With the start of basketball season approaching, the Hardin-University teams have been preparing and working hard.
Just as they are now, even in the past HSU basketball has been a popular sport. In December of 1970, the HSU Cowboys were in a really good place. They had just hired a new head coach, Glen Whitis. Whitis came to HSU with amazing credentials.
During the five years before he came to HSU, Whitis-coached teams won a total of 221 games while only losing 28. The four years before that was even better with 101 wins and only 18 losses. Whitis was drawn to HSU for the challenge of playing an NCAA major division schedule. He was also intrigued by the past seasons of HSU basketball. Below is a list of the wins and losses that the team had in the years prior.
COACH Year Wins-Losses
H.D. Martin, 1920: 11-4
Roy Easterday, 1921: 14-7
H.D. Martin, 1922: 9-3
A.B. Hays, 1923: 13-1, 1924: 12-16, 1925: 13-1
Vic Payne, 1926: 6-15, 1927: 9-8
Frank Bridges, 1928: 10-10, 1929: 16-2
Les Cranfill, 1930: 15-4, 1931: 13-4, 1932: 11-7, 1933: 12-3
Charles Anderson, 1934: 10-10
Les Cranfill, 1935: 12-0
Frank Kimbrough, 1936: 16-6, 1937: 16-1, 1938: 3-12, 1939: 3-12, 1940: 2-12
Uncle Joe Smith, 1941: 5-13, 1942: 6-8
Clark Jarnigar 1943,: 1-7
(No Team 1944-45)
Warren Woodson, 1946: 2-10
Wesley Bradshaw, 1947: 8-21, 1948: 6-10
Jack Martin, 1949: 13-10, 1950: 15-10, 1951: 13-15
Bill Scott, 1952: 17-15, 1953: 20-13, 1954: 7-17, 1955: 10-15, 1956: 18-7, 1957: 16-10,
1958: 11-14, 1959: 14-12, 1969: 8-18, 1961: 12-14, 1962: 8-17
Lou Henson, 1963: 10-16, 1964: 20-6, 1965: 17-8, 1966: 20-6
Paul Lambert, 1967: 17-9, 1968: 10-16, 1969: 13-13, 1970: 17-9
Another great year in basketball was 2004. In January, HSU outlasted Concordia-Austin, defeating the Tornados 81-79. The win moved the Cowboys to 3-0 in American Southwest Conference West Division action and put them in a tie for first place with Sul Ross University.
The victory also marked the first time in ten years that HSU had won three games in a row to start conference play. The women's basketball team was also doing well this year. They played the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor (UMHB) and Concordia and defeated them both. “The teamwork by the Cowgirls in their 13th straight win was exceptional,” said Sarah Griffith, the sports writer for The Brand. “The Cowgirls are currently 13-1 and ranked number 16 in the nation.”
With the basketball season starting, the HSU teams are going to work hard in order to get the wins that they deserve.
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