Southern University men's basketball will honor the legacy of former men's basketball star and head coach Tommy Green during Saturday's home against Alcorn State in the F.G. Clark Activity Center.
The ceremony will be held during halftime of the men's basketball game, which is set for a 5 p.m. tipoff. Southern and Alcorn State enter the Jan. 30 contest tied in second place in the Southwestern Athletic Conference standings and have combined to win 11 consecutive games in league play.
Green starred at Southern as a four-year starter under head coach Carl Stewart from 1974-1978. During his career at Southern, Green scored over 1,000 points and helped guide the Jaguars to a 23-5, 9-3 record as a co-captain as a senior in 1977-78. The Jaguars finished as the SWAC regular season co-champions and Green earned an All-SWAC selection. For his career, Green shot just under 53 percent from the field and 74 percent from the free throw line.
The McKinley High product was a second-round draft pick of the New Orleans Jazz where he played for three season before returning to Baton Rouge to join the high school coaching ranks. Green was one of four Jaguars from the '78 team who were selected in the NBA Draft.
Green went on to spend several season as legendary head coach Ben Jobe's top assistant and was on the coaching staff that witnessed Southern upset No. 3 seed Georgia Tech in the first round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament in Tucson, Ariz.
In 1996, Green was named Jobe's successor and took over as head coach for the Jaguars where he compiled a 74-64 overall record in five seasons. Green's 1999 and 2000 teams finished as the league's tournament runner-up. Current head coach and interim athletic director Roman Banks served as a member of Green's coaching staff along with Earnest Hamilton and credits the Baton Rouge native for having a direct impact on Banks' coaching career as one of his closest mentors and friends.
Green, who is a 1991 member of the SU Sports Hall of Fame, passed away in is survived by his wife, Sabrina, and their two children, Lesley and Ikie.
Fans are urged to keep currents with the SU men's basketball program by following. The Jaguars on Twitter at @JaguarHoops.
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