TXST REWIND
With it being the month of March Madness, it’s time to take a look at one of the best years for Texas State basketball. During the 1996-1997 season, both the men’s and the women’s team won the conference tournament title and earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The sweep marked the first time a conference member had won both the men’s and women’s conference tournament titles in the same season.
Despite accomplishing the same goal, both teams had overcome unique obstacles in order to complete the historic sweep.
MBB complete magical turnaround season for second-ever tournament berth Texas State entered the 1996-1997 season just three years removed from their first-ever NCAA Tournament in 1994.
But since their glorious year in 1994, the Bobcats had missed the conference tournament twice heading into the 19961997 season.
Needing to turn their season around with a strong senior core and a talented sophomore duo who later become Bobcat legends, Texas State looked to crash the party.
At the end of the regular season, the Bobcats clinched a share of the regular season conference title, tying McNeese and Louisiana Monroe for first place. With Northwestern State, Stephen F. Austin and UT-Arlington tying for second place and the conference tournament taking only the top six teams, it was truly anybody’s title to win with a trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line.
But the Bobcats limped into the tournament, having lost the two final regular season games with Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston. Despite dropping their final games, the Bobcats finished the season undefeated at home with an 11-0 record, marking the first time since 1994 Texas State went undefeated at home.
Earning a first round bye, Texas State faced McNeese in the conference semifinals. Behind 27 points from sophomore Donte Mathis and 20 points from sophomore Jeff Foster, the Bobcats defeated McNeese 76-59 to punch their ticket into the conference tournament finals where Texas State took on Louisiana Monroe.
Senior Dameon Sansom scored a team-high 18 points as the Bobcats defeated Louisiana Monroe 74-64 giving Texas State both the conference title and the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Sansom was later named the Southland Conference Tournament MVP.
The Bobcats earned the No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament where they faced the No. 1-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers in the first round. Texas State lost 78-46 as Minnesota made a run to the Final Four.
1997 still remains the last time the Bobcats have qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
In 1999, the duo of Mathis and Foster led the Bobcats to the conference regular season title, but fell in the tournament final against archrival UTSA, costing Texas State another Tournament bid. Mathis would later play professionally in Europe for 13 seasons before becoming an assistant coach at Texas State in 2021 where he resides today.
Foster was drafted 21st overall in the 1999 NBA Draft by Golden State, before being traded to Indiana where he enjoyed a 13-year career with the Pacers. Foster’s jersey number was later retired and the court at Strahan Arena is named after him.
WBB dethrones goliath for historic conference title win Texas State had seen a resurgence in their program at the helm of Head Coach Linda Sharp. Coming over from USC after leading the Trojans to two national championships, Sharp took over the Bobcats looking to revitalize a program which had struggled to compete in Division I.
Sharp turned the program around, leading the Bobcats to seven straight winning seasons going into the 1996-1997 season.
seen newfound success, the program’s dream of playing in their first NCAA Tournament was coming up against a big giant ax.
Stephen F. Austin was the cream of the crop of women’s basketball in the Southland, having won the last nine Southland conference tournaments.
In fact, Texas State had played SFA in the conference tournament final the season before, falling short 76-58.
If the Bobcats wanted to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, the road there went through the Lumberjacks.
Texas State finished the regular season with a 1512 overall record and an 11-5 conference record, including two losses to SFA, who entered the tournament with a 38game conference winning streak. The Lumberjacks had not lost a game in the conference tournament since joining the Southland in 1987. Earning the No. 2 seed in the tournament and a first round bye, Texas State opened conference tournament play against rival UT-Arlington.
The conference semifinal game turned into a war between the Bobcats and the Mavericks as UTA led 56-55 in the final seconds.
On the Bobcats’ final possession, senior Tasha Gordon hit the gamewinning three-point shot with 3.2 seconds left to give Texas State a 58-56 win over the Mavericks, setting up a rematch with SFA in the conference tournament championship game.
For many outside of San Marcos, the conference title showdown looked to be another runaway game for SFA. But Texas State flipped the script.
Behind 21 points from junior guard Jerri Cooper, who was later named the Tournament MVP, the Bobcats stunned the No. 14-ranked Lumberjacks 77-65 to both win their first ever conference tournament championship and hand SFA their first-ever loss in the Southland Conference Tournament, ending their nine-year reign.
Texas State clinched the No. 14 seed where they faced the No. 3 seed Texas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, losing 66-38.
Sharp left San Marcos the following season to become the first-ever coach of the Los Angeles Sparks in the inaugural season of the WNBA.
