Dennis Vinzant’s East Texas State Teachers College Lions were starting making going to Kansas City a habit at the end of the year, and for the 1942 Lions, it was a start of some adversity that would lay the groundwork for the great teams to come in an era with so much uncertainty.

After making the NAIB tournament and getting to the round of 16 for two straight seasons and winning the LSC, the Lions took a step back and had a rare losing season in the 40-41 season at 11-12. With that record, there was of course, no invitation to the playoffs either. However, things changed in many ways during the 41-42 season, some of them earth shattering.

After starting out the season at 2-0, the Lions lived during that “day that will live in infamy” as President Franklin Roosevelt called it. As the Lions were getting ready to gear up for a home stand with Central Oklahoma, news came that the United States was attacked in Hawaii on December 7th, or as everyone else knows it as, the Pearl Harbor attack. The US would later declare war on the Japanese Empire, which in turn led Nazi Germany and Facist Italy declaring war on the US and before you knew it many of these basketball players had larger things on their mind, such as an impending war which meant an impending time of military service. That also meant that the basketball season would shortened out of respect for the tragedy at Pearl Harbor and also in preparation for the US joining the largest war in human history.

Only 18 games were played in that season, but Dennis Vinzant’s team was able to notch a regular season record of 12-5 and once again found themselves tied for first, but got the tiebreaker and another wire cable from Kansas City. The Lions were invited for the 3rd time to the NAIA national tournament, setting them up for a first round matchup with Southwestern Kansas.

In a back and forth affair, the Moundbuilders of Southwestern Kansas took a 4 point lead late in the second half and that was enough to sink the Lions hopes of getting to the later rounds. Southwestern would lose in the sweet sixteen round to Hamline College, which would finish as national champions.

With a 12-6 record, this was Vinzant’s final team that he would take to the dance. The next year, his team would go 5-10, and have no team in the 43-44 season. His final seasons would be 3-6, but Vinzant would then have a 12-8 season in his final year, good enough for 2nd place, leaving Commerce with a 105-69 record overall and a 41-23 record in conference. The World War would effect the program greatly as many Lions enlisted in the army to fight in the war. Vinzant would return to the hardwood coaching Midwestern State, where he would win 246 games over 14 seasons.

Vinzant would be inducted into the Lion Athletics Hall of Fame for his contributions in Basketball and football.

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Lone Star Conference Champions

NAIB First Round