OMARI

[PointGuard]

SWAC Tournament—Round 3 (Semifinals)

#2 seed Southern Tigers (23-8) vs #3 seed Texas Southern Tigers (22-8)—Southern got off to a quick start while Texas Southern’s offense was impotent for the first 5 minutes. Southern held a 49-38 halftime lead and then cruised in the 2nd half to blast Texas Southern 79-58. Texas Southern hit just 28% of their shots. PF DeJuan Ellis put in 21 points for Southern. Texas Southern was led by PF Matt Tebbs 13 points.

#1 seed Alcorn State Braves (24-6) vs #4 seed Grambling Tigers (20-11)—We lost to the Braves by 12 at home and 8 on their court. But I told our guys we can compete with the Braves and this is a time to step up and surprise some people. There were 8 lead changes in the first 10 minutes of this game, but we then pulled away and built a 43-34 halftime advantage. Our D which had been good in the first half tightened even more in the 2nd half. And even though we were outscored by 13 points at the foul line, we steadily expanded our lead and came away with a huge upset win, 80-60. We were +13 on the boards and made 5 less turnovers than Alcorn State. SG Lonnie Robertson dropped in 21 points, C Correy Parker hit for 14 points, PF Etan Benton had a big double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds, and PF Aubrey Johnson scored 10. Alcorn State’s top scorer was C Brett Smith with 16 points.

[PointGuard]

SWAC Tournament—Round 4 (Championship)

#2 seed Southern Jaguars (24-8) vs #4 seed Grambling Tigers (21-11)—We split the 2 games we played against the Jaguars this year. We led by a small margin most of the first half, but Southern came back to tie the game at 42-42 at the end of the first half. We came out smokin’ in the 2nd half to go up by 16 points with 11 minutes remaining. Southern fought back to slip ahead with 6 minutes left and looked to have momentum on their side. We refused to die, though, and with 2 minutes to go we edged back on top and surprised everyone by posting our 2nd straight upset…this time an exciting 85-82 victory. Team stats were as close as the score. SG Lonnie Robertson had a big game, scoring 26 points plus having 3 rebounds, 7 assists, and 6 steals. C Correy Parker had 15 points, 6 boards, and 4 blocks. PF Etan Benton had 11 points and 8 rebounds. C DeJuan Ellis had 22 points and 7 rebounds for Southern. Lonnie Robertson was selected as the SWAC Tourney MVP. He definitely deserved it, but I was extremely pleased with how our starting 5 performed and played together in the 3 tourney games (but have been kicking myself in the butt for not figuring it out until the very end of the season).



Although I thought we had a chance, I’m still a bit in shock to have won the SWAC Tournament. My Dad and Mom had flown in to take in the championship game. They both were ecstatic, but Dad seemed more excited about me taking a team to the Big Dance in my 2nd year of coaching than all the times he’d done it. Mom and Dad plus my brother and sister-in-law, my sister, and my grandfather will all be coming to watch us in the NCAA regional, wherever that may be. We have to wait 3 days for the Selection Show to see what our seed will be, who we will be playing, and where we’ll be playing. I know our seed won’t be high so we’re going to have a tough team to take on in the first round. But we’re on a 5-game win streak so you never know if we can pull off yet another upset.

[PointGuard]

Grambling Tigers Team and Player Stats:

Team Stats:

Overall Record: 22-11; SWAC Record: 11-7 (tie for 3rd); NET Ranking: 104



Player Stats:

[PointGuard]

NCAA Tournament Selection Show

Grambling placed 3rd twice in the NAIA Tournament in 1963 and 1966 and was the NAIA Tournament Champion in 1961. But after getting in Division 1, they only went to the NCAA Tournament once…in 2024…so it’s been a very long time since they’ve been to the Big Dance. So it wasn’t surprising to have the University community, its alums, its fans, and much of Louisiana excited about our qualifying for the Big Dance after winning the SWAC Tourney.

The Selection Show felt like it unfolded in slow motion as we waited…and waited.

#1 seeds: Kansas, Xavier, Alabama, Arizona

And finally….

Grambling is the #14 seed in the West Region and will play #3 seed (and #12 ranked in the Media Poll and #13 ranked in the Coaches Poll) Southern California (26-6)



NIT Participants from the SWAC

Alcorn State is the #2 seed in the West Region
Southern is the #3 seed in the East Region

CBI Participant from the SWAC

Texas Southern is the #2 seed in the East Region

Personally I thought Alcorn State merited inclusion in the NCAA Tournament, but am glad they are highly seeded in the NIT. It’s also good to have Southern representing the SWAC in the NIT and Texas Southern in the CBI. As for us, we'll be taking on a very tough opponent in round 1, but we're just happy to be part of March Madness and play our hardest and see how we do.

[CoachPrm15]

14 seed in the tournament, hmmmmm I smell an upset on the cards. Great work in turning the Grambling program around.

[PointGuard]

CBI Results for SWAC Team

Round 1:

Grand Canyon Antelopes—78, Texas Southern Tigers—67 (The Tigers held a small lead throughout most of the first half, but ran out of gas in the 2nd half. Reserve guard Michael Rice scored 13 points and had 9 rebounds and 4 assists to lead Texas Southern’s effort.)

