Also the ODU game date & time has been changed for TV - LaTechsports.com says FOX - don't know if it's FS1 or FSN
02/22/15 vs. Old Dominion * Ruston, La. 2:00 p.m. CT FSN?
Irregardless of the teams, the LSU game's a back story, human interest, coaching matchup natural for TV: Two Pat Summit "products" who have also served on her staff will go head-to-head today.
No doubt it will include the obligatory (get used to it ) interview with Nikki Caldwell in which she'll confess "how old it makes me feel" to be coaching against someone she "used to babysit" and "play with on the team bus."
Tripping down memory lane....
Techsters hosted Delta State....in case you didn't know, Delta State was a national powerhouse "back in the day" of WBB. I think they won a National Championship in the mid-late 70's. Or at least reached the Final Four (have to look that up). Anyway! they were the established program and Tech was the upstart at that time. Memorial Gym was packed to the gills. Would have caused the Fire Marshal grief, except he was decked out in red/blue and there rooting for the Techsters too!
I was crossing Tech Drive when a car load of Delta State fans stopped and asked directions to the Gym. I said, sure. Just stay straight until you reach California St., turn left at the light and go down about 3 miles. You'll see the arena. "Thanks!" they said and drove off. I then walked 100 feet to the Gym to watch the game! The Techsters donkey-stomped the Statesmen, er Stateswomen, by 30+ points. So, I did that car load of Delta State fans a favor!
A lil history:
The Delta State University Department of Athletics sponsors thirteen intercollegiate sports, competing at the NCAA Division II level. DSU is affiliated with the Gulf South Conference and New South Intercollegiate Swim Conference. The institution competes intercollegiately in men's American football, basketball, baseball, swimming, diving, tennis, soccer, and golf. The women's intercollegiate program consists of basketball, tennis, fast-pitch softball, cross-country, swimming, soccer, cheerleading, and diving.[13]
One of Delta State's most notable sports coaches was (Lily) Margaret Wade (1912–1995). Wade played on the basketball team for Delta State, but the school dropped the sport when she was 19. She school claimed the sport was "too strenuous for young ladies". Wade responded, "We cried and burned out uniforms but there was nothing else we could do." Basketball was revived in 1973, and asked Wade to coach the team.[14] She coached the women's basketball team to three consecutive AIWA national championships and a 93–4 record, including a 51-game winning streak, at the time, the longest winning streak in women's college basketball.[15][16] Wade was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985. Today, the Division I women's basketball player of the year receives the Margaret Wade Trophy.
Watching those Delta State national champion teams play some home games in the 1976 and 1977 seasons was a highlight of my 30 months in the Mississippi delta. Packed gym, bleachers right on the court...little did I know just how much that'd be topped in Memorial Gym when I returned to north Louisiana. Our Lady Techsters were the last AIAW national champion and the first NCAA champion.
Man it'll be nice when we're back on the national scene. Ya gotta believe!!! First appearance of this year's Techster team is just 15 days away and it cannot get here soon enough!! If things go well we could see our Bulldog football team become bowl eligible and Tyler Summit coach his first game both in the same day.
And Delta's team was the "Lady Statesmen" as the men were the Statesmen. They Delta athletis goes (unofficially) by the nickname "Fightin' Okra." Google that for some fun.
Delta State's current FB coach, Todd Cooley, is a former tenant of mine when he was at NSU. He's doing VERY well at DSU in football!