The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball program, nicknamed the Dunkin' Dogs, represents intercollegiate men's basketball at Louisiana Tech University. The program competes in the Sun Belt Conference 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 fourth season as the Bulldogs' head coach. The Bulldogs have appeared five times in the NCAA tournament, most recently in 1991.

History

Conference affiliations 1925–1939: Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association 1939–1948: Louisiana Intercollegiate Conference 1948–1971: Gulf States Conference 1971–1987: Southland Conference 1987–1991: American South Conference 1991–2001: Sun Belt Conference 2001–2013: Western Athletic Conference 2013–2026: Conference USA 2026–present: Sun Belt Conference

Championships

Conference regular season championships

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 1998–99 10–4 Keith Richard 2012–13 Western Athletic Conference 16–2 Michael White 2013–14 Conference USA 13–3 2014–15 Conference USA 15–32020–21Conference USA (West)12–4Eric Konkol

Conference tournament championships

YearConferenceChampionScoreRunner-upMost Valuable PlayerSite1984SouthlandLouisiana Tech68–65LamarWillie SimmonsBeaumont Civic Center; Beaumont, Texas1985SouthlandLouisiana Tech70–69LamarJerry EverettThomas Assembly Center; Ruston, Louisiana1987SouthlandLouisiana Tech58–51Arkansas StateRobert GodboltThomas Assembly Center; Ruston, Louisiana1988American SouthLouisiana Tech69–66New OrleansMontagne Center; Beaumont, Texas1989American SouthLouisiana Tech84–62New OrleansCajundome; Lafayette, Louisiana1991American SouthLouisiana Tech61–56New OrleansLakefront Arena; New Orleans, Louisiana

Postseason

NCAA Division I Tournament results The Bulldogs have appeared in the NCAA Division I tournament five times. Their combined record is 4–5. 1984 #10 Round of 48Round of 32 #7 Fresno State#2 Houston W 66–56L 69–77 1985 #5 Round of 64Round of 32Sweet Sixteen #12 Pittsburgh#4 Ohio State#1 Oklahoma W 78–54W 79–67L 84–86 1987 #14 Round of 64 #3 DePaul L 62–76 1989 #9 Round of 64Round of 32 #8 La Salle#1 Oklahoma W 83–74L 81–124 1991 #12 Round of 64 #5 Wake Forest L 65–71

NCAA Division II Tournament results The Bulldogs have appeared in the NCAA Division II tournament two times. Their combined record is 2–2. 1967 Regional semifinalsRegional Final North DakotaIllinois State W 86–77L 66–89 1971 Regional semifinalsRegional Third Place Tennessee StateNew Orleans L 90–91W 107–88

NIT results Louisiana Tech has appeared in ten National Invitation Tournaments. Their combined record is 15–10. 1986 First roundSecond RoundQuarterfinalsSemifinalsThird Place Northern ArizonaMcNeese StateProvidenceOhio StateFlorida W 67–61W 77–61W 64–63L 66–79W 67–62 1988 First roundSecond Round Arkansas–Little RockConnecticut W 66–56L 59–65 1990 First round Vanderbilt L 90–98OT 1992 First round New Mexico L 84–90 2002 Opening RoundFirst roundSecond Round Louisiana–LafayetteVanderbiltVillanova W 83–63W 83–68L 64–67 2006 First round Clemson L 53–69 2013 First roundSecond Round Florida StateSouthern Miss W 71–66L 52–63 2014 First roundSecond RoundQuarterfinals IonaGeorgiaFlorida State W 89–88W 79–71L 75–78 2015 First roundSecond RoundQuarterfinals Central MichiganTexas A&MTemple W 89–79W 84–72L 59–77 2021 First roundQuarterfinalsSemifinalsThird Place Ole MissWestern KentuckyMississippi StateColorado State W 70–61W 72–65L 62–84W 76–74

Vegas 16 results The Bulldogs have appeared in one Vegas 16. Their record is 0–1. 2016 Quarterfinals East Tennessee State L 83–88

CIT results Louisiana Tech has appeared in one CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Their combined record is 1–1. 2010 First roundQuarterfinals Southern MissMissouri State W 66–57L 40–69

NAIA tournament results The Bulldogs have appeared in the NAIA tournament four times. Their combined record is 1–4.

1942 First round Texas Tech L 47–59 1946 First round Eastern Washington State L 44–66 1953 First round Hamline L 80–89 1955 First roundSecond Round CoeSteubenville W 94–65L 65–90

Home venues Men's Gymnasium (1925-1952) 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.

Memorial Gymnasium (1952–1982)

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.

Thomas Assembly Center (1982–present)

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.

Traditions

Dunkin' Dogs 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.

Hoop Troop

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." The Hoop Troop was the only basketball band to be listed.

