| Current: | 2023–24 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball team |
| Louisiana Tech Bulldogs | |
| University: | Louisiana Tech |
| Firstseason: | 1909–10 |
| Conference: | C-USA |
| Location: | Ruston, Louisiana |
| Coach: | Talvin Hester |
| Arena: | Thomas Assembly Center |
| Capacity: | 8,000 |
| Nickname: | Dunkin' Dogs |
| H Pattern B: | _thinsidesonwhite |
| H Body: | 003087 |
| H Shorts: | 003087 |
| H Pattern S: | _blanksides2 |
| A Pattern B: | _thinredsides |
| A Body: | 003087 |
| A Shorts: | 003087 |
| A Pattern S: | _redsides |
| 3 Pattern B: | _thinbluesides |
| 3 Body: | CB333B |
| 3 Shorts: | CB333B |
| 3 Pattern S: | _bluesides |
| Ncaasweetsixteen: | 1967*, 1985 |
| Ncaaroundof32: | 1967*, 1971*, 1984, 1985, 1989 |
| Ncaatourneys: | 1967*, 1971*, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991 *at Division II level |
| Conference Tournament: | Southland 1984, 1985, 1987 |
| Conference Season: | LSIAA 1910 |
| Division Season: | 2021 |
The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball program, nicknamed the Dunkin' Dogs, represents intercollegiate men's basketball at Louisiana Tech University.[1] The program competes in Conference USA in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and plays home games at the Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston, Louisiana. Talvin Hester is in his second season as the Bulldogs' head coach.
See main article: article and List of Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball seasons.
| Season | Conference | Record | Head coach | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1909–10 | Louisiana State Intercollegiate Athletic Association | N/A | Percy S. Prince | |
| 1926–27 | Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Robert S. Wynn | ||
| 1927–28 | ||||
| 1933–34 | Hal Lee | |||
| 1941–42 | Louisiana Intercollegiate Conference | Cecil Crowley | ||
| 1945–46 | ||||
| 1946–47 | ||||
| 1947–48 | ||||
| 1952–53 | Gulf States Conference | |||
| 1954–55 | ||||
| 1958–59 | ||||
| 1963–64 | ||||
| 1966–67 | 11–1 | Scotty Robertson | ||
| 1969–70 | 9–3 | |||
| 1970–71 | 10–0 | |||
| 1975–76 | Southland Conference | 9–1 | Emmett Hendricks | |
| 1984–85 | 11–1 | Andy Russo | ||
| 1986–87 | 9–1 | Tommy Joe Eagles | ||
| 1987–88 | American South Conference | 7–3 | ||
| 1989–90 | 8–2 | Jerry Loyd | ||
| 1991–92 | Sun Belt Conference | 13–3 | ||
| 10–4 | Keith Richard | |||
| Western Athletic Conference | 16–2 | Michael White | ||
| 13–3 | ||||
| 15–3 | ||||
| 2020–21 | Conference USA (West) | 12–4 | Eric Konkol |
| Year | Conference | Champion | Score | Runner-up | Most Valuable Player | Site | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Southland | Louisiana Tech | 68–65 | Lamar | Willie Simmons | Beaumont Civic Center | |
| 1985 | Southland | Louisiana Tech | 70–69 | Lamar | Jerry Everett | Thomas Assembly Center | |
| 1987 | Southland | Louisiana Tech | 58–51 | Arkansas State | Robert Godbolt | Thomas Assembly Center; Ruston, Louisiana | |
| 1988 | American South | Louisiana Tech | 69–66 | New Orleans | Montagne Center
| ||
| 1989 | American South | Louisiana Tech | 84–62 | New Orleans | Cajundome | ||
| 1991 | American South | Louisiana Tech | 61–56 | New Orleans | Lakefront Arena
|
The Bulldogs have appeared in the NCAA Division I tournament five times. Their combined record is 4–5.
| Round of 48 Round of 32 | W 66–56 L 69–77 | |||
| Round of 64 Round of 32 Sweet Sixteen | W 78–54 W 79–67 L 84–86 | |||
| Round of 64 |
| L 62–76 | ||
| Round of 64 Round of 32 | W 83–74 L 81–124 | |||
| Round of 64 |
| L 65–71 |
The Bulldogs have appeared in the NCAA Division II tournament two times. Their combined record is 2–2.
