Every Coach, regardless of how good they are, has difficult or rough seasons. Sometimes they even happen after Championship seasons. For Lion Coach Bob Rogers, he was no exception to this happening. In his first three seasons, Rogers had won three straight Conference Championships, three straight NAIA District 4 Championships, and had gone to the…
It takes a lot to be a Champion. A lot of games played, a lot of miles traveled, a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. Then, and only then, comes the treasure. For the East Texas State Lions, the 1950’s midpoint saw them make serious back to back runs in the NAIA National Tournament. Two…
Bob Rogers first season in Commerce saw the Lions go the furthest they ever had as the reached the NAIA Final four, the first of 3 appearances in school history. After countless conference titles and NAIA tournament appearances, it was as ever a time to make another run at a national championship. It would hard…
In the early 1950’s Lion Basketball hit a bit of a rut. Milburn Smith, who would coach arguably the greatest Lion Football team ever in 1952, coached the Lion Basketball team to a 13-9 record in 1950, before taking over a Lion football program that would be dominant from 1951-1953 and then Jack Woodruff came…
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…
Year 3 for Darrell Tully’s East Texas State squad was roughly what one would have expected. He had a winning record, contention for conference championships, and in the hunt for the NAIA postseason. It would be his final season before heading south to the Houston area where he would become one of the most notable…
After 9 seasons and 105 wins, East Texas State basketball coach Dennis Vinzant decided to leave Commerce and hand the reigns over to his trusty assistant Darrell Tully. Tully was not just some assistant coach, he was an all time Lion great way before he took the head basketball coaching job. From 1935-1939, Tully was…
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…
Dennis Vinzant’s name is not usually mentioned in the names of the great Lion Basketball coaches, but for the pre World War II era and the college students that made up the greatest generation, it was Vinzant that steadied so much of the athletic department at East Texas State Teacher’s College during that time frame.…
In these chronicles, or tales, or whatever you wish to call them, some of them are longer than others and back in 1936, close to 90 years ago, it is a given that basketball was much different today than it is now. The game has evolved (and for the worst in the past decade if…
It has been so hard to believe that 365 days ago today, Lion Nation lost a fan, a former player, a student of sports and sports writing, and a Lion of Old ET to the core. Others lost a husband, a loving father, and I lost my best friend. Russell McLean’s passing this time last…
J.V. Sikes is a coaching legend in the annals of East Texas State Lion history. A northeast Texas native from Leonard, Sikes was a 3 sport letterman at Texas A&M University before he got into coaching. In 1929, Sikes left Southeast Texas and came north to coach the freshman at East Texas State Teachers College…
Mark Twain once said about the game of golf, that “Golf is a good walk that is spoiled.” I know that first hand. I have been learning how to play the game for the past 5 years and I slowly but surely am getting better, but I hate the slowly part. That being said, being…
I love two things, history and basketball. I read a lot because in my 38 years it amazes me how things have progressed from the time I was coming home as a newborn from St. Paul’s Medical in Dallas to the current day. How much our society has evolved and changed from 10, 20, 30…
Note: I have written a lot about historic teams and their seasons, but this one was special to Me because I actually got experience it as a student, going to these games, seeing the school rally around this team, and getting to watch someone I had known of since my days of growing up in…
Editor’s Note: This Article was published by the Dallas Morning News in November of 1985. It was written by Sam Blair and is not the work of The Lion Wire or any of the staff or the writers. It is here for reading enjoyment purposes only and every attempt has been taken to ensure the…
The year was 1931. From the time that collegiate football first arrived in Commerce, East Texas State Normal College had not done much to really speak of or shout about. The team had some winning seasons in the early years, but the 1920’s were absolutely awful and by far the worst decade in school history,…
Despite the trials of this season, if you are a Lion, you always have reason to feel proud of your roots, especially in football. Football is the prime sport here in Texas, but it is more than just about Football, it is about both fans and players alike remembering the great and deep rooted tradition…
As we head into yet another season of Lion football, 40 years ago there was a team that faced many of the challenges that the current team faces today. They were in their second year moving up classifications, they were on the lower end of the financial totem pole, and there was change on the…
I knew I said we were on a break, but seeing all the great Basketball that has been played in the NCAA tournament has Me thinking about hoops a lot lately. In the decade that I have been writing for this site, doing a smattering of things from history, to great stories, to games we…
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