Players

Basketball Hall of Fame Leon Barmore, 2003 Karl Malone, 2010

Retired numbers

12 Leon Barmore 1965–1967 Barmore to Join Fifth HOF, 15 Aug 2008 24 Paul Millsap 2003–2006 32 Karl Malone 1982–1985 44 Jackie Moreland 1957–1960

All-Americans Jackie Moreland – 1958, 1959, 1960 Ray Germany – 1959, 1960 Mike Green – 1971, 1972, 1973 Mike McConathy – 1976 Karl Malone – 1983, 1984, 1985 Randy White – 1989

Conference Player of the Year Jackie Moreland – 1960 Mike Green – 1973 Mike McConathy – 1976 Karl Malone – 1983 Randy White – 1988, 1989 Ron Ellis – 1992 Gerrod Henderson – 2000 Speedy Smith – 2015 Alex Hamilton – 2016

Conference Freshman of the Year Antonio Meeking - 2000 (Sun Belt) Paul Millsap - 2004 (WAC) Raheem Appleby - 2012 (WAC) DaQuan Bracey - 2017 (C-USA) Kenneth Lofton, Jr. - 2021 (C-USA)

Leading scorers

1 Mike Green 1969–1973 2,3402 Mike McConathy 1973–1977 2,0333 Alex Hamilton 2012–2016 1,9864 Randy White 1985–1989 1,9475 Anthony Dade 1988–1992 1,8676 Gerrod Henderson 1998–2002 1,8297 Raheem Appleby 2011–2015 1,7708 Karl Malone 1982–1985 1,7169 Paul Millsap 2003–2006 1,70810 Kyle Gibson 2006–2010 1,677

NBA draftees

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). 1960 1 4 4 Jackie Moreland Detroit Pistons 1967 15 10 148 Rich Peek Baltimore Bullets 1970 6 5 90 Charlie Bishop Cincinnati Royals 1973 1 4 4 Mike Green Seattle SuperSonics 1977 4 13 79 Mike McConathy Chicago Bulls 1979 2 17 39 Victor King Los Angeles Lakers 1984 6 19 135 Rennie Bailey Detroit Pistons 1985 4 6 76 Willie Simmons Sacramento Kings 1985 1 13 13 Karl Malone Utah Jazz 1989 1 8 8 Randy White Dallas Mavericks 1992 2 22 49 Ron Ellis Phoenix Suns 1992 2 2 29 P. J. Brown New Jersey Nets 2004 2 17 47 Paul Millsap Utah Jazz 2010 2 21 51 Magnum Rolle Oklahoma City Thunder 2020 2 29 59 Jalen Harris Toronto Raptors

Other Bulldogs in the NBA Erik McCree - Utah Jazz Kenneth Lofton Jr. – Memphis Grizzlies

Other Bulldogs overseas Kyle Gibson (born 1987) - Hapoel Galil Elyon of the Israeli Basketball Premier League Alex Hamilton (born 1993) - Hapoel Eilat in the Israeli Basketball Premier League Michale Kyser (born 1991) - Hapoel Holon in the Israeli Basketball Premier League

Coaches

Head coaches Percy S. Prince 1909–1911 2 9 5 4 .556 LSIAA regular season champions (1910) Ralph C. Kenney 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 Eddie McLane 1934–1936 2 38 26 12 .684 SIAA regular season champions (1934) Herb Duggins 1936–1940 4 73 27 46 .370 Cecil Crowley 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) Joe Aillet 1944–1945 1 17 5 12 .294 Scotty Robertson 1964–1974 10 247 161 86 .652 Gulf States Coach of the Year (1967, 1971)Gulf States regular season champions (1964, 1967, 1970, 1971) Emmett Hendricks 1974–1977 3 77 40 37 .519 Southland Coach of the Year (1975, 1976) J.D. Barnett 1977–1979 2 52 23 29 .442 Southland Coach of the Year (1979) Andy Russo 1979–1985 6 177 122 55 .689 Southland Coach of the Year (1983, 1985) Tommy Joe Eagles 1985–1989 4 127 87 40 .685 Southland Coach of the Year (1987, 1988) Jerry Loyd 1989–1994 5 145 73 72 .503 American South regular season champions (1988, 1990)Sun Belt regular season champions (1992) Jim Wooldridge 1994–1998 4 111 52 59 .468 Keith Richard 1998–2007 9 267 150 117 .562 Sun Belt Coach of the Year (1999)Sun Belt regular season champions (1999) Kerry Rupp 2007–2011 4 130 57 73 .438 Michael White 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) Eric Konkol 2015–2022 7 228 153 75 .671 C-USA Coach of the Year (2021)C-USA Conference Division Season Champions (2021) Talvin Hester 2022–Present 3 97 57 40 .588 Total 99 2,565 1,476 1,089 1942–1943, 1943–1944: Basketball discontinued due to World War II

Bulldogs in coaching Kyle Keller – Stephen F. Austin

See also Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters basketball List of NCAA Division I men's basketball programs

References

External links