| Regional semifinals Regional Final | North Dakota Illinois State | W 86–77 L 66–89 | ||
| Regional semifinals Regional Third Place | Tennessee State New Orleans | L 90–91 W 107–88 |
Louisiana Tech has appeared in ten National Invitation Tournaments. Their combined record is 15–10.
| First round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Third Place | Northern Arizona McNeese State Providence Ohio State Florida | W 67–61 W 77–61 W 64–63 L 66–79 W 67–62 | ||
| First round Second Round | W 66–56 L 59–65 | |||
| First round | Vanderbilt | L 90–98OT | ||
| First round | New Mexico | L 84–90 | ||
| Opening Round First round Second Round | Louisiana–Lafayette Vanderbilt Villanova | W 83–63 W 83–68 L 64–67 | ||
| First round | L 53–69 | |||
| First round Second Round | W 71–66 L 52–63 | |||
| First round Second Round Quarterfinals | W 89–88 W 79–71 L 75–78 | |||
| First round Second Round Quarterfinals | W 89–79 W 84–72 L 59–77 | |||
| First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Third Place | Ole Miss Western Kentucky Mississippi State Colorado State | W 70–61 W 72–65 L 62–84 W 76–74 |
The Bulldogs have appeared in one Vegas 16. Their record is 0–1.
| Quarterfinals | L 83–88 |
Louisiana Tech has appeared in one CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Their combined record is 1–1.
| First round Quarterfinals | Southern Miss Missouri State | W 66–57 L 40–69 |
The Bulldogs have appeared in the NAIA tournament four times. Their combined record is 1–4.
| First round | L 47–59 | |||
| First round | Eastern Washington State | L 44–66 | ||
| First round | Hamline | L 80–89 | ||
| First round Second Round | Coe Steubenville | W 94–65 L 65–90 |
The Men's Gymnasium was located on Mayfield Avenue, directly north of the northwest corner of Hale Hall and across the street from the eventual site of Memorial Gymnasium. It was located north of the original Tech Stadium football field, and was demolished around 1984 to create more parking adjacent to Hale Hall.[2]
See main article: article. In 1952, Memorial Gymnasium was a 4,800-seat gymnasium constructed on the Louisiana Tech University campus in Ruston to serve as the home of the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball team. Today Memorial Gym serves as a practice facility for the basketball team.
See main article: article and Thomas Assembly Center.
The Thomas Assembly Center is an 8,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Ruston, Louisiana. The arena, named for its benefactor and businessman Samuel M. Thomas, is home to the Division I NCAA Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs men's basketball team.
The Dunkin' Dogs nickname emerged during the 1982–83 season led by Karl Malone and Willie Simmons making highlight reel dunks. The tradition has continued through time as the current Dunkin' Dogs led by Raheem Appleby, Michale Kyser, and Alex Hamilton have made several dunks featured nationally on ESPN's SportsCenter Top Plays and Fox Sports Live's The 1.
See also: Band of Pride.
Hoop Troop is the official basketball pep band at Louisiana Tech University. The Hoop Troop performs at most men's basketball home games and travels to select road basketball games. The band also usually travels to all post-season games played by the Bulldogs, and is known nationally as one of the best basketball bands in college basketball. In the 2005 post-season, the Hoop Troop was featured in a Sports Illustrated's College Edition article, "65 Things We Want to See During March Madness" in which states, "30) The Louisiana Tech pep band, a.k.a. the Hoop Troop, the funniest band in the land."[3] The Hoop Troop was the only basketball band to be listed.
See main article: List of NCAA men's basketball retired numbers.
| 12 | 1965–1967 | [4] | ||
| 32 | 1982–1985 | |||
| 44 | 1957–1960 |
Conference Freshman of the Year
| 1 | Mike Green | 1969–1973 | 2,340 | |
| 2 | 1973–1977 | 2,033 | ||
| 3 | 2012–2016 | 1,986 | ||
| 4 | Randy White | 1985–1989 | 1,947 | |
| 5 | Anthony Dade | 1988–1992 | 1,867 | |
| 6 | Gerrod Henderson | 1998–2002 | 1,829 | |
| 7 | Raheem Appleby | 2011–2015 | 1,770 | |
| 8 | 1982–1985 | 1,716 | ||
| 9 | 2003–2006 | 1,708 | ||
| 10 | 2006–2010 | 1,677 |
The Bulldogs have had 14 players selected in the NBA draft, including 4 first round picks. Twice the Bulldogs have had multiple players taken in the same draft year (1985 and 1992).
