SF Austin vs. Furman (Dec. 17th 4:30pm)(Bon Secours Wellness Arena)

[FU Hoopla]

Boy CBR was riled up at the end of the post-game conference. I agree 100 % with what he said from a coach’s standpoint. I would say what he said, instill confidence etc.

But from a fan’s standpoint I think things are a little different. I wonder if he expected to start the season 8-4 or better than that? Not sure I have ever heard a coach comment on the “negativity” as much as he just did. I thought coaches largely ignored the media and social media during the season: Glad he is so positive.

His passion is needed

[Sad Din]

Boy CBR was riled up at the end of the post-game conference. I agree 100 % with what he said from a coach’s standpoint. I would say what he said, instill confidence etc.

But from a fan’s standpoint I think things are a little different. I wonder if he expected to start the season 8-4 or better than that? Not sure I have ever heard a coach comment on the “negativity” as much as he just did. I thought coaches largely ignored the media and social media during the season: Glad he is so positive.

His passion is needed

Dabo had a similar rant right before they got really good. gotta beleive!

[Affirm]

Inspirational postgame comments.

[apaladin]

First hal: This team can be scary good
Second half: This team can be scary bad.
Just glad MB pulled us out when it looked like we were doneso.

[Affirm]

Some SFA basketball history:

In the 2013–2014 season SFA had its most successful year in more than 2 decades going 32–3 in the regular season and 18–0 in conference play. They won 29 games in a row including the conference semi-final and finals and the second round of the NCAA Tournament. SFA repeated the same feat in their 2015–2016 season by going 18–0 in conference and reaching the second round of the NCAA once again.

On May 20, 2020, following the discovery of an administrative error in certifying eligibility for student-athletes, Stephen F. Austin reached an agreement with the NCAA to vacate hundreds of wins across multiple sports from 2013 to 2019, including all 117 men's basketball wins from the 2014–15 to 2018–19 seasons. As a result, three NCAA tournament appearances and three Southland conference titles were nullified.

In actuality, SFA has appeared in NCAA Tournament in 2009, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2018 - five NCAA Tournaments, and all of them within the last 13 years. Their combined record is 2–5; however, as a result of their three vacated appearances, they have an "official" record of 1–2.

Last season, ,SFA was 22-10 overall and 14-4 in the conference (WAC). This season, they are 6-5 so far, including a 17-point win at UNCG and the OT win Wednesday night at Louisiana Tech.

About their coach, Kyle Keller:

Over the past decade the Lumberjacks set the standard in the State of Texas and sport the best winning percentage among NCAA Division I programs within the state.

Keller brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Lumberjack sidelines. Keller was an assistant coach for two Naismith Hall of Fame coaches: Bill Self at Kansas and Eddie Sutton at his alma mater Oklahoma State. He started his coaching career at Louisiana Tech and also served as head coach at Tyler Junior College. Keller served as an assistant coach at Texas-San Antonio and Texas A&M.

Keller has coached 31 former players have reached the NBA level, including former SFA Lumberjack Kevon Harris who currently plays for the Orlando Magic. Keller has coached 20 All-Conference honored players in his six years on the SFA bench.

Overall, Keller has participated in 31 NCAA tournament games, been a part of 21 tournament wins: One Final Four, three Elite 8’s, and seven Sweet 16 games.

Among active head coaches, Keller ranks in the top 20 in wins. He led SFA to its highest finish in the AP poll at No. 26 in 2019-2020.

Hometown: Dallas, Texas
College: Oklahoma State
Playing Experience: Oklahoma State (baseball)

Coaching Experience
2016-Present: SFA | Head Coach
2011-16: Texas A&M | Assistant Coach
2008-11: Kansas | Assistant Coach
1999-2008: Oklahoma State | Assistant Coach
1997-99: Tyler Junior College | Head Coach
1996-97: UTSA | Assistant Coach
1994-96: Tyler Junior College | Assistant Coach
1990-94: Louisiana Tech | Assistant Coach
By The Numbers
1 – WAC Regular Season Championship
*1 – Southland Conference Tournament Championship
*1 – NCAA Tournament
1 – Final 4
*2 – 28 Win Seasons
3 – Elite 8’s
4 – Coach of The Year Awards
7 – Winningest Program in College Basketball the last 3 years
7 – Sweet 16’s
*19 – Southland Conference Record for Wins in a Season
20 – All Conference Players Coached at SFA
*100 – Fastest to 100 Wins in SFA Coaching History
*.696 Winning % as Head Coach
*.729 Conference Winning %

