Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
	2025–26 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball team
University	Louisiana Tech University
First season	1909–10; 116 years ago
All-time record	1,494–1,096 (.577)
Head coach	Talvin Hester (4th season)
Conference	Conference USA ; (Sun Belt by 2027–28)
Location	Ruston, Louisiana
Arena	Thomas Assembly Center ; (capacity: 8,000)
Nickname	Dunkin' Dogs
Student section	The Kennel
Colors	Blue and red;
Uniforms
Home	Away
Alternate	Alternate
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
	1967*, 1985
NCAA tournament appearances
	1967, 1971, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991
Conference tournament champions
	Southland: 1984, 1985, 1987; American South: 1988, 1989, 1991
Conference regular-season champions
	LSIAA: 1910; SIAA: 1927, 1928, 1934; Louisiana Intercollegiate: 1942, 1946, 1947, 1948; Gulf States: 1953, 1955, 1959, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1971; Southland: 1976, 1985, 1987; American South: 1988, 1990; Sun Belt: 1992, 1999; WAC: 2013 ; C-USA: 2014, 2015
Conference division regular-season champions
	2021
	* at Division II level

Last updated September 10, 2025

The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball program, nicknamed the Dunkin' Dogs, represents intercollegiate men's basketball at Louisiana Tech University.^[3] The program competes in Conference USA in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and plays home games at the Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston, Louisiana. Talvin Hester is in his second season as the Bulldogs' head coach.

History

Conference affiliations

1925–1939: Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
1939–1948: Louisiana Intercollegiate Conference
1948–1971: Gulf States Conference
1971–1987: Southland Conference
1987–1991: American South Conference
1991–2001: Sun Belt Conference
2001–2013: Western Athletic Conference
2013–?: Conference USA
2027–future: Sun Belt Conference

Championships

Conference regular season championships

Season	Conference	Record	Head coach
1909–10	Louisiana State Intercollegiate Athletic Association	N/A	Percy S. Prince
1926–27	Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association		Robert S. Wynn
1927–28			Robert S. Wynn
1933–34			Hal Lee
1941–42	Louisiana Intercollegiate Conference		Cecil Crowley
1945–46
1946–47
1947–48
1952–53	Gulf States Conference
1954–55
1958–59
1963–64
1966–67		11–1	Scotty Robertson
1969–70		9–3
1970–71		10–0
1975–76	Southland Conference	9–1	Emmett Hendricks
1984–85		11–1	Andy Russo
1986–87		9–1	Tommy Joe Eagles
1987–88	American South Conference	7–3	Tommy Joe Eagles
1989–90	American South Conference	8–2	Jerry Loyd
1991–92	Sun Belt Conference	13–3	Jerry Loyd
1998–99	Sun Belt Conference	10–4	Keith Richard
2012–13	Western Athletic Conference	16–2	Michael White
2013–14	Conference USA	13–3
2014–15	Conference USA	15–3
2020–21	Conference USA (West)	12–4	Eric Konkol

Conference tournament championships

Year	Conference	Champion	Score	Runner-up	Most Valuable Player	Site
1984	Southland	Louisiana Tech	68–65	Lamar	Willie Simmons	Beaumont Civic Center; Beaumont, Texas
1985	Southland	Louisiana Tech	70–69	Lamar	Jerry Everett	Thomas Assembly Center; Ruston, Louisiana
1987	Southland	Louisiana Tech	58–51	Arkansas State	Robert Godbolt	Thomas Assembly Center; Ruston, Louisiana
1988	American South	Louisiana Tech	69–66	New Orleans		Montagne Center; Beaumont, Texas
1989	American South	Louisiana Tech	84–62	New Orleans		Cajundome; Lafayette, Louisiana
1991	American South	Louisiana Tech	61–56	New Orleans		Lakefront Arena; New Orleans, Louisiana

Postseason

NCAA Division I Tournament results

The Bulldogs have appeared in the NCAA Division I tournament five times. Their combined record is 4–5.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1984	#10	Round of 48 Round of 32	#7 Fresno State #2 Houston	W 66–56 L 69–77
1985	#5	Round of 64 Round of 32 Sweet Sixteen	#12 Pittsburgh #4 Ohio State #1 Oklahoma	W 78–54 W 79–67 L 84–86
1987	#14	Round of 64	#3 DePaul	L 62–76
1989	#9	Round of 64 Round of 32	#8 La Salle #1 Oklahoma	W 83–74 L 81–124
1991	#12	Round of 64	#5 Wake Forest	L 65–71

