Grambling SWAC Tournament Win Not First

Congratulations are in order for the men's basketball team at Grambling University as they compete in the college basketball phenomenon known as March Madness. The G-men punched their ticket to be a part of March Madness by winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference on Saturday, March 16, 2024, which gave the team an automatic berth in the NCAA basketball tournament. With that win, the Tigers will make their first appearance in the tournament, a historic achievement for the school and the men's basketball program. However, this is not the first time that a Grambling basketball team has won the SWAC tournament. Eagle-eyed alumni from years past, as well as some of the men who played for Grambling, noted that they wanted to "set the record" straight by reminding everyone that Grambling first won the SWAC conference tournament in basketball during the 1976-77 basketball season.

The Monroe Dispatch spoke to former Grambling player Larry "Bugeye" Wright, who not only played on the winning team but was also named the MVP. Wright still has vivid memories of their historic win because it came in front of a hometown crowd at the Monroe Civic Center. Wright said that it meant so much to the team to play in front of so many family members, friends, and all of the Grambling fans in Monroe. It was like a homecoming for the team. Wright found success in the NBA when he was drafted in the first round by the Washington Bullets, becoming the first player from Grambling to be drafted number one. It was during the 1977-78 season that Wright and the Bullets won the NBA championship. He also played alongside Elvin "Big E" Hayes, another one of Louisiana's athletic icons. Wright said that the SWAC win could not have happened without his teammates and the coaches. Teammates like Terry Sykes, Willie Simmons, Joe Jones, Robert Wade, Theotis Johnson, Herbert Collins, Larry Wilson, Albert Davis, Wilford Johnson, Tyrone Marshalon, Billy Vennett, Barry Lynn, George Watson, Reginald Newby, and Donnell Anderson. The G-men team was led by head coach Fred Hobby with assistant coaches Howard Willis, Leon Moore, and statistician Jeffery Frazier.