FRISCO -- Former Abilene Christian University men's basketball standout Ronnie Hearne has been selected to the Southland Conference' all-Decade Men's Basketball Team for the 1970s. The team -- which was announced last week -- includes 20 stars from its member institutions from the 1969-70 season through 1979-80.
A total of 20 student-athletes makeup the 1970s All-Decade Team with at least one player from seven different member institutions during that period.
Hearne is a 1971 graduate of Abilene Christian University, where he was a three-time all conference and four-time Southland Conference first team player for the Wildcats. He was inducted into the ACU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001 for his efforts on the hardwood.
Hearne was a three-time all-conference player in college and ended his career as the second all-time leading scorer. At ACU, Hearne recorded the sixth-best individual season total with 573 points in 1969-70, an average of 22.0 points per game. He racked up 497 points during the 1968-69 season, an average of 19.9 points per game, and 477 points in 1970-71, an average of 19.9 points per outing. Hearne led the Wildcats in scoring his sophomore, junior and senior seasons. He was also captain of his team as a junior and senior.
In addition to the selection of the 20 all-decade players, one of the picks, Dwight “Bo” Lamar (1971-73) of Louisiana-Lafayette, was selected as the player of the decade after he was a two-time all-conference selection, the 1972 Southland Conference Player of the Year and a third-round NBA draft pick by the Detroit Pistons. Lamar led the Ragin' Cajuns to two conference titles, two NCAA tournament appearances and two tournament wins. In 1972, he led the league in scoring with 1,054 points (36.6 points per game), which still ranks as the most points in a single-season in Southland history. Lamar was the conference's most prolific scorers, holding the conference record for most field goals made in a game (23), season (429) and career (1,445) along with the record for most career points (3,493) and highest scoring average (31.2).
The Columbus, Ohio, native still holds four of the top 10 single-game scoring records and two of the top five single-season scoring records. In the Southland's record books, Lamar's name still appears 14 times.
Joining Lamar on the all-1970s team from Louisiana-Lafayette is two-time Southland Player of the Year Andrew Toney (1976-80), a guard from Birmingham, Ala., and Roy Ebron (1971-73), a two-time all-conference center.
Arkansas State is represented by five members during the decade including centers John Belcher (1968-72) and Steve Brooks (1969-74), forward Dan Henderson (1973-77) and guards Allen Pruiett (1969-71) and Dan Scaife (1972-75). Louisiana Tech and McNeese State each have four members on the all-decade team. Mike Green (1971-73), the 1973 Player of the Year, represents the Bulldogs along Mike McConathy (1973-77), the current head coach at Northwestern State, as well as Lanky Wells (1973-77) and Victor King (1975-79). McNeese is headlined by three-time all-conference forward John Rudd (1974-78), Edmond Lawrence (1972-76), David Lawrence (1976-79) and Henry Ray (1972-75). Lamar's Clarence Kea (1976-80) and Luke Adams (1970-72) also earned all-decade recognition, along with Hearne (1968-71) and Texas-Arlington's Jerry Johnson (1972-75).
The 1970s all-decade team consists of 12 NBA draft picks, including three first-round selections, 10 conference players of the year and four three-time first-team all-conference selections.
Lamar's Billy Tubbs, who coached the Cardinals from 1976-80, was selected as the head coach of the decade. Tubbs led them to three conference titles and two NCAA tournament appearances. During the two years in the NCAA tournament, Lamar picked up three wins, including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 1980. As the coach at Lamar, Tubbs posted a 75-46 overall recorded with a 31-9 mark in conference play. He would later return to coach at Lamar from 2004-06.
The Southland Conference will continue to recognize All-Decade Teams through the 2000s during the remainder of the current basketball season.
