Southland Conference 1980s All-Decade Men’s Basketball Team Announced
FRISCO, Texas – The Southland Conference, as part of its year-long 50th Anniversary commemoration, has announced its 1980s All-Decade Men’s Basketball Team that includes 20 student-athletes from a very successful era in the league’s history.
In addition to the selection of the all-decade players, one of the picks, Joe Dumars (1981-85) of McNeese State, was selected as the 1980s Player of the Decade. He was a four-time first-team all-conference selection, the 1985 Southland Player of the Year, the 1982 Freshman of the Year and a four-time Southland all-tournament team selection. Dumars led the conference in scoring in 1984 and 1985, averaging 26.4 and 25.8 points per game, respectively. He also led the league in free throw percentage in 1985, hitting 85.2 percent of his shots from the line. Dumars’ 723 made free throws still ranks as the top career mark in the conference, and his 267 free throws made during the 1984 season is the most by a Southland player in a single season. Dumars still ranks among the top 10 in the Southland in five career categories, including scoring (2,607), scoring average (22.3), field goals made (942), free throws made and free throw percentage (.778).
The Natchitoches, La., native is only one of three Southland men’s basketball players to earn first-team all-conference all four seasons, and he’s the only league player to earn a spot on the all-tournament team all four years. Dumars was a first-round NBA draft selection in 1985 by the Detroit Pistons, where he went on to six All-Star Game appearances and led his team to a pair of NBA World Championships. Currently the President for Basketball Operations for the Pistons, Dumars was the NBA Finals MVP in 1989, played on the United States’ gold-medal winning team at the 1994 World Championships, and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
Joining Dumars on the all-1980s team from McNeese State is three-time, first-team all-conference forward/center Anthony Pullard (1986-90), who also earned conference player of the year honors in 1990. Jerome Batiste, a McNeese forward from 1983-87 and the 1987 conference player of the year, also represents the Cowboys on the all-decade team along with guard Michael Cutright (1985-89), who earned tournament MVP honors in 1989.
Lamar is represented by seven members during the decade including three-time all-conference choice and 1981 Player of the Year, Mike Oliver (1977-81). Other Cardinals on the all-decade team include center B.B. Davis (1977-81), guard Jerry Everett (1983-85), forward James Gulley (1984-87), forward Kenneth Perkins (1980-84), guard Lamont Robinson (1981-84) and guard Tom Sewell (1981-84). These Cardinals’ student-athletes were part of a great run of success at Lamar that included an 80-game home winning streak and four consecutive first round NCAA Tournament wins, and for Olliver and Davis, a trip to the 1980 NCAA Sweet Sixteen.
Louisiana Tech is represented by five players on the 1980s all-decade team, including three-time all-conference choice Karl Malone, who also took the 1983 Southland Player and Freshman of the Year honors. Malone led the Bulldogs to the Southland Tournament championship and an NCAA first round win in 1984, and followed that in 1985 with a nationally-ranked season and NCAA Sweet Sixteen run as a junior. He was an NBA first-round draft choice by the Utah Jazz in 1985, scoring 36,928 points, still second-best all-time in the NBA. Malone also won gold medals with his United States teammates in the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics, and was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2010. Other Louisiana Tech student-athletes on the all-decade team include forward Robert Godbolt (1983-87), center Willie Simmons (1981-85), guard Wayne Smith (1982-86) and guard Dave Simmons (1977-81), currently the head coach at McNeese State.
Louisiana-Monroe has three representatives on the all-1980s team with guard Arthur Hayes (1982-86), forward Bobby Jenkins (1983-86) and center Michael Saulsberry (1985-88). North Texas’ Tony Worrell (1984-88) also earned all-decade recognition.
The 1980s all-decade team consists of seven conference Players of the Year, seven Southland Tournament MVPs, five Freshmen of the Year, and nine players that were drafted into the NBA, including three first-round picks and two second-round selections.
Lamar’s Pat Foster (1980-86) and Louisiana Tech’s Andy Russo (1979-85) were tabbed as co-Head Coaches of the Decade.
