| Lamar Cardinals | |||
| 2010–11 Lamar Cardinals basketball team | |||
| University | Lamar University | ||
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| First season | 1923 | ||
| Conference | Southland East Division |
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| Location | Beaumont, TX | ||
| Head coach | Pat Knight (1st year) | ||
| Arena | Montagne Center (Capacity: 10,080) |
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| Nickname | Cardinals | ||
| Colors | Red and White
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| Uniforms | |||
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| NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen | |||
| 1980 | |||
| NCAA Tournament appearances | |||
| 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1983 • 2000 | |||
| Conference tournament champions | |||
| Southland Conference: 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1983 • 2000 | |||
| Conference regular season champions | |||
| Southland Conference:1964 • 1970 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1983 • 1984 • 2008 Lone Star Conference: 1961 • 1962 • 1963 |
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The Lamar Cardinals basketball team represents Lamar University in NCAA Division I men's basketball competition. The Cardinals currently compete in the Southland Conference. Since 1984, the team has played its home games in the Montagne Center.[1] The Cardinals basketball team plays in the 10,080 seat Montagne Center.[2] The Lamar University basketball team is one of the school's most storied athletic programs.
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Basketball began in 1923 with the founding of South Park Junior College (renamed Lamar in 1932) In the early years the squad was hurt by a lack of common opponents and routinely had to play local high schools or city amateur teams. By 1931 the squad had been reduced to a intramural level. In 1946 the program was revived as Lamar entered the Southwestern Junior College Conference. The revived squad was an immediate success finishing 2nd with a 10-4 record by head coach Dave Engman. The next year under the vetern coaching of Elbert Pickell the 1947-1948 team pulled an enormous upset by campturing the state title with a 13-3 record. The following year the Cardinals continued to prosper under head coach Thurman "Slue" Hull who complied 49-30 record at Lamar before being hired away by the University of Texas.[3] The following year the cardinals began their transition to play against 4 year college competition with newly hired head coach Jack Martin.[4]
Jack Martin was the first and longest serving head coach in Lamar's history. He came to Lamar after coaching three seasons at his Alma Mater, Hardin-Simmons University. Martin began coaching the cardinals as they entered the college division Lone Star Conference in 1951. Martin coached Billy Tubbs from 1955-1957, Tubbs would later become the first player or student to return and coach Lamar Basketball.[5] In 1964 Lamar began it's transition into division I and the Southland Conference. The highlight of Jack Martin's career would be his 1968-1969 squad that earned a #1 national ranking in the Associated Press college division poll. Martin's squad that year won its first 15 games of the season against very strong competition.
The cardinals won their first game against Pepperdine 65-64 then traveled to Memphis and beat a strong Memphis State team, 82-69. A week later, they quieted a stunned crowd in College Station's G. Rollie White Coliseum by strumming Southwest Conference champion Texas A&M, 98-87.
With the Cardinals sitting at 6-0 and sixth-ranked University of Tulsa coming to town, most observers figured the good times were at an end. Instead, they kept rolling as Martin's flashy Cards decked Tulsa, 103-77.
"Since we had gone 8-17 the previous season, what that team did to start that year has to be one of the greatest surprises ever in Lamar basketball, at least up until that point," said Joe Lee Smith, then LU's director of sports information. "They beat a good Pepperdine team and an outstanding Memphis State team to get started, then they beat Texas A&M on the road, which was totally unexpected.
"Tulsa was ranked No. 6, but we kicked the dog out of them. That triggered a lot of national attention. It was the first year for us to be fully Division I, and after that win we started getting a few votes in the major college polls."
After the Cardinals held off Arkansas State 84-81 in Jonesboro to tie the school record of 12-straight wins, they rose to No. 18 in the United Press International major college poll. They were the only team ranked in both polls.
