FRISCO, Texas – Former Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball players Ricky Woods and Nate Lofton were among a group of 20 players named Wednesday to the Southland Conference All-Decade Men's Basketball Team from the 2000s. The announcement of the All-Decade Team, which consists of at least one player from nine different member institutions during that period, is part of the Southland Conference's year-long 50th Anniversary commemoration.
Woods, a New Orleans native who played for the Lions from 2004-06, and LeRoy Hurd of Texas-San Antonio were selected as the Co-Players of the Decade.
Woods was the 2006 Southland Conference Player of the Year after averaging 17.8 points and 10.9 rebounds per game, a figure that led the league. He helped lead the Lions to a share of the 2005 regular-season championship, their second of back-to-back titles. The 2005 team went on to win the conference tournament and make its only NCAA tournament appearance in school history.
In two seasons with the Lions, Woods averaged 17.5 points per game and 8.7 rebounds, figures that rank currently fourth and sixth in Southeastern history. He also ranks fifth in steals (113) and 10th in field goal percentage (.526). He scored 1,065 points, which is the most by any two-year player in school history. Woods was a two-time, first-team all-conference selection and averaged 17.2 points per game in 2004-05, his first season with the Lions. He also recorded the school's first triple-double, going for 28 points, 16 rebounds and 10 steals in the 2005-06 regular-season finale at Lamar.
Lofton, also a New Orleans native, was named the 2004 Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year while twice being selected as a first-team all-conference selection.
In his first season with the Lions, Lofton helped guide Southeastern to its first 20-win season (20-9) in three decades while claiming a share of the 2003-04 Southland Conference title. The following season, Lofton helped Southeastern to a 24-9 mark, its second league title, and first-ever berth in the Division I NCAA Championships.
Lofton, currently a member of the Harlem Globetrotters and a two-time contestant on CBS' “Amazing Race”, finished his career as the school's all-time leader in field goal percentage (56.9 percent) while ranking among the school's career leaders in rebounds (552), rebound average (8.6), blocks (99) and steals (104).
The 6-foot-10 Lofton led Southeastern in rebounds in his two seasons in Hammond, averaging 10.9 boards as a junior that included a University Center-record 22 rebounds against UTSA in the Southland Conference Tournament. As a senior, Lofton was second on the team in scoring while leading the Lions in assists (91), steals (60) and blocked shots (52).
Hurd was the 2004 Southland Player of the Year after being named the Newcomer of the Year in 2003. The forward from Moss Point, Miss., was a first-team all-conference selection in 2004 after earning second-team honors in 2003. He helped UTSA finish 19-14 and earn a share of the conference regular-season championship before winning the tournament title to advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1999. Hurd ranks 14th overall and third among two-year players on the school's career scoring chart with 1,027 points and his 18.7 career scoring average ranks third in school annals. He scored 639 points as a senior, which is the second-highest total in school history, while averaging 19.4 points per game. Hurd's 440 career rebounds places him 13th on UTSA's all-time list and second among two-year players. He averaged 8.0 rebounds in his career, which is tied for second. His 264 rebounds in 2003-04 rank fourth on the school's single-season chart.
UTSA has two other players on the all-decade team and tied Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for second most with three members on the team. Guard Devin Brown (1998-2002), a three-time first-team all-conference selection and the 1999 Freshman of the Year, and forward McEverett Powers (1998-2002), the 2002 Player of the Year.
Center Chris Daniels (2006-08) and guard Josh Washington (2006-07) helped the A&M-Corpus Christi win the regular-season and tournament titles during their first season in the league in 2007. Daniels, the 2007 Player of the Year, and Washington each earned all-conference honors. Forward Kevin Palmer (2008-10) was a two-time first-team all-conference selection and was the 2009 Newcomer of the Year.
Sam Houston State led all teams with four members during the decade including guard Corey Allmond (2008-10), forwards Ryan Bright (2004-08) and Seneca Wall (1999-2001) and center Donald Cole (2001-03). Cole, the 2002 Newcomer of the Year, was the Southland Player of the Year and a first-team all-conference selection during the Bearkat's championship season of 2003. Sam Houston also won the conference tournament to advance to the NCAA tournament. Wall, who scored 45 points in a double-overtime win over Texas-Arlington in the quarterfinals of the 2001 conference tournament, earned first-team all-league honors that season. Allmond and Bright were two-time first-team all-conference players.
