’Jacks to host first regular-season tournament since 1976
NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS (Janaury 26, 2009) The Stephen F. Austin men’s basketball program will host a regular-season tournament for the first time in 33 years, when SFA puts on the inaugural Etech Lumberjack Classic in December. The tournament will feature the Lumberjacks and three visiting teams in a set, four-game schedule played over two days.
The tournament is set for Friday, Dec. 4, and Saturday, Dec. 5. SFA has already secured commitments from the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s Southern University and Southland Conference foe Central Arkansas. A fourth team will be announced at a later date, at which time the final tournament schedule will be unveiled.
“Scheduling has been very difficult for us lately,” SFA head coach Danny Kaspar said. “We were only able to schedule one Division I home game during the non-conference season this year. The Etech Classic will allow us to have a more balanced schedule during non-conference play, and I’m very thankful for that.”
SFA’s William R. Johnson Coliseum has been host to numerous conference, regional and national post-season tournament games. But next season’s Etech Lumberjack Classic will mark the first regular-season event since the 1976-77 Tall Pines Classic. Prior to that, the only regular-season tournament on record at SFA is the Stephen F. Austin Tournament, played in the 1963-64 season. Both tournaments were put together under the direction of former Lumberjack coach Marshall Brown, the program’s winningest head coach.
SFA is undefeated in its three previous home, regular-season tournament endeavors. The ’Jacks — then an NAIA program — knocked off Louisiana College and McMurry College in the Stephen F. Austin Tournament in 1963. In the inaugural Tall Pines Classic in 1975, SFA defeated Ouachita Baptist and Cameron (Okla.) to take the championship. The following season, SFA defended its title, notching wins over Louisiana College and St. Mary’s.
The Lumberjack Classic is possible thanks to a partnership with Etech. Etech specializes in business process solutions. The company has multiple branches in East Texas and India and a client list that includes numerous Fortune 500 customers.
“Because of the financial commitment required, we would not have been able to put this tournament together without Etech’s generosity,” said SFA director of athletics Robert Hill. “We owe them a debt of gratitude for their support of our program.”
Based in Nacogdoches, Etech is the third-largest employer in the region. The Nacogdoches branch alone employs more than 400 East Texans. Nacogdoches resident Matt Rocco has served as Etech’s Chief Operating Officer since 2003. A former collegiate letterwinner in both baseball and basketball at Dickinson College, Rocco is an ardent supporter of SFA athletics.
“Etech and Matt Rocco are doing Lumberjack basketball a great favor by sponsoring the Lumberjack Classic,” Kaspar said.
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