NCAA Division II Tournament results

The Bulldogs have appeared in the NCAA Division II tournament two times. Their combined record is 2–2.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1967	Regional semifinals Regional Final	North Dakota Illinois State	W 86–77 L 66–89
1971	Regional semifinals Regional Third Place	Tennessee State New Orleans	L 90–91 W 107–88

NIT results

Louisiana Tech has appeared in ten National Invitation Tournaments. Their combined record is 15–10.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1986	First round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Third Place	Northern Arizona McNeese State Providence Ohio State Florida	W 67–61 W 77–61 W 64–63 L 66–79 W 67–62
1988	First round Second Round	Arkansas–Little Rock Connecticut	W 66–56 L 59–65
1990	First round	Vanderbilt	L 90–98^OT
1992	First round	New Mexico	L 84–90
2002	Opening Round First round Second Round	Louisiana–Lafayette Vanderbilt Villanova	W 83–63 W 83–68 L 64–67
2006	First round	Clemson	L 53–69
2013	First round Second Round	Florida State Southern Miss	W 71–66 L 52–63
2014	First round Second Round Quarterfinals	Iona Georgia Florida State	W 89–88 W 79–71 L 75–78
2015	First round Second Round Quarterfinals	Central Michigan Texas A&M Temple	W 89–79 W 84–72 L 59–77
2021	First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Third Place	Ole Miss Western Kentucky Mississippi State Colorado State	W 70–61 W 72–65 L 62–84 W 76–74

Vegas 16 results

The Bulldogs have appeared in one Vegas 16. Their record is 0–1.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2016	Quarterfinals	East Tennessee State	L 83–88

CIT results

Louisiana Tech has appeared in one CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Their combined record is 1–1.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2010	First round Quarterfinals	Southern Miss Missouri State	W 66–57 L 40–69

NAIA tournament results

The Bulldogs have appeared in the NAIA tournament four times. Their combined record is 1–4.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1942	First round	Texas Tech	L 47–59
1946	First round	Eastern Washington State	L 44–66
1953	First round	Hamline	L 80–89
1955	First round Second Round	Coe Steubenville	W 94–65 L 65–90

Home venues

Men's Gymnasium (1925-1952)

The Men's Gymnasium was located on Mayfield Avenue, directly north of the northwest corner of Hale Hall and across the street from the eventual site of Memorial Gymnasium. It was located north of the original Tech Stadium football field, and was demolished around 1984 to create more parking adjacent to Hale Hall.^[4]

Memorial Gymnasium (1952–1982)

In 1952, Memorial Gymnasium was a 4,800-seat gymnasium constructed on the Louisiana Tech University campus in Ruston to serve as the home of the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball team. Today Memorial Gym serves as a practice facility for the basketball team.

Thomas Assembly Center (1982–present)

The Thomas Assembly Center is an 8,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Ruston, Louisiana. The arena, named for its benefactor and businessman Samuel M. Thomas, is home to the Division I NCAA Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs men's basketball team.

Traditions

Dunkin' Dogs

The Dunkin' Dogs nickname emerged during the 1982–83 season led by Karl Malone and Willie Simmons making highlight reel dunks. The tradition has continued through time as the current Dunkin' Dogs led by Raheem Appleby, Michale Kyser, and Alex Hamilton have made several dunks featured nationally on ESPN's SportsCenter Top Plays and Fox Sports Live's The 1.

Hoop Troop

Hoop Troop is the official basketball pep band at Louisiana Tech University. The Hoop Troop performs at most men's basketball home games and travels to select road basketball games. The band also usually travels to all post-season games played by the Bulldogs, and is known nationally as one of the best basketball bands in college basketball. In the 2005 post-season, the Hoop Troop was featured in a Sports Illustrated's College Edition article, "65 Things We Want to See During March Madness" in which states, "30) The Louisiana Tech pep band, a.k.a. the Hoop Troop, the funniest band in the land."^[5] The Hoop Troop was the only basketball band to be listed.

