Grambling State University (GSU) founded 1901 as Colored Industrial & Agricultural School by the North Louisiana Colored Agriculture Relief Association (organized in 1896 by group of African-American farmers who wanted a school for African-Americans in their region. In 1905, renamed North Louisiana Agricultural & Industrial School, moved to present location. In 1928 state junior college named Louisiana Negro Normal & Industrial School. First baccalaureate degree awarded 1944 in elementary education. In 1946 became Grambling College, named for PG Grambling (white sawmill owner who donated the land for the school). 1949 accreditation by Southern Assn of Colleges & Schools (SACS). In 1974 graduate programs added, became Grambling State University, one of 107 Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU), part of National Register of Historic Places
GSU has 384 acres in Grambling, LA, enrolls 5,232 students, $7 M endowment, USN&WR No. 99 of 136 in region
Famous alumni include NBA great Willis Reed, NFL HOF Buck Buchanan, Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams (father of current WOT Laura), 4x Pro Bowl/College Football HOFer Tank Younger (1st black in NFL All-star game,1st to become Asst GM (SD Chargers), 8x Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman, pro football / WWE HOF Ernie Ladd, Grammy winner Erykah Badu, rapper E-40, Actress Natalie Desselle-Reid. Coaching legend Eddie Robinson (not an alum) retired after 56 seasons as winningest football coach with 408 wins (408-165-15, .693)
GSU Athletics: NCAA Div I FCS Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) – 1952 Midwestern Conf, SWAC in 1958; 15 Black College football national titles, 27 conference titles (26 SWAC, 1 Midwest Conf). 1 Olympic gold medal – Richard Stebbins 1964 4x100 relay team
Colors – Black & Gold, Nickname – Tigers, fight song GSU Fight Song, Mascot – Eddie the Tiger (costumed). GSU is famous for their NCAA HOF Inducted marching band, founded in 1926 aka “The World Famed Tiger Marching Band” provided half time entertainment at Super Bowl I in the Coliseum
Basketball started 1901, DI since 1977 (531-825, .392), 1 NCAA appearances (2023-240), 12 conf titles (5 DI), 2 DII Sweet Sixteen, 1 DII Elite Eight (DII), 10 NBA draft picks (incl - Larry Wright Rd 1, Willis Reed Rd 2, Aaron James Rd 2, Will Frazier Rd 2). Won SWAC for 1st time in 2023, defeated Montana St in First Four, lost to NCAA runner up Purdue in 1st rd
Winningest coaches: (48 DI seasons): Fred Hobdy 123-126, .494, Donte Jackson 121-104, .538
Current – Donte Jackson (8th season); Career record 401-371; 2023 MWC COY, 3x SWAC COY
Currently: 1-3, 1-0 (W: Southern; L: Ole Miss, UF, New Mexico). GSU picked 1st in SWAC (1 GSU, 2 Tex Southern, 3 Southern, 4 Jackson St, 5 Alcorn St, 6 Ala St, 7 Prairie View A&M, 8 Bethune-Cookman, 9 Ala A&M, 10 Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 11 Florida A&M, 12 Miss Valley St
All-time: first meeting, SC favored -22.5
GSU NET n/a, KenPom 226, SC NET n/a, KenPom 82
GSU Scores: 69.0 ppg (+0.5), 44.2% FG, 40% 3FG, 7.5 3’s/g, 62.5% FT. Rebounds 38.0 pg (-1.5), Assists 11.0 pg, TOs 19.0 pg (-6.0), 15.5 ppg/TO, Steals 7.5 pg, Blks 5.5 pg
GSU Leaders:
Scoring: Kintavious Dozier 13.0 ppg (54.3% FG, 45.5% 3FG, 60.0% FT), Antwan Burnett 11.8 (54.5% FG, 70.0% 3FG, 80.0% FT), Mikale Stevenson 11.0 (39.5% FG, 33.3% 3FG, 78.6% FT), James Flippin 9.3 (45.5% FG, 45.5% 3FG, 50.0% FT), Ernest Ross 7.3 (40.7% FG, 25.0% 3FG, 83.3% FT)
Rebounding: Burnett 7.3, Solomon Ray 5.0, Ross 4.5; Assists Stevenson 4.3; Steals Burnett 2.0, Stevenson 1.3, Dozier 1.3; Blks PJ Eason 1.8, Ross 1.5
