After 5 seasons, 4 conference championships, 3 trips to the NAIA basketball tournament, and a national title, Bob Rogers’ stock had risen in the coaching universe. He had become a hot commodity, and this led him to being named head basketball coach at Texas A&M University at the end of the 1957 season. The Lions needed a quality hire and someone who would and could keep up with their winning ways and keep the Lions at national title contenders.

Their answer had been sitting beside Rogers for the previous season, serving as his assistant. His name was Norman Pilgrim.

Pilgrim was decorated in many ways. A 5’10 guard from Stillwater, Oklahoma, born in the tiny town of Byars, Oklahoma, Pilgrim served in the US Armed Forces from 1944-1946, attaining the rank of Lieutenant. He then enrolled at Oklahoma A&M College (Oklahoma State University) where he played three seasons of college ball for the Aggies from 1947-1951. He was All-Missouri Valley Conference in 1951, and won three Missouri Valley Conference Championships as a player in 1948, 1949, and 1951 as well as going to the Elite 8 with the Aggies during 2 of those seasons as well. One thing to note is that during that time, Oklahoma A&M was one of college basketball’s prime programs and aside from producing Pilgrim, produced Bob Rogers his predecessors, and other all time greats like Coach Don Haskins of Texas Western fame. During the early 1950’s, He was selected to coach the Sheppherd Air Force Base Basketball team from 1951-1954, then won the Gold Medal as Head Coach of the US Men’s Basketball Team in the Pam-American Games in the Spring of 1955 in Mexico City. He coached for The North Dallas High School Bulldogs in 1955-1956 , joined Rogers’ staff for the 1956-1957 season, and was hired as the new head basketball coach in Spring of 1957.

Pilgrim’s 1958 season was his first as head coach, and it didn’t start off particularly well. The Lions went 3-4 to start the season, but then like so many other years before, charged into the season winning column. Starting with a win over Austin College, the Lions would go on winning streaks of 6, 8, and 7 games at different points in the year. In Conference play, the Lions were still sore over being outright conference champions but having to stay at home and it at the beginning it looked like that very well might happen as they dropped a 58-47 loss to Lamar and then having a winning streak snapped by Southwest Texas, 64-55. The Conference record was 12-2 overall, but once again, the Lions had won sole possession of the Lone Star Conference and their impressive wins gave them a good resume heading into the NAIA postseason. A 19-6 record looked to get ET back to the postseason, and that it did.

The Lions faced old faces in Texas Wesleyan in the NAIA District 4 playoffs. The NAIA playoff format had changed that instead of having one game playoffs, it would be a best of 3 series with each team getting a chance to host a game. The Lions routed the Rams in both games, clinching another NAIA District 4 title and punching their ticket to Kansas City for the first time since they won it all in 1955.

In the round of 32, the Lions used a balanced ball control attack to take down Minnesota-Duluth 66-59 to advance to the Sweet 16. A tough Northern State team out of South Dakota was waiting on them and the Lions stepped up to the challenge by using the same strategy to defeat the Wolves 63-57, setting them up with an Elite 8 matchup against Tenessee A&I….now known at Tennessee Tech. The Tigers, a Historically Black University, were the defending champions and with the progressive stance of the NAIA integrating play in the national tournament for both White and Black players, the Tigers showed the nation they were good. Actually, they were really good. Before Don Haskins started 5 black players in 1966, the Lions found the game was changing and they found out the hard way as they were routed by the Tigers 81-62. The slow ball control offense was no match for the full court pressure and run and gun approach the Tigers had. It was a sign of changes to come, changes that Pilgrim himself would later adjust to those very things. The Tennessee Tech Tigers would win their second straight national championship easily. The Lions finished with a 23-7 record.

For Pilgrim, it was a promising start to his tenure as head coach of the Lion program and ready to take the program and make it his.

1957-1958 East Texas State Lions

Lone Star Conference Champions

NAIA District 4 Champions

NAIA Elite 8