A few nights later, the prominent University of Houston Cougars, who had been to the Final Four the previous season, came to McDonald Gym. Coach Guy Lewis' Cougars had never lost to Lamar, up until this point. With 8:15 left in the game, the Cardinals trailed 56-44, but they rallied to go ahead 61-59 in the final minute. The Cougars scored in the final seconds, however, and the teams went into overtime tied at 61.
The overflow throng in McDonald Gym and those viewing the game by closed-circuit television in a nearby dining hall erupted into bedlam when forward Jim Nicholson stole the ball and went in for a layup seconds after the overtime tipoff. Then, spindly guard Earl Dow popped in a corner jumper to give the Cards a four-point lead, and they controlled the rest of overtime, winning 71-65.
On a cold Feb. 1 night in Abilene, the record streak reached 15 games with an 85-72 victory over Abilene Christian. Two nights later on "The Stage" in Arlington, it ended with a 76-71 loss to Texas–Arlington.[6]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamar Cardinals (Lonestar) (1951–1963) | |||||||||
| 1951-1952 | Lamar | 7-16 | |||||||
| 1952-1953 | Lamar | 11-12 | |||||||
| 1953-1954 | Lamar | 13-11 | |||||||
| 1954-1955 | Lamar | 11-14 | |||||||
| 1955-1956 | Lamar | 12-12 | |||||||
| 1956-1957 | Lamar | 14-11 | |||||||
| 1957-1958 | Lamar | 10-12 | |||||||
| 1958-1959 | Lamar | 17-7 | |||||||
| 1959-1960 | Lamar | 18-9 | |||||||
| 1960-1961 | Lamar | 19-8 | |||||||
| 1961-1962 | Lamar | 20-8 | |||||||
| 1962-1963 | Lamar | 22-5 | |||||||
| Lamar Cardinals (Southland) (1963–1976) | |||||||||
| 1963-1964 | Lamar | 19-6 | 7-1 | 1st | |||||
| 1964-1965 | Lamar | 18-6 | 5-3 | 3rd | |||||
| 1965-1966 | Lamar | 17-9 | 4-4 | 2nd | |||||
| 1966-1967 | Lamar | 5-19 | 0-8 | 6th | |||||
| 1967-1968 | Lamar | 8-17 | 3-5 | 5th | |||||
| 1968-1969 | Lamar | 20-4 | 6-2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1969-1970 | Lamar | 15-9 | 7-1 | 1st | |||||
| 1970-1971 | Lamar | 11-13 | 5-3 | 2nd | |||||
| 1971-1972 | Lamar | 13-13 | 7-1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1972-1973 | Lamar | 11-13 | 6-6 | 4th | |||||
| 1973-1974 | Lamar | 6-19 | 0-4 | 3rd | |||||
| 1974-1975 | Lamar | 7-16 | 4-4 | 3rd | |||||
| 1975-1976 | Lamar | 10-14 | 6-4 | 3rd | |||||
| Lamar: | 334-283 (0.541) | ||||||||
| Total: | 375-323 (0.537) | ||||||||
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National champion Conference regular season champion Conference tournament champion |
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Coach Tubbs was the first former player and alumnus to coach the Lamar men's basketball team. The Cardinals, under Coach Billy Tubbs (1976–1980) had a Cinderella story 1980 NCAA Basketball Tournament, advancing to the Sweet 16. During Tubbs's reign at Lamar he recruited 2 players, Clarence Kea and B.B. Davis, who would become all-Americans for Lamar, while Clarence would go onto play professionally in the NBA.[8]
The 1979 Cardinal Basketball team set records when it beat Portland State University 141-84; at the time, that game set an NCAA record for points in a single game.[9] During the game, Mike Olliver set the single game scoring record at Lamar with 50 points; that record stood until January 4, 2011.