SC scores: 79.6 ppg (+8.8), 50% FG, 33.3% 3FG, 7.0 3’s/g, 73.6% FT, Rebs 29.8 rpg (-1.8), Assists 19.2 apg, TOs 9.2 pg (+5.0), 14.2 ppg/TO, Steals 6.2, Blks 2.6
SC Leaders
Scoring: Terrance Williams 15.3 ppg (64.3% FG, 46.7% 3FG, 100% FT), Claude 12.6 (50% FG, 30% 3FG, 72.0% FT), Yates 12.0 (53.3% FG, 30.0% 3FG, 100% FT), Cohen 10.8 (67.6% FG, 0.0% 3FG, 80% FT), Chibuzo Agbo 9.8 (35.9% FG, 34.5% 3FG, 78.6% FT), Thomas 9.4 (37.3% FG, 27.8% 3FG, 44.4% FT), Knowling 7.5 (61.9% FG, 57.1% FT)
Rebounds: Saint 5.6, T-Will 4.3; Assists Saint 6.0, Claude 3.4; Steals Yates 1.6, Saint 1.0; Blks Knowling 1.0
Pregame
Will Conroy returns as guest speaker. After Saturday’s Rose Bowl win he says he had his first experience as a Trojan in the crosstown rivalry – Fight On! The team continues to put in the work to get better, especially boxing out and getting into transition. He says GSU is better than their record (lost to No. 24 Ole Miss, No. 20 UF, NM on the road)
All players are available for the game. Asked about being a walk-on when he was 4x state champion and finished as UWs assists leader, he said he initially turned down a sch’p from UW thinking he would go to Syracuse or BC – until he looked at a map and saw how far it was – he contacted UW to accept their offer, but they were out of sch’ps, so he had to walk on. By the time the season began he was on sch’p because an incoming player failed to qualify
In what is becoming a thing, a Hornery fan club member asks whether he will play this game. The answer is the same: Harry does everything right, great student, hard worker, great teammate, speaks up in the huddles, cheers for teammates and is the first to greet them. His leadership skills have Conroy predicting he will be a coach. So, don’t hold your breath on Harry getting playing time absent a blowout
Another question on what they are doing about stopping the barrage of 3’s they’ve faced. He says players think they’re Steph Curry and are shooting from longer distances. If they go out to guard them the middle is wide open – he shrugs and says, ‘pick your poison’
On the way into the arena, I ask a Grambling fan if he’s local or if he traveled. He says he’s the coach’s brother and HAS to travel to all games - haha. I ask what happened vs. NM and he says their shooting went south in the 2nd half. He said that was the 3rd straight road game against a tough opponent.
No surprise that the crowd is not a crowd at all (3068 announced). Our players were stunned because they were at SOLD OUT Wbb game vs ND and handed out free pizzas. Saint and Des manned the mic and said that fans could get free tix to the men’s game at the box office. Truthfully, there isn’t a whole lot of crossover among the fanbases for men’s & women’s bball. Again only a few media on hand (1 SC website, 2 B1G Network, couple of randos). There’s a big group of Grambling fans in the section opposite the student section. They outnumber the students and are more vocal. I talk to a GSU OG and ask if he knows Doug Williams. I tell him that Doug’s daughter Laura is playing bball for SC (out for season with knee injury)
Rletto from Season 25 of The Voice sings the national anthem. I don’t spot any other celebs. The WOT had Snoop Dogg (custom Juju jacket), Michael B Jordan, Ted Sudeikis, CP3, Cheryl Miller, Pam McGee, Candace Parker, Sparks coach Lynn Roberts et al – the men need a Juju (sigh).
The Game
SC starts Thomas, Knowling, T-Will, Cohen, Patton. Hmm, Claude’s turn to gain a new perspective?
Patton, the ‘designated opener’, jumps center and is now 2-0. He is the most athletic player on the team but will only get 3:20 of court time and log no stats.
