Texas Southern Basketball Team Voted No. 1 in SWAC, Receive NCAA Tourney Rings
The Texas Southern Men's Basketball team has already had quite a week before the start of the 2021-22 season.
In March 2021, the Tigers claimed the 2021 Cricket SWAC Men's Basketball Tournament Championship by defeating Prairie View A&M 80-61 and entered the NCAA tournament field.
Texas Southern shocked Mount St. Mary's 60-52 in a "First Four" upset win in the NCAA tournament. Unfortunately, the Tigers fell to Michigan 66-82 in the second round.
The TSU Men's Basketball program considered their performance and tremendous win and expected continued success this season.
SWAC pre-season voters agree and predict Texas Southern will win the SWAC. TSU received eleven first-place votes over Prairie View's nine first-place votes. The Panthers are second, followed by Jackson State, Grambling, and Southern to round out the Top 5 in the conference.
2021-22 SWAC Men’s Basketball Predicted Order of Finish
- Texas Southern- 237 (11)
- Prairie View A&M- 204 (9)
- Jackson State- 202
- Grambling State- 168
- Southern- 167 (1)
- Florida A&M- 138
- Alcorn State- 128
- Alabama State- 125
- Alabama A&M- 112 (1)
- Bethune-Cookman- 97
- Arkansas-Pine Bluff- 68
- Mississippi Valley State- 36
First place votes listed in parenthesis.
Two Tigers, John Walker III and Justin Hopkins, were voted to the Preseason All-SWAC team:
TIGERS RECEIVE NCAA RINGS
Texas Southern received their NCAA Tournament rings this week.
TSU RECORD-SETTING APR
In addition, the TSU Athletic department announced its highest APR for their student-athletes in the school's history.
Credit: Texas Southern Athletic Dept.
Announcement
The Texas Southern Department of Athletics continues to make academic history as the department has once again surpassed its previous APR benchmark with a program-record score of 974.
The APR measures eligibility, graduation and retention each semester or academic term and provides a clear picture of the academic performance for each team in every sport. All teams must meet an academic threshold of 930 to qualify for the postseason and can face penalties for continued low academic performance. TSU posted a department-wide score of 965 during the last NCAA APR report.
The Department of Athletics will honor all of its student-athletes for their efforts Friday afternoon at 12 p.m. inside Durley Stadium with a reception.