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamar Cardinals (Southland) (1976–1980) | |||||||||
| 1976-1977 | Lamar | 12-17 | 6-4 | 3rd | |||||
| 1977-1978 | Lamar | 18-9 | 8-2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1978-1979 | Lamar | 23-9 | 9-1 | 1st | NCAA 2nd Round | ||||
| 1979-1980 | Lamar | 22-11 | 8-2 | 1st | NCAA Sweet 16 | ||||
| Lamar: | 75-46 (.619) | ||||||||
| Total: | 640-340 (.653) | ||||||||
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National champion Conference regular season champion Conference tournament champion |
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Pat Foster (1980–1986) continued the team's success by leading the cardinals to 3 Southland Conference titles, 2 NCAA Tournament appearances and 4 NIT appearances.
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamar (Southland) (1980–1986) | |||||||||
| 1980-1981 | Lamar | 25-5 | 8-2 | 1st | NCAA (2nd Round) | ||||
| 1981-1982 | Lamar | 22-7 | 7-3 | 2nd | NIT (1st Round) | ||||
| 1982-1983 | Lamar | 23-8 | 9-3 | 1st | NCAA (2nd Round) | ||||
| 1983-1984 | Lamar | 26-5 | 11-1 | 1st | NIT (2nd Round) | ||||
| 1984-1985 | Lamar | 20-12 | 8-4 | 3rd | NIT (2nd Round) | ||||
| 1985-1986 | Lamar | 18-12 | 6-6 | T-4th | NIT (1st Round) | ||||
| Lamar: | 134-49 (.732) | 49-19 | |||||||
| Total: | 366-203 (.643) | ||||||||
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National champion Conference regular season champion Conference tournament champion |
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Mike Deane (1999–2003) was hired in 1999. In his first year he returned the cardinals to the NCAA tournament for the first time since the Pat Foster era. The Cardinals played Duke in the first round of the 2000 NCAA Tournament.[10]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamar Cardinals (Southland) (1999–2003) | |||||||||
| 1999-2000 | Lamar | 15-16 | 8-10 | T6th | NCAA (1st Round) | ||||
| 2000-2001 | Lamar | 9-18 | 7-13 | 9th | |||||
| 2001-2002 | Lamar | 15-14 | 11-9 | 4th | |||||
| 2001-2002 | Lamar | 13-14 | 10-10 | T5th | |||||
| Lamar: | 53-63 | 36-42 | |||||||
| Total: | 437-332 | ||||||||
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National champion Conference regular season champion Conference tournament champion |
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Billy Tubbs (2003–2006) returned to Lamar University in 2003 to again head the Cardinals basketball team. His return was highly anticipated and increased attendance. He turned the program around from 10th place in 2003 to tied for 4th in 2006 in the conference. In 2006 Coach Tubbs stepped down as Head Basketball Coach to become the Athletic Director for Lamar. He was succeeded by assistant and Lamar Alumnus Steve Roccaforte.
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamar Cardinals (Southland Conference) (2003–2006) | |||||||||
| 2003-2004 | Lamar | 11-18 | 5-11 | 10th | |||||
| 2004-2005 | Lamar | 18-11 | 9-7 | 5th | |||||
| 2005-2006 | Lamar | 17-14 | 9-7 | T-4th | |||||
| Lamar: | 46-43 | 23-25 | |||||||
| Total: | 640-340 (.653) | ||||||||
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National champion Conference regular season champion Conference tournament champion |
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During the Roccaforte era (2006–2011), Lamar Basketball Lamar had erratic success. The Cardinals had wins over major programs like the Texas Tech Red Raiders in 2008. Coach Roc took the Cardinals to the East Division Championship and a 19 win season in 2007-2008. Following the SLC championship the cardinals failed to reach the conference tournament for the next three seasons.
Coach Roc's tenure at Lamar was marked by some successes and very highly ranked recruiting classes.[11] As proof of coach Roccaforte's eye for talent, Mike James a coach Roccaforte recruit, scored 52 points in 28 minutes in a 114-62 win over Louisiana College. James's performance was the top single-game scoring performance of the 2011 NCAA basketball season.
April 5th, 2011, Lamar University announced the hiring of Pat Knight, the son of legendary basketball coach Bobby Knight, as its new head men's basketball coach.[12]
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