Knowling scores inside to get SC on the board, T-Will hits a pair of FTs and Knowling’s floater puts SC up 6-0 at 17:48. GSU hits a couple of 3’s and Dozier’s layup (another small guy, who shoots 3’s and leads team in scoring) puts GSU up 8-6 at 16:41. Cohen with back to back layups gives SC the lead 10-8 at 15:48. Back and forth action continues to the half. GSU had 7 leads, SC 6 with 5 ties. A bad TO by Saint leads to a GSU dunk with .02 left giving GSU the 38-37 half-time lead. SC played matchup zone for much of the half, GSU exploited it and in the 2H Muss reverted mostly to man
For the half
GSU shot 14-24 FG (58.3%), 5-12 3FG (41.7%), 5-6 FT (83.3%)
SC shot 13-27 FG (48.1%), 3-10 3FG (30%), 8-13 FT (61.5%)
Yates and Agbo start in 2H, alongside Claude, Knowling, Cohen. Claude’s bucket at 19:28 puts SC back up 39-38. There are 7 more lead changes in the 2H. GSU largest lead is 5 pts (49-44 at 15:20). SC’s largest, after a 19-2 run,12 pts (65-53) at 10:14. GSU has their own 13-3 run and SC’s lead is 68-66. If Patton is the opener, Claude is the closer as he takes over down the stretch scoring 14 pts in the 2H. Slajchert played a season high 15:51 and was an energizer pushing the pace of play. His steal and layup was said by Muss to be a key momentum changer. Toward the end of the game there was an offense/defense substitution going on with Slajchert and Knowling. The team showed a lot of grit to get this win and eventually pulled out an 80-69 win.
The bench scoring was the difference, as the SC outscored GSU 41-14.
For the game:
GSU shot 45.5% FG (25-55), 31.8% 3FG (7-22), 85.7% FT (12-14)
SC shot 50% FG (25-50), 33.3% 3FG (7-21), 69.7% FT (23-33)
GSU
Scoring: Dozier 17 pts, 5-9 FG, 2-3 3FG, 5-6 FT, Stevenson 14, 5-11 FG, 1-4 3FG, 3-4 FT, Burnett 13, 6-14 FG, 1-3 3FG, Ross 9, 3-6 FG, 1-4 3FG, 2-2 FT
Rebounds: Eason 6; Assists Stevenson 10; Stls Dozier 4; Blks 3 players with 1
SC
Scoring: Agbo 21 pts, 6-12 FG, 4-9 3FG, 5-5 FT, Cohen 18, 7-8 FG, 1-1 3FG, 3-5 FT, Claude 14, 4-7 FG, 0-1 3FG, 6-11 FT, Thomas 8, 3-9 FG, 1-4 3FG, 1-1 FT, T-Will 7, Knowling 6
Rebounds: Cohen 6, Thomas 6, T-Will 5, Claude 5; Assists Claude 5; Stls Agbo 2; Blks Thomas, T-Will w/ 1
SC moves to 5-1, Grambling to 1-4.
Next up: St. Mary’s (6-0) at Acrisure Classic (Palm Desert), Thursday 11/28 at 6 pm. Watch on TruTV & MAX
Fight On! Beat the Gaels!
GSU has 384 acres in Grambling, LA, enrolls 5,232 students, $7 M endowment, USN&WR No. 99 of 136 in region
Famous alumni include NBA great Willis Reed, NFL HOF Buck Buchanan, Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams (father of current WOT Laura), 4x Pro Bowl/College Football HOFer Tank Younger (1st black in NFL All-star game,1st to become Asst GM (SD Chargers), 8x Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman, pro football / WWE HOF Ernie Ladd, Grammy winner Erykah Badu, rapper E-40, Actress Natalie Desselle-Reid. Coaching legend Eddie Robinson (not an alum) retired after 56 seasons as winningest football coach with 408 wins (408-165-15, .693)
GSU Athletics: NCAA Div I FCS Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) – 1952 Midwestern Conf, SWAC in 1958; 15 Black College football national titles, 27 conference titles (26 SWAC, 1 Midwest Conf). 1 Olympic gold medal – Richard Stebbins 1964 4x100 relay team
Colors – Black & Gold, Nickname – Tigers, fight song GSU Fight Song, Mascot – Eddie the Tiger (costumed). GSU is famous for their NCAA HOF Inducted marching band, founded in 1926 aka “The World Famed Tiger Marching Band” provided half time entertainment at Super Bowl I in the Coliseum