Players

Basketball Hall of Fame

Leon Barmore, 2003
Karl Malone, 2010

Retired numbers

Karl Malone, whose no. 32 was retired by Louisiana Lipofsky-Karl-Malone-32727.jpg — Karl Malone, whose no. 32 was retired by Louisiana

No.	Player	Tenure	Ref.
12	Leon Barmore	1965–1967	^[6]
32	Karl Malone	1982–1985
44	Jackie Moreland	1957–1960

All-Americans

Jackie Moreland – 1958, 1959, 1960
Ray Germany – 1959, 1960
Mike Green – 1971, 1972, 1973
Mike McConathy – 1976
Karl Malone – 1983, 1984, 1985
Randy White – 1989

Conference Player of the Year

Jackie Moreland – 1960
Mike Green – 1973
Mike McConathy – 1976
Karl Malone – 1983
Randy White – 1988, 1989
Ron Ellis – 1992
Gerrod Henderson – 2000
Speedy Smith – 2015
Alex Hamilton – 2016

Conference Freshman of the Year

Antonio Meeking - 2000 (Sun Belt)
Paul Millsap - 2004 (WAC)
Raheem Appleby - 2012 (WAC)
DaQuan Bracey - 2017 (C-USA)
Kenneth Lofton, Jr. - 2021 (C-USA)

Leading scorers

Rank	Player	Years Played	Points
1	Mike Green	1969–1973	2,340
2	Mike McConathy	1973–1977	2,033
3	Alex Hamilton	2012–2016	1,986
4	Randy White	1985–1989	1,947
5	Anthony Dade	1988–1992	1,867
6	Gerrod Henderson	1998–2002	1,829
7	Raheem Appleby	2011–2015	1,770
8	Karl Malone	1982–1985	1,716
9	Paul Millsap	2003–2006	1,708
10	Kyle Gibson	2006–2010	1,677

NBA draftees

The Bulldogs have had 14 players selected in the NBA draft, including 4 first round picks. Twice the Bulldogs have had multiple players taken in the same draft year (1985 and 1992).

Year	Round	Pick	Overall Pick	Player	NBA Club
1960	1	4	4	Jackie Moreland	Detroit Pistons
1967	15	10	148	Rich Peek	Baltimore Bullets
1970	6	5	90	Charlie Bishop	Cincinnati Royals
1973	1	4	4	Mike Green	Seattle SuperSonics
1977	4	13	79	Mike McConathy	Chicago Bulls
1979	2	17	39	Victor King	Los Angeles Lakers
1984	6	19	135	Rennie Bailey	Detroit Pistons
1985	4	6	76	Willie Simmons	Sacramento Kings
1985	1	13	13	Karl Malone	Utah Jazz
1989	1	8	8	Randy White	Dallas Mavericks
1992	2	22	49	Ron Ellis	Phoenix Suns
1992	2	2	29	P. J. Brown	New Jersey Nets
2004	2	17	47	Paul Millsap	Utah Jazz
2010	2	21	51	Magnum Rolle	Oklahoma City Thunder
2020	2	29	59	Jalen Harris	Toronto Raptors

Other Bulldogs in the NBA

Other Bulldogs overseas

Kyle Gibson (born 1987) - Hapoel Galil Elyon of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
Alex Hamilton (born 1993) - Hapoel Eilat in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
Michale Kyser (born 1991) - Hapoel Holon in the Israeli Basketball Premier League

