Green guides Texans back to Hutchinson

Green guides Texans back to Hutchinson
March 16, 2012
LEVELLAND - Twelfth year Texan head basketball coach Steve Green has guided his team back to the NJCAA National tournament in Hutchinson, Kan. for the first time since South Plains won it all in 2008. The Texans advanced thanks to an 84-74 victory over Howard College in the Region 5 Championship game Sunday, March 11.

The NJCAA No. 1 ranked South Plains College Texans (32-0) will return to the hardwood Tuesday, March 20, 2012 when they take on East Mississippi CC at 10 a.m. in the first round of the NJCAA tournament at the Hutchinson Sports Arena in Hutchinson, Kan.

Live video of the action can accessed at www.njcaa.org. KLVT Radio will carry a live feed of the games on KLVT 1230 AM and www.klvtradio.com.

Fans are invited to come out to the Texan Dome to wish the top-ranked and undefeated Texans luck and send them off before they depart at 12 p.m. Sunday, March 18.


This marks the sixth Regional championship Green has won as a head coach at the NJCAA level. He won regional titles coaching Howard (1990-91), Midland (1993-94) and this is his fourth time to win the Region 5 championship and advance to the NJCAA tournament as head coach of the Texans, doing it also in 2001, 2002, and 2008.

Green's 2012 Texan team has made history with the first undefeated regular season in school history and is currently on a 32 game winning streak, breaking 29 game streaks in 1991 and 2002. Coincidentally, it was Green's Howard Hawks that kept Ron Mayberry's 1991 squad from staying undefeated and reaching their 30th straight win in the regular season finale.

Overall, Green sports a record a 452-126 as a head coach and is three wins shy of his 300thvictory as head coach of the Texans. Green is the all-time wins leader at South Plains with a record of 297-83.

The Texans are slated to take on the fifteenth-ranked team in the NJCAA and winners of the last week's Region 15 tournament. East Mississippi enters with a record of 23-4 with their losses coming to Shelton State, Coahoma, Pearl River, and No. 2 ranked Northwest Florida State.

If the Texans are victorious against East Mississippi, they will then face the winner of a top-10 showdown of No. 3 Monroe College (N.Y.) vs No. 7 Indian Hills CC (IA) Wednesday at 6 p.m.

The top-ranked and undefeated Texans have recently claimed WJCAC and Region 5 championships and look to continue their school record winning streak. No team has gone undefeated and claimed the NJCAA championship since Indian Hills in 1998.