Foster led the Cardinals to two regular-season Southland championships and a pair of tournament title, earning Lamar a spot in the NCAA tournament in 1981 and 1983, as well as NIT appearances in 1982, 1984, 1985 and 1986. Foster’s 1981 Cardinals defeated Missouri in the NCAA first round, and the 1983 club beat Alabama in the NCAA opening round. Foster coached eight Cardinals drafted in the NBA, and posted a 109-44 overall record with a 41-17 mark in Southland play.
Russo helped Louisiana Tech claim the 1984 Southland Tournament championship and the 1985 regular-season and tournament titles. After snapping Lamar’s record 80-game winning streak in the 1984 Southland Tournament in Beaumont, the Bulldogs defeated Fresno State in the NCAA first round. Louisiana Tech then exceeded all expectations with a 1985 campaign that saw the team ranked in the Top 20 throughout the season, and with NCAA wins over Pittsburgh and Ohio State, the Bulldogs advanced to the Sweet Sixteen Russo’s record at Louisiana Tech 105-45 overall and 36-20 in Southland games.
The Southland Conference will continue to recognize All-Decade Teams through the 2000s during the remainder of the current basketball season.
To best assess the candidate pool for the all-decade team, the Southland Conference developed a metric that analyzed numerous elements of a student-athlete’s performance and value within the league at the time. Most notably, the Conference honored “real-time” factors such as all-conference selection by coaches and a player’s statistical performance among his peers at the time. Further, other components of selection including a player’s effort toward helping her team win a championship or finish near the top of the conference, whether she earned individual honors from the league and if she participated in postseason tournaments.
Southland Conference 1980’s All-Decade Men’s Basketball Team
| Player |
School |
Years |
Pos. |
Hgt. |
Hometown |
| Jerome Batiste |
McNeese State |
1983-87 |
F |
6-9 |
Crowley, La. |
| Michael Cutright |
McNeese State |
1985-89 |
G |
6-4 |
Zwolle, La. |
| B.B. Davis |
Lamar |
1977-81 |
C |
6-8 |
Beaumont, Texas |
| Joe Dumars |
McNeese State |
1981-85 |
G |
6-3 |
Natchitoches, La. |
| Jerry Everett |
Lamar |
1983-95 |
G |
6-5 |
Roosevelt, N.Y. |
| Robert Godbolt |
Louisiana Tech |
1983-87 |
F |
6-5 |
Detroit, Mich. |
| James Gulley |
Lamar |
1984-87 |
F |
6-8 |
Newton, Texas |
| Arthur Hayes |
Louisiana-Monroe |
1982-86 |
G |
6-3 |
Rayville, La. |
| Bobby Jenkins |
Louisiana-Monroe |
1983-86 |
F |
6-6 |
Monroe, La. |
| Karl Malone |
Louisiana Tech |
1982-85 |
F |
6-9 |
Summerfield, La. |
| Mike Olliver |
Lamar |
1977-81 |
G |
6-2 |
Dudley City, N.C. |
| Kenneth Perkins |
Lamar |
1980-84 |
F |
6-6 |
Beaumont, Texas |
| Anthony Pullard |
McNeese State |
1986-90 |
F/C |
6-10 |
DeQuincy, La. |
| Lamont Robinson |
Lamar |
1981-84 |
G |
6-2 |
East St. Louis, Ill. |
| Michael Saulsberry |
Louisiana-Monroe |
1985-88 |
C |
6-8 |
Milledgeville, Ga. |
| Tom Sewell |
Lamar |
1981-84 |
G |
6-5 |
Pensacola, Fla. |
| Dave Simmons |
Louisiana Tech |
1977-81 |
G |
6-2 |
DeRidder, La. |
| Willie Simmons |
Louisiana Tech |
1982-86 |
G |
6-4 |
Shreveport, La. |
| Wayne Smith |
Louisiana Tech |
1982-86 |
G |
6-4 |
Shreveport, La. |
| Tony Worrell |
North Texas |
1984-88 |
F |
6-7 |
Goldsboro, N.C. |
Player of the Decade:
Joe Dumars McNeese State 1981-85
Co-Coaches of the Decade:
Pat Foster Lamar 1980-86
Andy Russo Louisiana Tech 1979-85