The 1996–97 Old Dominion Monarchs men's basketball team represented Old Dominion University in the 1996–97 college basketball season. This was head coach Jeff Capel's third of seven seasons at Old Dominion. The Monarchs competed in the Colonial Athletic Association and played their home games at the ODU Fieldhouse. They finished the season 22–11, 10–6 in CAA play to finish as regular season conference champions. They went on to win the 1997 CAA men's basketball tournament to earn the CAA's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. They earned a 14 seed in the East Region where they were beaten by No. 3 seed New Mexico in the opening round.