Cowboys Go Dancing

From the Poke Press Special Game Day Edition

Junior Christian Shumate, whose Shu-slams have delighted Cowboys fans this season, said the team is looking forward to making the McNeese community proud today. 

The No. 12-seed Cowboys will face No. 5 Gonzaga at 6:25 p.m. in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship tournament in Salt Lake City. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:25 p.m. CT at the Delta Center and will broadcast live on TBS. Westwood One will also carry the game live on Sirius channel 211 and XM Radio channel 204.  

Shumate and teammate Shahada Wells, a graduate transfer from Texas Christian University, spoke to reporters at a press conference Wednesday. 

“You dream of a moment like this all the time,” said Shumate, the Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Year. “We want to do more than just be here. That feels good, but I’m sure it will feel even better winning.” 

The team has spent the week in Salt Lake City preparing for the matchup, their first against an AP-ranked opponent this year. Gonzaga is ranked No. 18 in the Associated Press Poll, falling one spot after a loss in the West Coast Conference championship game to rival St. Mary’s. 

McNeese received six votes in the AP Poll, the most in school history. 

McNeese men’s basketball has a long lists of firsts and records this season, and McNeese Executive Vice President Wade Rousse said he sees that as a benefit to the university as a whole. 

“It’s about community engagement and the student experience,” Rousse said. “That has a positive impact on student enrollment. We’ve got to figure out ways to differentiate ourselves.” 

Rousse said the culture building around the team’s success contributes to the growth of the university, which is still recovering from the combined impacts of the COVID pandemic, two major hurricanes, an ice storm and a 1,000-year flood. 

At an open practice Wednesday, the team practiced on the tournament court for 45 minutes under the eye of head coach Will Wade, who is making his second appearance at the tournament. His first was with Virginia Commonwealth University in 2017. 

A small cadre of fans in McNeese blue and gold clapped and swayed along to Joli Blon over the Delta Center’s sound system at the end of the practice.  

Wade said the Cowboys’ biggest challenge in this evening’s game is Gonzaga’s speed and size.  

“We don’t have time in the tournament setting like this to adjust to their speed or we’ll be down quick,” he said during the Wednesday press conference. “Their three-man is bigger than our center. We’ve got to be able to find a way to try to get our quickness in the game as best we can .” 

Wade described junior Javohn Garcia as a steady player for the Cowboys and sophomore DJ Richards Jr. as a sure shooter for the Cowboys offense. He said he was surprised neither man was recognized on the all-league team. Garcia and Richards both scored 11.4 points per game this season. 

He said recruiting Wells to the team has also been key to the Cowboys’ success. 

Although McNeese is one of only four teams in the nation with 30 or more wins, coming in to the tournament with a better record than Gonzaga’s 25-7, it’s only the team’s third trip to the NCAA tournament and the first in 22 years.  

Wells, who was named Southland Conference Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, has tournament experience from his time at Texas Christian University, which lost to eventual Elight Eight participant Gonzaga in the second round last year. Wade said Wells is already a leader in the Cowboys locker room, and he has a little more of a voice this week. 

Both players and Wade said they appreciated the support the McNeese community has shown for the team.  

“We want to give back to them,” Shumate said of the fans and community who have rallied around the team this season, resulting in record-breaking crowds at the Legacy Center. “We want to give back to them. It’s good to have a community behind us like that. We want to give them something to be proud of.” 

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