I pick the NAIA era. SFA pretty much had it's pick of the black basketball players back then. Position by position those NAIA teams were very good. Silas would be the one who made the biggest difference though. Silas was the greatest player that SFA has ever had. There were two or three other NAIA schools that were recruiting black basketball players back then that were very good as well. SFA would have won the national championship if Silas had still been eligible the second semester of his senior year. That team beat Texas 70-35 in a scrimmage.

I, too, saw most of those guys from the NAIA era. They were outstanding. Younger guys reading this probably don't realize just how good they were. They were tall and they were talented. Shelton gym was used then, and it was always crammed to the rafters. (BTW, there were many more seats in the gym back then.)

I agree that James Silas was probably the best player to ever wear the purple and white. I remember him riding around the campus in a very nice car at the time. Privately, we all knew that he probably didn't get that thing from hauling hay during summers.

beaubrad46 said:

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I remember it well. We would line up in the street for a mile or so to get into the games. That gym held 3200 and they would get 4500 in it for the games. The fire marshal must have been bribed. It was incredible. They finally started showing the games on closed circuit cable TV. Those players could do no wrong and they had lots and lots of girlfriends.

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These sound like some awesome memories.

I'd love to see SFA have several games packed to the roof every year. Our guys deserve it.

Shelton gym was loud. I stood in line for hours on more than one occasion to get into a packed gym. Good times!

SFAJack_76 said:

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Shelton gym was loud. I stood in line for hours on more than one occasion to get into a packed gym. Good times!

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Yes. Games against Howard Payne and St. Mary's, in particular.

TallTexan said:

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I'd love to see SFA have several games packed to the roof every year. Our guys deserve it.

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Amen to that! It amazes me that it isn't already happening.

It's all in the marketing. The product is ready. There's not a better option for sports within 150 miles.

I think Ivey & the marketing team will find a way to get more butts in seats.

I'd love to see 5500+ for most Saturday games & 4500 during the week.

Let's not forget those 6'6" guards the Polnick twins and Harvey Huffstetler. Jacob Parker reminds me of those Polnick twins and Huffstetler would have shattered scoring records if there had been a three point line back then. Huffstetler had a quick release. Marshal brown and his assistant Alfred Barber were fantastic recruiters.

PurpleOut said:

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We need to have a game in Shelton every year.

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We were there for the game against Our Lady of the Lake in December 2016. Fun environment. Poor attendance on the same day as graduation. I thought the community would turn out better. I was surprised this past season that they chose to have the Ladyjack game on graduation day late in WRJ rather than have it at Shelton.

Good place to have a Christmas break game against one of our inevitable NAIA foes.

SFA_03 said:

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SFAJack_76 said:

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PurpleOut said:

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We need to have a game in Shelton every year.

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We were there for the game against Our Lady of the Lake in December 2016. Fun environment. Poor attendance on the same day as graduation. I thought the community would turn out better. I was surprised this past season that they chose to have the Ladyjack game on graduation day late in WRJ rather than have it at Shelton.

Good place to have a Christmas break game against one of our inevitable NAIA foes.

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I don't think we're gonna want to have the Christmas break game in Shelton this year...just saying.

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You've known who it's going to be and when it's going to be all this time and haven't told us. Shame on you, 03.

Why would you want to have a game in Shelton every year that would prevent many fans from being able to get in to see it. I think that it's a terrible idea.

beaubrad46 said:

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Why would you want to have a game in Shelton every year that would prevent many fans from being able to get in to see it. I think that it's a terrible idea.

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Lots of empty seats two years ago at the game at Shelton. It would only work if done during winter break against a low level team that is not going to draw well.

edstile said:

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SFA_03 said:

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SFAJack_76 said:

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PurpleOut said:

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We need to have a game in Shelton every year.

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We were there for the game against Our Lady of the Lake in December 2016. Fun environment. Poor attendance on the same day as graduation. I thought the community would turn out better. I was surprised this past season that they chose to have the Ladyjack game on graduation day late in WRJ rather than have it at Shelton.

Good place to have a Christmas break game against one of our inevitable NAIA foes.

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I don't think we're gonna want to have the Christmas break game in Shelton this year...just saying.

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You've known who it's going to be and when it's going to be all this time and haven't told us. Shame on you, 03.

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It was killing me not to discuss this with anyone!!!

SFA_03 said:

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edstile said:

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SFA_03 said:

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SFAJack_76 said:

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PurpleOut said:

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We need to have a game in Shelton every year.

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We were there for the game against Our Lady of the Lake in December 2016. Fun environment. Poor attendance on the same day as graduation. I thought the community would turn out better. I was surprised this past season that they chose to have the Ladyjack game on graduation day late in WRJ rather than have it at Shelton.

Good place to have a Christmas break game against one of our inevitable NAIA foes.

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I don't think we're gonna want to have the Christmas break game in Shelton this year...just saying.

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You've known who it's going to be and when it's going to be all this time and haven't told us. Shame on you, 03.

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It was killing me not to discuss this with anyone!!!

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Well, now that this one is out, any other top secret, inside info we should get all in a dither about?

BTW, good for you keeping it quiet for that long.

