East Texas was represented in March Madness. The Stephen F. Austin State University Lumberjacks put Nacogdoches, often referred to as “Nac-o-nowhere” on the map on a national level. The school may not be from Tyler but it’s only about 90 minutes away and many residents of Tyler, including myself, attended SFA.
As an alumnus of SFA, it was a blast to watch and I felt proud, like I was part of something big as the world was watching, first becoming aware of what many East Texans were already aware of and as head coach Brad Underwood stated, this team will be back.
It’s already impressive enough to make the NCAA Tournament, but to win in the style they did was extremely impressive. As a No. 14 seed, the Lumberjacks upset No.3 seeded West Virginia in the first round. They then moved onto the second round for a chance to play in the Sweet 16, but fell short to Notre Dame by one point, or heck, less than one second, on a tip that, frankly, I have no idea how it went in. I guess that’s just the luck of the Irish.
I will be curious to see where Underwood ends up next year. I would love to see him stay with SFA but when you bring a program to the NCAA Tournament in each of your first three years, other bigger schools will come knocking. If he does leave, I’m thankful for what he has helped this team do and if not, great. Either way, here’s to hoping SFA makes another appearance in 2017.