NIT Results for SWAC Teams

Round 1:

Southern Jaguars—92, Northern Arizona Lumberjacks—75 (The Jaguars dominated the entire 40 minutes. Reserve guard Doug Perry (who averaged 3.8 ppg during the season) poured in 21 points.)

Green Bay Phoenix—64, Alcorn State Braves—58 (The first half was extremely close, but the Phoenix edged on top as the first half was ending and then held off the Braves throughout the 2nd half. PF Wes Lemeke topped Alcorn State’s with 12 points.)

Round 2:

Southern Jaguars—84, Army Black Knights—76 (A second strong showing by Southern. They scored first and never trailed. By the end of the first half they were up 45-33 and increased their advantage to 20 points early in the 2nd half before Army came on to challenge. PG Tate Gurley had 27 points and 8 boards.)

Round 3:

Utah Utes—70, Southern Jaguars—60 (Utah not only led the entire way, but held a double-digit lead most of the game. SF D.A. Battier scored 15 points and pulled down 10 boards.)

[PointGuard]

NCAA Results for Grambling

Round 1:

#14 seed Grambling Tigers—68, #3 seed, #12 ranked Southern California Trojans—65 (We were huge underdogs against a team with a lot of star players. The Trojans are a top-flight team, particularly on defense where they’ve allowed just 62.3 ppg (4th best in Division 1). They also are strong on the boards (39.8 rpg, again 4th best in Division 1). Defense by both teams was the name of the game in the first half. We trailed most of the way but continually nipped at the Trojans’ heels. We were rewarded by achieving a 26-26 halftime tie. In the early going of the 2nd half we outplayed USC to take a 53-44 lead with 8-1/2 minutes remaining in the game and the crowd was cheering for the underdog. But USC came back and with 1:34 on the clock our lead was down to 64-62. The Trojans tied us with 44 seconds remaining, but PG Duane Robinson snuck the ball inside to C Correy Parker who converted a short jumper to put us up by 2 with 36 seconds left. The refs, who who had called just 5 fouls on the Trojans the entire game up to that point, then called Parker for a cheap foul, his 5th of the game. USC missed the 2nd of 2 foul shots, and we brought the ball upcourt with 23 seconds on the clock and a 1 point lead. Because the refs hadn’t called many fouls on the Trojans they were forced to make 4 fouls before sending us to the line. Before the 7th foul, I put my best foul shooters on the court. Lonnie Robertson went to the foul line for a 1-and-1 with 10 seconds to go. He missed the shot, but someway Adam Scott pulled the ball away from a bigger USC rebounder and got the ball outside to Mario Kelly who was fouled quickly. Kelly sunk both ends of the 1-and-1 with 4 seconds to go. Our full-court press allowed the Trojans to only get off a prayer from the midcourt line at the buzzer. It missed and we had come away with a shocking 68-65 upset victory. Bedlam erupted over the gutsy win by our guys. Our leading scorer was C Correy Parker with 17 points. SG Lonnie Robertson had 15 points. SF Brad O’Neil and PF/SF Adam Scott both scored 8.)



[Note to CoachPrm15: Loved your prediction!!! And amazed the Tigers were able to make it come true. ]

[PointGuard]

NCAA Results for Grambling

Round 2:

#6 seed Indiana Hoosiers-91, #14 seed Grambling Tigers—65 (The Hoosiers have been a solid team with no real weaknesses and have 3 players each scoring between 14 and 17 ppg. We came out flat for the first 3 minutes, but kept close and were tied at 16-16 with 10 minutes to go in the first half. But Indiana ran away from us the final 10 minutes to build a 47-30 halftime lead. Indiana continued to take us to school in the 2nd half. We had no answers to their superiority and fell 91-65. So no “Cinderella” for us. C Correy Parker had 13 points, PF Etan Benton scored 12, and SF Brody Rowland added 10. We concluded our season with a respectable 23-12 record.)

[PointGuard]

Recruiting

After bowing out of the NCAA Tourney, I performed a home visit to Keith Bowie, the 4-star player we’re trying to recruit. Both his parents attended Utah State, but Keith’s SAT score was 20 points less that Utah State’s minimum qualifying score so that took the Aggies out of the running for him. My visit went well and both his parents and Keith were appreciative. I believe our participation in the NCAA Tournament has also been a key factor. Keith’s interest in Grambling improved, so I think we’ve at least got a shot at landing him.

[PointGuard]

Tournament Championships

CIT: Little Rock—82, Columbia—74

CBI: Wisconsin—68, Temple—58

NIT: Utah—101, Abilene Christian--67

NCAA: Duke—96, Oregon--85

We did it!

SF Keith Bowie, a 4-star recruit who is ranked as the #96 recruit, will be joining us this coming season. Keith is a 6’6” high school senior from Wynnewood, Oklahoma. He’s averaged 15.7 ppg and 9.2 rpg during his senior season. He’s an excellent outside shooter and shoots well inside as well. Rebounding is his forte and he’s very athletic. Academics has been a week point for him so we’ll need to pair him with a tutor as soon as classes start.

Our other recruit this year is SF David Heyward, a 6’8” high school senior from Slidell, Louisiana. He’s averaged 16.3 ppg, 4.0 apg, and 3.7 rpg this season. He’s an outstanding outside shooter. He’s a 3-star recruit who’s ranked as the 292nd best recruit.