Lamar, Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin joined Southeastern with two members on the all-decade team. Lamar placed two-time first-team all-conference forward Alan Daniels (2004-06) and forward Lamar Sanders (2006-08), the 2007 Newcomer of the Year, on the team. Northwestern State is represented by center Clifton Lee (2002-06), a first-team all-league pick in 2006, and Jermaine Wallace (2002-06), who famously lifted the Demons to a last-second, first-round upset over Iowa with a 3-pointer in the NCAA tournament. Guard Josh Alexander (2005-09) and forward Matt Kingsley (2005-09) make up the SFA contingent on the all-decade team. Alexander and Kingsley were back-to-back Players of the Year in 2008 and 2009.
The 2000s all-decade team is rounded out by McNeese State forward Fred Gentry (1998-2002) and Louisiana-Monroe forward Wojceich Myrda (1998-2002), who led the league in blocked shots four consecutive seasons from 1999-2002. His 535 career blocks led the NCAA for several years though the total now ranks second.
Sam Houston State's Bob Marlin, who coached the Bearkats from 1999-2010, finished his career ranked second all-time in the Southland Conference with 225 wins, trailing only his mentor Mike Vining, the former coach at Louisiana-Monroe and league's Coach of the Decade in the 1990s, who tallied 383 wins. Marlin was 225-130 in his 12 seasons in Huntsville, leading the Bearkats to six 20-win seasons, three regular-season conference championships, two conference tournament championships and two trips to the NCAA tournament. He is one of four coaches in the league to have won at least 200 games. In addition to Vining, SFA's Danny Kaspar (243) and Northwestern State Mike McConathy (219) also have topped the mark. His Bearkat squads led the league in scoring twice (2003 and 2010). Marlin, a three-time Southland Coach of the Year (2000, 2003 and 2010), is now the head coach at Louisiana-Lafayette.
In the last two weeks, the Southland Conference has announced the All-Decade Teams for the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
To best assess the candidate pool for the all-decade team, the Southland Conference developed a metric that analyzed numerous elements of a student-athlete's performance and value within the league at the time. Most notably, the conference honored “real-time” factors such as all-conference selection by coaches and a player's statistical performance among his peers at the time. Further, other components of selection including a player's effort toward helping his team win a championship or finish near the top of the conference, whether he earned individual honors from the league, if he participated in postseason tournaments, and if he was drafted by the NBA or ABA at the time.
Southland Conference 2000s All-Decade Men's Basketball
Player School SLC Years Pos. Hgt. Hometown
Josh Alexander Stephen F. Austin 2005-09 G 6-4 Shreveport, La.
Corey Allmond Sam Houston State 2008-10 G 6-1 Oxon Hill, Md.
Ryan Bright Sam Houston State 2004-08 F 6-6 Deer Park, Texas
Devin Brown Texas-San Antonio 1998-02 G 6-5 San Antonio, Texas
Donald Cole Sam Houston State 2001-03 C 6-8 Port Arthur, Texas
Alan Daniels Lamar 2004-06 F 6-6 Tulsa, Okla.
Chris Daniels A&M-Corpus Christi 2006-08 C 7-0 San Antonio, Texas
Fred Gentry McNeese State 1998-02 F 6-6 DeQuincy, La.
LeRoy Hurd Texas-San Antonio 2002-04 F 6-8 Moss Point, Miss.
Matt Kingsley Stephen F. Austin 2005-09 F 6-9 Houston, Texas
Clifton Lee Northwestern State 2002-06 C 6-7 Boyce, La.
Nate Lofton Southeastern La. 2003-05 C 6-10 New Orleans, La.
Wojceich Myrda Louisiana-Monroe 1998-02 F 7-0 Rzeszoe, Poland
Kevin Palmer A&M-Corpus Christi 2008-10 F 6-6 Baltimore, Md.
McEverett Powers Texas-San Antonio 1998-02 F 6-7 Memphis, Tenn.
Lamar Sanders Lamar 2006-08 F 6-6 Hickory, Miss.
Seneca Wall Sam Houston State 1999-01 F 6-4 Fort Worth, Texas
Jermaine Wallace Northwestern State 2002-06 G 6-3 Heflin, La.
Josh Washington A&M-Corpus Christi 2006-07 G 6-3 Lubbock, Texas
Ricky Woods Southeastern La. 2004-06 F 6-6 New Orleans, La.
Co-Players of the Decade:
Ricky Woods, Southeastern Louisiana (2004-06)
LeRoy Hurd, Texas-San Antonio (2002-04)
Coach of the Decade:
Bob Marlin, Sam Houston State