Basketball started 1901, DI since 1977 (531-825, .392), 1 NCAA appearances (2023-240), 12 conf titles (5 DI), 2 DII Sweet Sixteen, 1 DII Elite Eight (DII), 10 NBA draft picks (incl - Larry Wright Rd 1, Willis Reed Rd 2, Aaron James Rd 2, Will Frazier Rd 2). Won SWAC for 1st time in 2023, defeated Montana St in First Four, lost to NCAA runner up Purdue in 1st rd
Winningest coaches: (48 DI seasons): Fred Hobdy 123-126, .494, Donte Jackson 121-104, .538
Current – Donte Jackson (8th season); Career record 401-371; 2023 MWC COY, 3x SWAC COY
Currently: 1-3, 1-0 (W: Southern; L: Ole Miss, UF, New Mexico). GSU picked 1st in SWAC (1 GSU, 2 Tex Southern, 3 Southern, 4 Jackson St, 5 Alcorn St, 6 Ala St, 7 Prairie View A&M, 8 Bethune-Cookman, 9 Ala A&M, 10 Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 11 Florida A&M, 12 Miss Valley St
All-time: first meeting, SC favored -22.5
GSU NET n/a, KenPom 226, SC NET n/a, KenPom 82
GSU Scores: 69.0 ppg (+0.5), 44.2% FG, 40% 3FG, 7.5 3’s/g, 62.5% FT. Rebounds 38.0 pg (-1.5), Assists 11.0 pg, TOs 19.0 pg (-6.0), 15.5 ppg/TO, Steals 7.5 pg, Blks 5.5 pg
GSU Leaders:
Scoring: Kintavious Dozier 13.0 ppg (54.3% FG, 45.5% 3FG, 60.0% FT), Antwan Burnett 11.8 (54.5% FG, 70.0% 3FG, 80.0% FT), Mikale Stevenson 11.0 (39.5% FG, 33.3% 3FG, 78.6% FT), James Flippin 9.3 (45.5% FG, 45.5% 3FG, 50.0% FT), Ernest Ross 7.3 (40.7% FG, 25.0% 3FG, 83.3% FT)
Rebounding: Burnett 7.3, Solomon Ray 5.0, Ross 4.5; Assists Stevenson 4.3; Steals Burnett 2.0, Stevenson 1.3, Dozier 1.3; Blks PJ Eason 1.8, Ross 1.5
SC scores: 79.6 ppg (+8.8), 50% FG, 33.3% 3FG, 7.0 3’s/g, 73.6% FT, Rebs 29.8 rpg (-1.8), Assists 19.2 apg, TOs 9.2 pg (+5.0), 14.2 ppg/TO, Steals 6.2, Blks 2.6
SC Leaders
Scoring: Terrance Williams 15.3 ppg (64.3% FG, 46.7% 3FG, 100% FT), Claude 12.6 (50% FG, 30% 3FG, 72.0% FT), Yates 12.0 (53.3% FG, 30.0% 3FG, 100% FT), Cohen 10.8 (67.6% FG, 0.0% 3FG, 80% FT), Chibuzo Agbo 9.8 (35.9% FG, 34.5% 3FG, 78.6% FT), Thomas 9.4 (37.3% FG, 27.8% 3FG, 44.4% FT), Knowling 7.5 (61.9% FG, 57.1% FT)
Rebounds: Saint 5.6, T-Will 4.3; Assists Saint 6.0, Claude 3.4; Steals Yates 1.6, Saint 1.0; Blks Knowling 1.0
Pregame
Will Conroy returns as guest speaker. After Saturday’s Rose Bowl win he says he had his first experience as a Trojan in the crosstown rivalry – Fight On! The team continues to put in the work to get better, especially boxing out and getting into transition. He says GSU is better than their record (lost to No. 24 Ole Miss, No. 20 UF, NM on the road)
All players are available for the game. Asked about being a walk-on when he was 4x state champion and finished as UWs assists leader, he said he initially turned down a sch’p from UW thinking he would go to Syracuse or BC – until he looked at a map and saw how far it was – he contacted UW to accept their offer, but they were out of sch’ps, so he had to walk on. By the time the season began he was on sch’p because an incoming player failed to qualify
In what is becoming a thing, a Hornery fan club member asks whether he will play this game. The answer is the same: Harry does everything right, great student, hard worker, great teammate, speaks up in the huddles, cheers for teammates and is the first to greet them. His leadership skills have Conroy predicting he will be a coach. So, don’t hold your breath on Harry getting playing time absent a blowout
Another question on what they are doing about stopping the barrage of 3’s they’ve faced. He says players think they’re Steph Curry and are shooting from longer distances. If they go out to guard them the middle is wide open – he shrugs and says, ‘pick your poison’
On the way into the arena, I ask a Grambling fan if he’s local or if he traveled. He says he’s the coach’s brother and HAS to travel to all games - haha. I ask what happened vs. NM and he says their shooting went south in the 2nd half. He said that was the 3rd straight road game against a tough opponent.
