Ask anyone who knows anything about what East Texas State College was like in the 1950’s and many will call it “The Golden Fifties.”

In addition to becoming a full fledged State College and making a name for itself as an emerging regional educational power, but would end up being a major collegiate power in the NAIB in Basketball and also in Football in the NCAA minor college division.

Many students were former World War II soldiers who were returning home to get an education, and some of them, many of them in fact, would play sports for East Texas State.

Heading into this new decade, Lion Basketball had established itself as a top LSC program and regional power, but had yet to break into the Sweet 16 or Elite 8, much less an NAIA Final Four or Championship, but those would be on their way.

Darrell Tully returned for his final season in Commerce before heading south to the Houston area to become a head football coach and athletic director at a new school district, but before that, Tully would have his best season, and the best season in school history up that point.

Or was it?

The regular season was not a pleasant one, as the Lions struggled out of the gates, starting out with a 4-9 record. Things were not looking up, but conference play would prove to be a far better outing for the Lions, starting with wins against Sam Houston, but then they fumbled against Southwest Texas State in two straight games in San Marcos, eventually settling with an winning conference record at 7-5 in LSC play, but with an unimpressive 11-14 regular season record. However, winning the conference would prove to be important to getting into the postseason. Since the Lions had won their conference, in punched their ticket to the NAIA District Playoffs, returning them to the national postseason.

In the NAIA District 4 playoffs the Lions faced off against future LSC rival Abilene Christian. The Lions, led by first team All Conference performer Charles Whitten, stunned the Wildcats in Abilene, setting them up to face future cross state rival and future Lone Star Conference foe, West Texas State. WT were the heavy favorites to win the NAIA District Championship and advance to the national tournament, but home court advantage, which had been a major plus for the Lions during the 1950 season as they had an 8-2 record, played a large role in the Lions upsetting the Buffs, 56-53 to clinch the NAIA District 4 Championship, punching their ticket to the round of 32 in the NAIA tournament in Kansas City.

Facing off against a very tough and talented South Dakota team, the game went back and forth, but the Lions were able to hold off the Coyotes 55-54, giving the Lions a berth in the round of 16, where they would face a very tough Baldwin-Wallace squad.

Sadly, this is where the season ended for the Lions as the Yellow Jackets stung the Lions, beating them by 20 points and knocking them out of the round of 16. It was the furthest the Lions had advanced in school history, and despite having a 14-15 record overall, it was a season that would set the stage for nearly a decade of basketball dominance. Baldwin Wallace would fall in the Elite 8 to eventual national champion Indiana State.

For Darrell Tully, it was the final season and he had set the standard as he had an overall record of 59-36 with a conference record of 32-16 with 3 NAIA postseason appearances, two in the NAIA playoffs and one in the round of 16 with a 4-3 postseason record. Tully would relocate to Houston where he would become a head football coach at Spring Branch ISD and later athletic director. A stadium for the district would be named in his honor and he was inducted into the East Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978.

Things were just getting started for Lion Basketball as the new decade was starting.