basketball MVP award is named for Cooper, who later served Haverford as alumni secretary.

Playing home games in the friendly confines of Ryan Gymnasium up until the construction of the Gardner Intergrated Athletic Center (GIAC) which opened in October of 2005, Haverford produced its first 1,000-point career scorer in slashing guard Phil D'Arrigo ’56, who once scored 100 points (48 and 52) in successive games against excellent opponents.

Alumni Field House opened in 1957 to chants of "Roll, Fords, Roll" as former Penn star Ernie Prudente built a fast-break offense around quality big men. Larry Forman ’60, an acrobatic 1,000-point scorer, led Haverford to wins over Delaware and Navy. Haverford regularly qualified for the Middle Atlantic Conference playoffs behind 6'8" Hunter Rawlings ’66, who was MAC South MVP, an NCAA Postgraduate Scholar, and former president of the University of Iowa and Cornell University.

Haverford teams reached similar heights in the mid-’70’s under head coach Tony Zanin. Dick Voith ’77, an uncanny shooter and first-team Division III All-America whose #4 was retired in 2002, earned long looks from the NBA Philadelphia 76ers and Golden State Warriors after becoming Haverford’s only 2,000-point scorer. He and classmate David Stubbs ’77 led the Fords to the 1975 and 1977 MAC South finals with wins over reigning powers F&M and Widener, respectively. Powerful Mike Racke ’81 became Haverford's all-time career rebounder as a teammate of Doug Gardner ’83 and Calvin Gooding ’83, victims of the 9/11 WTC attacks for whom venues in the college's new athletic center are named.

The program awakened after a sluggish decade in 1995-96 when senior 1,000-point scorers Jamal Elliott ’96 and Chris Guiton ’96 helped the Fords advance to the Centennial Conference semifinals. Guiton, a great long-range shooter who later played professionally in Europe, and Elliott, a magical playmaker, both earned first-team All-Centennial during their careers and were co-recipients of The Varsity Cup, Haverford's highest athletic honor.

In 2003-2004, the Fords earned a berth in the Centennial Conference playoffs behind strong play from all-conference performers Mark Gabriel ’05 and Jeremy Bass ’06. Gabriel, Bass and Matt Stein ’05 all surpassed 1,000 career points. In 2005, Haverford made its first trip to the conference semifinals in nine years. Two years later marked the Fords third trip to the conference championship game in school history. The Fords also qualified for the Centennial Conference Tournament during the 2009 and 2011 seasons to cap that run of success. The longest tenured head coach in program history, Michael Mucci (1995-17), is also the winningest men's basketball coach in program history. He amassed 186 wins in 22 seasons with the Fords.

Ian Goldberg ’12 and Cam Baker ’13 both surpassed the 1,000 point plateau in the Fords’ final game of the 2011-12 season against Swarthmore. Brett Cohen ’14 became a member of the 1,000-point club during the 2013-14 campaign. The most recent player to hit that milestone, Matt Sherman ’17, scored his 1,000th point during the final home game of his career.

Current head coach Patrick Doherty succeeded Mucci prior to the 2017-18 season. In just his second season, Doherty coached 1,000 point scorers Joe Scibelli ’19 and Kahlil Garnes ’19. Scibelli become just the fourth player in Centennial Conference history to lead the league in both points and rebounds per game. In just three short seasons, Doherty’s Fords have already returned to the Centennial Conference Tournament semifinals after finishing third in the regular season standings during the 2019-20 season.

Haverford College Career 1,000-point Club
2,175 points - Dick Voith ’77 (93 games) - 1973-77
1,519 points - Mike Racke ’81 (90 games) - 1977-81
1,461 points - Chris Guiton ’96 (95 games) - 1992-96
1,461 points - Dave Stubbs ’77 (93 games) - 1973-77
1,439 points - Mark Gabriel ’05 (83 games) - 2001-05
1,393 points - Cam Baker ’13 (91 games) - 2009-13
1,300 points - Phil D'Arrigo ’56 (56 games) - 1952-56
1,291 points - Joe Scibelli ’19 (87 games) - 2015-19
1,199 points - Brett Cohen ’14 (99 games) - 2010-14
1,170 points - Kahlil Garnes ’19 (100 games) - 2015-19
1,136 points - Jamal Elliott ’96 (93 games) - 1992-96
1,102 points - Mukul Kanabar ’00 (94 games) - 1996-00
1,035 points - Jeremy Bass ’05 (75 games) - 2002-05
1,028 points - Ian Goldberg ’12 (99 games) - 2008-12
1,023 points - Matt Stein ’05 (97 games) - 2001-05
1,021 points - Larry Forman ’60 (63 games) - 1956-60
1,018 points - Matt Sherman ’17 (85 games) - 2013-17
1,011 points - Joe Rulewich ’93/4 (97 games) - 1989-92, 93-94