My dad played against SFA from '53-'57 and they went 4-2 against the lumberjacks. He remembers Shelton Gym as the place where the rumor was if you ran too close to the sideline, some crazy student might take an axe handle to your ankle. He said it was a wild atmosphere back then. I took him to the recent game at Shelton and he recalled how completely packed it was no matter what time of the year they played. Must have been something to see.

The reason that I think playing a game in Shelton is a bad idea is because it is not very accessible to SFA's older crowd. The only reason that game was played in Shelton last year is because something else was happening in WRJ. A lot of people didn't go to that came because of logistics. You would have had a much larger crowd at WRJ. Many people told me that they didn't go to that game for that reason. I was one of those who didn't attend. It was the only home game that I did not attend. It just doesn't make any sense to play in the gym that has been adapted for vollyball. The seating capacity for that game was 800 people.

Red River. Where did your dad play?

Centenary

beaubrad46 said:

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The reason that I think playing a game in Shelton is a bad idea is because it is not very accessible to SFA's older crowd. The only reason that game was played in Shelton last year is because something else was happening in WRJ. A lot of people didn't go to that came because of logistics. You would have had a much larger crowd at WRJ. Many people told me that they didn't go to that game for that reason. I was one of those who didn't attend. It was the only home game that I did not attend. It just doesn't make any since to play in the gym that has been adapted for vollyball. The seating capacity for that game was 800 people.

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That could be true. We went, but the thought of first come first serve, limited capacity, kept a lot away. I think it was more the 'hassle' affect than a lack of interest in the venue. If they could handle the ticketing a little better and easier, I think it would be very easy to fill. Most of those who were in our section were an older crowd who came more for the nostalgia that seeing a game against our lady of the lake. But it was like a 5-step process to secure tickets and then a wait for gates to open to then rush to find a seat. I think most just gave up on about the second step. So I think the logistics was more in The process of securing a ticket - I'm a season ticket holder and the process took effort.

Regarding the nostalgia effect. Shelton gym today has no resemblance to what Shelton looked like in the NAIA days.

beaubrad46 said:

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Regarding the nostalgia effect. Shelton gym today has no resemblance to what Shelton looked like in the NAIA days.

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That's true, but nostalgia isn't just based on something looking the same. A lot of college primary gyms that now are secondary and for other sports have been restructured and have a different look. But having attended the game and sat by a guy who played at Shelton in the 50s and one who went to SFA in the 50s and attended all the games, it didn't slow down the memories when they saw basketball that counted playing there again. I'm not advocating playing in there every year, but an early game with a D2 or D3 opponent and a better ticketing system, I think it should be still a consideration if it's the right circumstance.

PurpleOut said:

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RedRiverLa said:

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beaubrad46 said:

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The reason that I think playing a game in Shelton is a bad idea is because it is not very accessible to SFA's older crowd. The only reason that game was played in Shelton last year is because something else was happening in WRJ. A lot of people didn't go to that came because of logistics. You would have had a much larger crowd at WRJ. Many people told me that they didn't go to that game for that reason. I was one of those who didn't attend. It was the only home game that I did not attend. It just doesn't make any since to play in the gym that has been adapted for vollyball. The seating capacity for that game was 800 people.

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That could be true. We went, but the thought of first come first serve, limited capacity, kept a lot away. I think it was more the 'hassle' affect than a lack of interest in the venue. If they could handle the ticketing a little better and easier, I think it would be very easy to fill. Most of those who were in our section were an older crowd who came more for the nostalgia that seeing a game against our lady of the lake. But it was like a 5-step process to secure tickets and then a wait for gates to open to then rush to find a seat. I think most just gave up on about the second step. So I think the logistics was more in The process of securing a ticket - I'm a season ticket holder and the process took effort.

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Thanks for sharing, don't think that's been mentioned before. We've never had a good ticket system, hopefully the new changes are better, along with continuing improvements for one off games like that.

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I think the box office did he best they could. One of the ladies mentioned to me that this was last minute and they had to throw something together quickly. Having had that first experience, I'm sure they did an 'after action' report and learned how to better approach it next time.

Awesome. The Chief!

Yes, but there' still the problem that there is only 800 seats.

beaubrad46 said:

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Yes, but there' still the problem that there is only 800 seats.

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I hear exactly what you're saying. I think the concerns you're sharing are a great guide on what the athletic department should address in how they market it if there is a next time.

PurpleOut said:

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beaubrad46 said:

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Yes, but there' still the problem that there is only 800 seats.

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Not really in my opinion, we've had winter break games in the past in the Coliseum with attendance under 1,000. And again, if they were serious about it they could add better temporary bleachers on the floor to put it over 1,000. A full Shelton gym with 1,000 people would be great and very loud. Everyone that I talked with that went to that game loved it. I do however understand it's more difficult to park/walk to for our older crowd.

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That's a great point on the temp bleachers. If I remember, they did put a row, maybe two, of chairs around the bottom, but it seemed nobody really wanted to sit there - we decided to 'old style it' on the benches at the top. You know, may not be in the budget, but how fun would a 'throwback' uniform game be there - invite the old players - it if was marketed and ticketed right, I think it could be built into a sustainable event for one of the lower division opponents at the beginning of the season when WRJ feels like a cavern.