No surprise that the crowd is not a crowd at all (3068 announced). Our players were stunned because they were at SOLD OUT Wbb game vs ND and handed out free pizzas. Saint and Des manned the mic and said that fans could get free tix to the men’s game at the box office. Truthfully, there isn’t a whole lot of crossover among the fanbases for men’s & women’s bball. Again only a few media on hand (1 SC website, 2 B1G Network, couple of randos). There’s a big group of Grambling fans in the section opposite the student section. They outnumber the students and are more vocal. I talk to a GSU OG and ask if he knows Doug Williams. I tell him that Doug’s daughter Laura is playing bball for SC (out for season with knee injury)
Rletto from Season 25 of The Voice sings the national anthem. I don’t spot any other celebs. The WOT had Snoop Dogg (custom Juju jacket), Michael B Jordan, Ted Sudeikis, CP3, Cheryl Miller, Pam McGee, Candace Parker, Sparks coach Lynn Roberts et al – the men need a Juju (sigh).
The Game
SC starts Thomas, Knowling, T-Will, Cohen, Patton. Hmm, Claude’s turn to gain a new perspective?
Patton, the ‘designated opener’, jumps center and is now 2-0. He is the most athletic player on the team but will only get 3:20 of court time and log no stats.
Knowling scores inside to get SC on the board, T-Will hits a pair of FTs and Knowling’s floater puts SC up 6-0 at 17:48. GSU hits a couple of 3’s and Dozier’s layup (another small guy, who shoots 3’s and leads team in scoring) puts GSU up 8-6 at 16:41. Cohen with back to back layups gives SC the lead 10-8 at 15:48. Back and forth action continues to the half. GSU had 7 leads, SC 6 with 5 ties. A bad TO by Saint leads to a GSU dunk with .02 left giving GSU the 38-37 half-time lead. SC played matchup zone for much of the half, GSU exploited it and in the 2H Muss reverted mostly to man
For the half
GSU shot 14-24 FG (58.3%), 5-12 3FG (41.7%), 5-6 FT (83.3%)
SC shot 13-27 FG (48.1%), 3-10 3FG (30%), 8-13 FT (61.5%)
Yates and Agbo start in 2H, alongside Claude, Knowling, Cohen. Claude’s bucket at 19:28 puts SC back up 39-38. There are 7 more lead changes in the 2H. GSU largest lead is 5 pts (49-44 at 15:20). SC’s largest, after a 19-2 run,12 pts (65-53) at 10:14. GSU has their own 13-3 run and SC’s lead is 68-66. If Patton is the opener, Claude is the closer as he takes over down the stretch scoring 14 pts in the 2H. Slajchert played a season high 15:51 and was an energizer pushing the pace of play. His steal and layup was said by Muss to be a key momentum changer. Toward the end of the game there was an offense/defense substitution going on with Slajchert and Knowling. The team showed a lot of grit to get this win and eventually pulled out an 80-69 win.
The bench scoring was the difference, as the SC outscored GSU 41-14.
For the game:
GSU shot 45.5% FG (25-55), 31.8% 3FG (7-22), 85.7% FT (12-14)
SC shot 50% FG (25-50), 33.3% 3FG (7-21), 69.7% FT (23-33)
GSU
Scoring: Dozier 17 pts, 5-9 FG, 2-3 3FG, 5-6 FT, Stevenson 14, 5-11 FG, 1-4 3FG, 3-4 FT, Burnett 13, 6-14 FG, 1-3 3FG, Ross 9, 3-6 FG, 1-4 3FG, 2-2 FT
Rebounds: Eason 6; Assists Stevenson 10; Stls Dozier 4; Blks 3 players with 1
SC
Scoring: Agbo 21 pts, 6-12 FG, 4-9 3FG, 5-5 FT, Cohen 18, 7-8 FG, 1-1 3FG, 3-5 FT, Claude 14, 4-7 FG, 0-1 3FG, 6-11 FT, Thomas 8, 3-9 FG, 1-4 3FG, 1-1 FT, T-Will 7, Knowling 6
Rebounds: Cohen 6, Thomas 6, T-Will 5, Claude 5; Assists Claude 5; Stls Agbo 2; Blks Thomas, T-Will w/ 1
SC moves to 5-1, Grambling to 1-4.
Next up: St. Mary’s (6-0) at Acrisure Classic (Palm Desert), Thursday 11/28 at 6 pm. Watch on TruTV & MAX
Fight On! Beat the Gaels!
