A Historic Repeat

By Jim Gazzolo

As confetti dropped from above, the McNeese Cowboys celebrated with their fans who had rushed to the floor moments earlier.

For the second straight year, McNeese is the Southland Conference champs. 

Wednesday night, they turned away Lamar, the last remaining hurdle in their historic repeat as league winners. They are the first group of Cowboys to win consecutive league titles and head back to a second straight NCAA Tournament.

Their fantastic rise to power goes along with their coach’s quick rehabilitation from his firing at LSU. Two years into his McNeese tenure, Will Wade is once again the talk of college basketball.

This time, for a good reason.

“In my wildest dreams, I didn’t think it would go this well,” Wade said.

The Cowboys completed their second straight romp through the Southland by outslugging the Cardinals 63-54 in a game they never trailed. And they did it in front of a national television audience.

It was McNeese’s third straight game on one of ESPN’s networks, and they will get a fourth next week when they open regional play in the tournament. 

“This is great exposure for our program and our school,” said Athletic Director Heath Schroyer. “It has been a great run.”

And it is not over.

McNeese (27-6) will be looking for its first NCAA win in four tries when it plays in the tourney this season. The Cowboys lost to Gonzaga last spring in Salt Lake City.

It was then that this year’s team was formed.

“We knew what we needed to do after that Gonzaga game,” Wade said. “We had to get bigger at certain positions.”

The Cowboys did just that, and others got better. Javohn Garcia became a star. He was named the league’s Player of the Year and won the MVP of the tournament as well. It was a nice double-double for the 6 3 guard who broke his nose in the summer and had to play with a mask all season.

Garcia will have surgery after the season but didn’t want to miss a moment this year because of the injury. He had 10 in the title game and 24 in McNeese’s semifinal victory over Northwestern State.

He has become the Cowboys’ main guy in the clutch.

“It has worked out fine,” Garcia said. “I could not be happier. I worked really hard, and it is great to see it pay off like this. Now we just want to win some games in the tournament.”

Point guard Quadir Copeland also made the All-Tournament team for the Cowboys.

All this with social media swirling about Wade’s future at McNeese. 

McNeese will find out who they are playing and where they are headed on Sunday when the official brackets are released. The Cowboys will likely be the 12th seed in a regional and probably sent to either Seattle or Providence, but those are all guesses. 

McNeese has once again invited fans to a viewing party with the team in the Legacy Center to unveil the pairings. Doors to the arena will open at 4 p.m.

The selection show, which can be seen on CBS, will begin at 5 p.m. The event is free to fans, and players will be around after to sign autographs and take pictures.

The only things that matter right now are that Will Wade is the coach, the Cowboys are definitely in the tournament, and this group of players continues to make history.

The rest is just icing on the cake.

Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers McNeese athletics. He is the host of Poke Nation on CBS-Lake Charles.