Southland Conference Members Lead Nation in Both Offense and Defense
The statistical standard bearers are based in tongue-twister towns titled Natchitoches (La.) and Nacogdoches (Tex.). Northwestern State (La.) and Stephen F. Austin (Tex.), splitting Southland Conference regular-season and league tourney championships, are polar opposites in style as they lead the nation in team offense and defense, respectively. The only other time two members from the same league paced the country in those categories the same season was 1980-81 when PCAA (now Big West) affiliates UC Irvine (86.4 ppg) and Fresno State (50.7 ppg) finished atop the national rankings.
Stephen F. Austin, the nation's only school yielding fewer than 50 points per game, led the country in team defense two years ago under coach Danny Kaspar. On the other end of the point production spectrum, Northwestern State coach Mike McConathy has firsthand knowledge about scoring prowess, ranking among the nation's top scorers with Louisiana Tech in 1975-76 (15th with 24.7 ppg) and 1976-77 (7th with 27.5 ppg). He scored more than 40 points in each of two different games against Northwestern State as a senior after pouring in a school-record 47 against Lamar as a junior.
McConathy comes from a family with a hoop legacy. His father, Johnny, earned small-college All-American honors with the Demons in 1951 when he set a school single-season scoring record by averaging 21.6 ppg before competing in 11 games with the Milwaukee Hawks. Mike also has two uncles, George and Leslie, enshrined in the university's Graduate 'N' Club Hall of Fame in recognition of their basketball exploits in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Mike was in the same graduating class at Tech with UC Riverside coach Jim Wooldridge and Texas-El Paso coach Tim Floyd, who played in only one varsity game for the Bulldogs. Floyd was McConathy's roommate.
McConathy coached Bossier Parish Community College (La.) for 16 seasons in the same gymnasium where he played in high school. He is one of the following 39 active coaches who were all-conference first-team selections in a Division I alliance:
McConathy was a fourth-round NBA draft choice by the Chicago Bulls. Following is an alphabetical list of the 33 active DI coaches selected in an NBA draft (including 12 in the first or second round):
Division I Coach | Current School | NBA Team | Draft Year | Round |
---|---|---|---|---|
Steve Alford | New Mexico | Dallas Mavericks | 1987 | 2nd |
Jerome Allen | Penn | Minnesota Timberwolves | 1995 | 2nd |
Tommy Amaker | Harvard | Seattle SuperSonics | 1987 | 3rd |
Tony Benford | North Texas | Boston Celtics | 1986 | 4th |
Tony Bennett | Virginia | Charlotte Hornets | 1992 | 2nd |
Eddie Biedenbach | UNC Asheville | Los Angeles Lakers | 1968 | 4th |
Larry Brown | Southern Methodist | Baltimore Bullets | 1963 | 7th |
Johnny Dawkins | Stanford | San Antonio Spurs | 1986 | 1st |
Howie Dickenman | Central Connecticut State | Phoenix Suns | 1969 | 17th |
Jamie Dixon | Pittsburgh | Washington Bullets | 1987 | 7th |
Billy Donovan | Florida | Utah Jazz | 1987 | 3rd |
Bryce Drew | Valparaiso | Houston Rockets | 1998 | 1st |
Mark Gottfried | North Carolina State | Detroit Pistons | 1987 | 7th |
Fred Hoiberg | Iowa State | Indiana Pacers | 1995 | 2nd |
Lewis Jackson | Alabama State | Golden State Warriors | 1984 | 3rd |
Clemon Johnson | Florida A&M | Portland Trail Blazers | 1978 | 2nd |
Jeff Jones | American University | Indiana Pacers | 1982 | 4th |
Lon Kruger | Oklahoma | Atlanta Hawks | 1974 | 9th |
Larry Krystkowiak | Utah | Chicago Bulls | 1986 | 2nd |
Jim Larranaga | Miami (Fla.) | Detroit Pistons | 1971 | 6th |
Jim Les | UC Davis | Atlanta Hawks | 1986 | 3rd |
Danny Manning | Tulsa | Los Angeles Clippers | 1988 | 1st |
Cuonzo Martin | Tennessee | Atlanta Hawks | 1995 | 2nd |
Ray McCallum | Detroit | Indiana Pacers | 1983 | 8th |
Mike McConathy | Northwestern State | Chicago Bulls | 1977 | 4th |
Fran O'Hanlon | Lafayette | Philadelphia 76ers | 1970 | 8th |
Louis Orr | Bowling Green | Indiana Pacers | 1980 | 2nd |
Buzz Peterson | UNC Wilmington | Cleveland Cavaliers | 1985 | 7th |
Joseph Price | Grambling State | Washington Bullets | 1986 | 7th |
Oliver Purnell | DePaul | Milwaukee Bucks | 1975 | 6th |
Craig Robinson | Oregon State | Philadelphia 76ers | 1983 | 4th |
Lorenzo Romar | Washington | Golden State Warriors | 1980 | 7th |
Corliss Williamson | Central Arkansas | Sacramento Kings | 1995 | 1st |