| 1 | 4 | 4 | Jackie Moreland | Detroit Pistons | ||
| 15 | 10 | 148 | Rich Peek | Baltimore Bullets | ||
| 6 | 5 | 90 | Charlie Bishop | Cincinnati Royals | ||
| 1 | 4 | 4 | Mike Green | Seattle SuperSonics | ||
| 4 | 13 | 79 | Mike McConathy | Chicago Bulls | ||
| 2 | 17 | 39 | Victor King | Los Angeles Lakers | ||
| 6 | 19 | 135 | Rennie Bailey | Detroit Pistons | ||
| 4 | 6 | 76 | Willie Simmons | Sacramento Kings | ||
| 1 | 13 | 13 | Karl Malone | Utah Jazz | ||
| 1 | 8 | 8 | Randy White | Dallas Mavericks | ||
| 2 | 22 | 49 | Ron Ellis | Phoenix Suns | ||
| 2 | 2 | 29 | P. J. Brown | New Jersey Nets | ||
| 2 | 17 | 47 | Paul Millsap | Utah Jazz | ||
| 2 | 21 | 51 | Magnum Rolle | Oklahoma City Thunder | ||
| 2 | 29 | 59 | Jalen Harris | Toronto Raptors |
| 1909–1911 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 4 | .556 | LSIAA regular season champions (1910) | ||
| 1925–1926 | 1 | 14 | 7 | 7 | .500 | |||
| Robert S. Wynn | 1926–1931 | 5 | 116 | 61 | 55 | .526 | SIAA regular season champions (1927, 1928) | |
| Hal Lee | 1931–1934 | 3 | 43 | 24 | 19 | .558 | ||
| 1934–1936 | 2 | 38 | 26 | 12 | .684 | SIAA regular season champions (1934) | ||
| Herb Duggins | 1936–1940 | 4 | 73 | 27 | 46 | .370 | ||
| 1940–1942, 1945–1964 | 21 | 490 | 269 | 221 | .549 | Gulf States Coach of the Year (1953, 1955, 1964) Gulf States regular season champions (1953, 1955) Louisiana Intercollegiate regular season champions (1942, 1946, 1947, 1948) | ||
| 1944–1945 | 1 | 17 | 5 | 12 | .294 | |||
| 1964–1974 | 10 | 247 | 161 | 86 | .652 | Gulf States Coach of the Year (1967, 1971) Gulf States regular season champions (1964, 1967, 1970, 1971) | ||
| 1974–1977 | 3 | 77 | 40 | 37 | .519 | Southland Coach of the Year (1975, 1976) | ||
| 1977–1979 | 2 | 52 | 23 | 29 | .442 | Southland Coach of the Year (1979) | ||
| 1979–1985 | 6 | 177 | 122 | 55 | .689 | Southland Coach of the Year (1983, 1985) | ||
| 1985–1989 | 4 | 127 | 87 | 40 | .685 | Southland Coach of the Year (1987, 1988) | ||
| 1989–1994 | 5 | 145 | 73 | 72 | .503 | American South regular season champions (1988, 1990) Sun Belt regular season champions (1992) | ||
| 1994–1998 | 4 | 111 | 52 | 59 | .468 | |||
| 1998–2007 | 9 | 267 | 150 | 117 | .562 | Sun Belt Coach of the Year (1999) Sun Belt regular season champions (1999) | ||
| 2007–2011 | 4 | 130 | 57 | 73 | .438 | |||
| 2011–2015 | 4 | 141 | 101 | 40 | .716 | C-USA Coach of the Year (2013, 2015) C-USA regular season champions (2014, 2015) WAC regular season champions (2013) | ||
| 2015–2022 | 6 | 194 | 129 | 65 | .665 | C-USA Coach of the Year (2021) C-USA Conference Division Season Champions (2021) | ||
| 2022-Present | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | |||
| Total | 97 | 2,470 | 1,420 | 1,050 | ||||
| 1942–1943, 1943–1944: Basketball discontinued due to World War II | ||||||||