Coaches

Head coaches

Coach	Years	Seasons	Games	Win	Loss	Pct.	Notes
Percy S. Prince	1909–1911	2	9	5	4	.556	LSIAA regular season champions (1910)
Ralph C. Kenney	1925–1926	1	14	7	7	.500
Robert S. Wynn	1926–1931	5	116	61	55	.526	SIAA regular season champions (1927, 1928)
Hal Lee	1931–1934	3	43	24	19	.558
Eddie McLane	1934–1936	2	38	26	12	.684	SIAA regular season champions (1934)
Herb Duggins	1936–1940	4	73	27	46	.370
Cecil Crowley	1940–1942, 1945–1964	21	490	269	221	.549	Gulf States Coach of the Year (1953, 1955, 1964) Gulf States regular season champions (1953, 1955) Louisiana Intercollegiate regular season champions (1942, 1946, 1947, 1948)
Joe Aillet	1944–1945	1	17	5	12	.294
Scotty Robertson	1964–1974	10	247	161	86	.652	Gulf States Coach of the Year (1967, 1971) Gulf States regular season champions (1964, 1967, 1970, 1971)
Emmett Hendricks	1974–1977	3	77	40	37	.519	Southland Coach of the Year (1975, 1976)
J.D. Barnett	1977–1979	2	52	23	29	.442	Southland Coach of the Year (1979)
Andy Russo	1979–1985	6	177	122	55	.689	Southland Coach of the Year (1983, 1985)
Tommy Joe Eagles	1985–1989	4	127	87	40	.685	Southland Coach of the Year (1987, 1988)
Jerry Loyd	1989–1994	5	145	73	72	.503	American South regular season champions (1988, 1990) Sun Belt regular season champions (1992)
Jim Wooldridge	1994–1998	4	111	52	59	.468
Keith Richard	1998–2007	9	267	150	117	.562	Sun Belt Coach of the Year (1999) Sun Belt regular season champions (1999)
Kerry Rupp	2007–2011	4	130	57	73	.438
Michael White	2011–2015	4	141	101	40	.716	C-USA Coach of the Year (2013, 2015) C-USA regular season champions (2014, 2015) WAC regular season champions (2013)
Eric Konkol	2015–2022	6	194	129	65	.665	C-USA Coach of the Year ( 2021) C-USA Conference Division Season Champions (2021)
Talvin Hester	2022-Present	1	2	1	1	.500
Total		97	2,470	1,420	1,050	.575
1942–1943, 1943–1944: Basketball discontinued due to World War II

Bulldogs in coaching

Kyle Keller – Stephen F. Austin

References

↑ As of the end of the 2024–25 season.
↑ Louisiana Tech University Identity Standards . Retrieved November 16, 2022.
↑ "Louisiana Tech Bulldogs men's basketball". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
↑ "Louisiana Tech University: Historic Images & Photos". Louisiana Destinations. Louisiana-Destinations.com. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
↑ "SI.com - SI on Campus - 65 Things We Want to See During March Madness - Wednesday March 9, 2005 10:12AM". Archived from the original on 2012-10-26. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
↑ Barmore to Join Fifth HOF, 15 Aug 2008

External links

Official website

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Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
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[Win/Loss-1] As of the end of the 2024–25 season.

[2] Louisiana Tech University Identity Standards . Retrieved November 16, 2022.

[3] "Louisiana Tech Bulldogs men's basketball". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 2018-04-18.

[4] "Louisiana Tech University: Historic Images & Photos". Louisiana Destinations. Louisiana-Destinations.com. Retrieved 30 January 2024.

[5] "SI.com - SI on Campus - 65 Things We Want to See During March Madness - Wednesday March 9, 2005 10:12AM". Archived from the original on 2012-10-26. Retrieved 2010-04-26.

[6] Barmore to Join Fifth HOF, 15 Aug 2008

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v t e Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball
Venues	Men's Gymnasium (1925–1952) Memorial Gymnasium (1952–1982) Thomas Assembly Center (1982–present)
Culture & lore	Tech
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1909–10 1910–11 1911–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26

v t e Conference USA men's basketball
Current teams	Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens FIU Panthers Jacksonville State Gamecocks Kennesaw State Owls Liberty Flames Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (leaving by 2027) Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders Missouri State Bears New Mexico State Aggies Sam Houston Bearkats UTEP Miners (leaving in 2026) Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
Championships & awards	Conference USA men's basketball tournament Player of the Year
Seasons	1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26

v t e Sun Belt Conference men's basketball
Teams	Appalachian State Mountaineers Arkansas State Red Wolves Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Georgia Southern Eagles Georgia State Panthers James Madison Dukes Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks Marshall Thundering Herd Old Dominion Monarchs South Alabama Jaguars Southern Miss Golden Eagles Texas State Bobcats (leaving in 2026) Troy Trojans
Future teams	Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (joining by 2027)
Championships and awards	Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament Player of the Year
Seasons	1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26