When Norman Pilgrim left Commerce after a decade at the helm with two LSC titles and two NAIA appearances, one of Pilgrim’s players, Phil Andrews took over for one season and the results was a 9-18 season. It was a time for the ET athletic department to look for a coach who was seasoned and had been winner.

A man with a character so big and personality so notable named Jim Gudger came to Commerce from Western Carolina. Jim Gudger’s athletic career at Western Carolina spanned 29 years (1940-69) as he played and coached three sports – men’s basketball, football, and baseball. He played three sports both before and after World War II and was an all-conference selection in all three. He became head men’s basketball and baseball coach in 1950 and was also an assistant football coach. He led the basketball program for 19 seasons and his team won 311 games and three conference championships. His 1963 team advanced to the NAIA national championship game. He guided the baseball team to nine winning records in 11 seasons and three conference titles. He is also in the NAIA and Western North Carolina Sports halls of fame. Quite a pedigree.

When Gudger arrived in Commerce, he had quite a task. The once mighty Lions were a shell of what they had been in the previous 25 years. He decided to do what Norman Dale of Hoosier’s fame did, “Break them down and build them back up again.”

In Gudger’s first four seasons in Commerce, he did exactly that. He had to rebuild a program. In the first 4 seasons, Gudger had a record of 35-68 overall, 26-47 in Lone Star Conference play, having his best finish come during the 1972 season during those days with a 12-15 record. Things were looking rough and almost a decade has passed since the the Lions had won the conference or had qualified for the NAIA postseason. Then, the 73-74 season started, and it started the iconic coach that became “Coach Red Socks.” Gudger would get this nickname by wearing Red colored socks along with flamboyant suits (it was the 1970’s, after all). The suits and the socks matched his flamboyant personality.

Gudger’s 73-74 season was a perfect storm. In his fifth year with some up and coming and established players, it was as good a time as any to start to turn things around. O’Neal Tarrant was in All-American form, while Nate Granger was LSC freshman of the year, and future stars such as Hugo Cabrera were emerging as well. When it was all said and done, the Lions had notched their first winning season under Gudger and had their first winning record in 6 seasons. They also won a the conference for the first time in a decade and made the postseason in that same time frame. With a 14-11 record, it was time to head back to the NAIA District 4 playoffs and play for a trip to Kansas City. The team that was waiting for them was St. Mary’s a team that had broken Lion hearts multiple times in the postseason.

In the best of 3 series, Gudger’s Lions landed the first punch with a 84-79 win in Commerce. One more win would land the Lions in the round of the 32 for the first time since their trip to the Elite 8 in 1958. The Rattlers countered back with a 85-61 throttling of the Lions, leaving the series and the life of both series for a final game 3 in San Antonio. Gudger’s troops battled back and forth with the Rattlers, but home court advantage proved to be too much against a very good St. Mary’s team as the Lions season ended with a 77-69 loss in the NAIA District 4 Championship Game. St Mary’s went to the NAIA Final Four that year, losing to national finalist Alcorn State.

Gudger had laid the foundation in 1974 with another LSC title and heading back to the postseason, but it was the first of 6 great seasons to come with a lot of winning, character on and off the court, and a renewed pride in ET Lion Basketball.

1973-74 East Texas State Lions Basketball

Lone Star Conference Champions

NAIA District 4 Playoffs