Accomplishments
- *2017 CIT Postseason Tournament
- *2018-19 Southland Tournament Champions
- *2018-19 NCAA Postseason Tournament
- 2020-21 Southland Regular Season Champions
- 2020-21 Southland Conference Record 19* Wins
- 2020-21 Southland Coach of the Year
- 2020 TABC Coach of the Year
- 2020 NABC Region Coach of the Year
- 2021-22 WAC Regular Season Champions
- 2022 CBI Postseason Tournament
- Most wins among NCAA Division I programs in the State of Texas – 2012-2022
- *Fastest Coach to 100 Victories in SFA History
- *66-18 Overall Record over Past 3 Seasons
- *126-55 Overall Record as Head Coach
- *78-29 Conference Record

* - Does not reflect vacated wins from 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons due to NCAA infractions ruling.

[FU Hoopla]

[purplehorse123]

Great that SFA has such a strong recent history. But let’s not kid ourselves. They have lots of injured players now. With a few minutes left in the first half after starting 3-22 FG’s they were still only shooting 17 %. As someone said to me at half “SFA is bad.” My point is I am not sure a complete game performance like today’s effort will allow us to beat many good teams.

[apaladin]

Gotta like their coach!

[FU Hoopla]

Great that SFA has such a strong recent history. But let’s not kid ourselves. They have lots of injured players now. With a few minutes left in the first half after starting 3-22 FG’s they were still only shooting 17 %. As someone said to me at half “SFA is bad.” My point is I am not sure a complete game performance like today’s effort will allow us to beat many good teams.

They may not be great, but SFA is not bad, just beat LA Tech on the road who had already won at Samford. SFA also already beat UNCG by 17.
So this win is at the least just as good as getting a good SoCon win.

[Affirm]

Would we have done better against Clemson last night than Richmond did?
And would we have done as well as 7-4 Davidson did yesterday if it had been us instead of Davidson* playing #1, 11-0 Purdue?
Two surprising outcomes.
(As you may know, and documented elsewhere by affirm in UFFP, Richmond and Davidson are 2 of the 22 colleges considered as “peer colleges” by Furman.
Others with athletics programs similar to Furman include Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, and Bucknell. None of those is doing super so far this year, although Colgate won at Syracuse. Holy Cross had a super year in FCS, but in basketball so far they’re 3-8 with no wins of particular note.)
*Davidson stayed close to Purdue entire game (played at Indy). Davidson appears getting stronger in time for A-10. So far, other than the “close” loss to Purdue, their only losses were a couple of 2-pt games (one in OT), and one “bad” loss to CofC.

[Sad Din]

Please listen to the SFA coach presser and then listen to the last 2 mins of CBR presser.

IMHO Dins are very good and will get to be great by Tourney time

[FU Hoopla]

[FU Hoopla]

It was evident that as far as Basketball goes Greenville is indeed Furman's city now, a ton more Furman fans at the arena last night than Clemson fans

[Affirm]

Stephen F. Austin is located in Nacogdoches, Texas. Furman's Clint Dempsey is a native of Nacogdoches, Texas. He attended Furman as a health and exercise science major, and he was a key player for Paladins soccer from 2001-2003. After Furman, he played professional soccer for 15 years..

[Sad Din]

Stephen F. Austin is located in Nacogdoches, Texas. Furman's Clint Dempsey is a native of Nacogdoches, Texas. He attended Furman as a health and exercise science major, and he was a key player for Paladins soccer from 2001-2003. After Furman, he played professional soccer for 15 years..

Really!? wow ...who knew! He was one of the announcers on the World Cup finals today