
The legacy defined
San Marcos, TX - On a warm Monday morning, Texas State University got some rather odd news. Their new head coach would be coming in for his first ever fulltime coaching job after pursing athletic based degrees, their choice coming from R.J. Delic, the graduate from the University of Cincinnati will be making the long trip from the midwest to the south.
The press conference to announce the change went along without much noise, a new coach whose only capability seemed to be his ability to persuade was never much to get very excited over, especially one from abroad. The mentality in Texas was no where what the mentality was in Cincinnati or the Midwest.
In the south, especially in Texas it was football the ruled with an iron fist over all other sports. Some considered high school football to be more passionately followed in the south rather than collegiate basketball. In some cases, such as Texas State it could be held true. To say that schools like Texas A&M and Tech are in the shadow of the Texas Longhorns is an understatement when compared to Texas State's situation.
Texas State is so far under the radar, some people probably might not even know they actually exist. They don't play in the Big Twelve, they don't even play in the FBS for football, why care? That made the coaching change occur even more quietly. No one questioned it, their basketball program was non-existent, not even being in the tournament in 14 years.
Playing in the Southland conference opens up several instate rivalries for the school, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi - UT Arlington - UT San Antonio and Lamar all share the same home state of Texas. The rivalries in the Southland can be considered just as heated as those in the Big Twelve, the fight for state power amongst the small schools grows and elevates especially when tournament time draws near and the opportunity for a small shot at a little bit of the national spotlight being shined upon their school.
Expectations aren't high, the situation is dire, such that they couldn't attract any coaching talent aside from an unproven college graduate. There is a lot of work to be done, Texas State needs to emerge from the shadows.
Comment