#SHSU Sets The Bar To A Championship Level
By Cheval John
When Bobby Williams took over as the athletic director 17 years ago at Sam Houston State, his vision was to make the department a first class organization that wins championships and excel in the classroom.
Those goals came to fruition and then some.
SHSU has won a combined 23 Southland Conference (SLC) titles, 17 NCAA playoff appearances that includes the school’s first ever national title at the Division I level (SHSU Bowling 2014) and two consecutive Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Finalist (Football 2011, 2012) and four Southland Commissioner’s Cups (2005, 2006, 2007, 2013).
In addition, the combined GPA for entire athletic department for the 2013-14 school is 3.04.
The department have extended a new tradition for the “student-athletes” called, “The Night of Champions,” an event that is as close to the ESPY’s that highlights the teams that have either won a SLC title or in the case of the bowling team, a national championship; spotlight Bearkats who have made it the national spotlight; and the achievements in the classroom.
Even SLC commissioner Tom Burnett was there to present former Bearkat running back and future NFL draftee Timothy Flanders with the award of becoming the first Southland player to rush for over 5,000 career yards in the FCS and setting the career rushing mark in the conference.
Of course, they deserve the recognition because they have brought the city of Huntsville a first-class athletic events that is as close to a major professional sport franchise.
What I mean is that cities (with the exclusion of Green Bay) that want to be the home of a professional sports organization, must have a strong tax base in order to build a stadium; Have a significant amount of people (300,000 and over) in order to support the giant salaries and have a strong media presence.
That poses a strong problem for small cities/towns like Huntsville because they don’t have those elements.
That’s where college sports comes into play because all of the amenities like maintenence of facilities, etc. are the responsibilities of the athletic departments of universities that sponsors collegiate athletics.
With universities being tax exempt, it makes it easier for these smaller cities to focus on other matters.
In the case of Huntsville, Texas, they have gotten more recognition over the last three years because of the SHSU’s football team making consecutive runs at the FCS playoffs (2011, 2012, 2013) and the bowling team national title win against University of Nebraska.’
Members of the SHSU Bowling Team with former Bearkat running back Timothy Flanders.
Those runs gave SHSU and the city of Huntsville, national exposure when they were featured on the ESPN family of networks that brought great name recognition like the major schools that always get the national spotlight during the regular season.
Mr. Williams can say that his vision came to fruition.
They are all champions because of the way they carried themselves in the midst of the pressures of being a full-time student and a full-time athlete.
