McNeese State University - Log Yearbook (Lake Charles, LA)

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Being a freshman means limited on- court action, so Leesville native, Grant Westerchil hustles for the re- bound against the Lobos of Sul Ross. (Photo by G. Little) In his eighth season as Cowboy head coach, Glenn Duhon led the Cowboys to a second place finish behind Louisiana Tech in the South- land Conference. (Photo by G. Ed- wards) Trainer Jim Dorotics and student trainer Andy Sonnier examine Ron- ald Cox's knee after a collision with a Southern Mississippi player in the home season opener for the Pokes. (Photo by G. Little) Basketball 129

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when Batiste did rejoin the squad — January 5 — the Pokes were in high gear. The final two victories of that early winning streak were triumphs on the road against Arkansas State and Lamar. Batiste was to re-injure his foot once again January 31. He was not to return until Feb- ruary 16. But, during that stretch the Cowboys ran off four victories, three of them in league games. At the end of the regular Domination season McNeese was as strong as any team in the South, polishing off Lamar in overtime, taking the measure of North Texas State by 19 points, and cracking the cen- tury mark against Texas-Ar- lington. It was fitting that at the end of the regular season, the NCAA's computer power-rank- ing listed the Cowboys as playing the 46th toughest schedule in the nation, the highest mark of any Southland or Louisiana school. Also during the year Dumars became the most decorated basketball player in the univer- sity's history, and for his en- deavors, he had the honor of having his jersey number re- tired. No one will ever again wear Dumars’ No. 4 just as no one will again wear the No. 33 that All-American Bill Reigel wore (1954-56), or the No. 34 of Frank Glenn (1954-57) or the No. 25 of Stan Kernan (1957- 60). Dumars’ talent lay not only in putting the ball into the } hoop, but also in playing the full ‘'94’’ foot game, being. equally adept as a ball handler and a defensive player. | That's one of the reasons re- | presentatives of 15 profes- | sional teams were on hand | one day in January in the Lake | Charles Civic Center to watch | him put on his show. | All scouts projected him as | continued : 1984-85 Basketball Schedule | } Southern MS 74-56 L Jan. 21 East TX St 81-57 W Jan. 24 Washburn U. 75-68 W Jan. 26 IL-Chicago 82-69 L Jan. 31 Wichita St 60-56 W Feb. Chicago St 68-57 L Feb. San Diego St 91-85 L Feb. NV-Las Vegas 84-73 L Feb. St. Thomas 92-56 W Feb. Sul Ross 90-60 W Feb. SE LA 86-68 W Feb. AR St 76-70 W Feb. Lamar 84-73 W Mar. NE LA 84-77 L Mar. 8 SW LA LA Tech North TX St TX-Arlington SE LA AR St SW LA NE LA LA Tech Lamar North TX St TX-Arlington North TX St Lamar Se Ss SSS SS 1984 Coaching Staff Glenn Duhon Billy Brown Denny Wright Butch Sigler Jim Dorotics Head Coach Assistant Coach Front row, left to right: Ronald Sykes, Girard Harmon, James Cain, Elroi Simon, Quentin Cotton, John Wesley, Joe Dumars. Second ‘row: Kinney Jimmerson, Grant Westerchill, Keith Kelly, Ronald Cox, Guy Mcinnis, Mike Marshall. — Back row: Jerome Batiste, Darrell Coslin, Chris Hardin, George © Kearse. (Photo by G. Little) a Trainer 128 Sports Ges

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Domination a first round draft selection by the NBA; many of them deter- mined that he would be the first guard taken. Throughout the season, Du- mars pitched in the points, drawing raves from fans, coaches and sportswriters. ‘‘He’s one of the best guards our conference has ever seen and one of the best we've ever played against,”’ were the comments of La- mar’s Pat Foster. And, Jerry West, the general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers said, ‘| can see that Dumars |s exceptionally talent- ed.'He plays with intelligence and has almost unlimited po- tential.” Sportswriter John James Marshall of the Shreveport Journal said, ‘‘For those of you who have never seen McNeese State's Joe Dumars play, here’s the scouting re- port: The guy can shoot.” Shoot. . . Joe did during the season as he became the all- time leading scorer in McNeese history, moved into second place on the all-time Southland Conference scoring chart, into seventh place on the all-time Louisiana career chart and into tenth place on the all-time NCAA scoring list. He finished his four-year 130 Sports Cowboy career with 2,605 points, an average of 22.5 per game for his playing time. During his senior year Du- mars pitched in 25.8 points per game, good enough for fourth nationally, and good enough to win his third South- land Conference scoring title. He also set league records in free throws attempted, and made and set school records in these departments as well as for games played and field goals made and attempted. The honors which came his way were many, and included honorable mention on the As- sociated Press’ all-American listing, the Outstanding Player Award from the Southland Conference, a fourth straight all-SLC berth, a place on the all-Louisiana team and selec- tion to the coaches’ District 8 first team and to the Basket- ball Weekly All-Plains squad. He was also picked to play in the Aloha Classic and in the Hall of Fame Classic. At different junctures during the season, Dumar's support crew also pulled its load. Three other players averaged points in double figures with Ji- merson hitting 13.1, Batiste 12.1 and Hardin 10.3. The six-foot eight-inch Har- continued