photo caption: Northwestern State basketball coach Mike McConathy (center, third from left) talks with former NSU baskeball players (l-r) Richard Taylor, Brentt Shropshire, Pooh Davis and Kenton Fisher. Photo by Melinda Martinez/mmartinez@thetowntalk.com

Column courtesy of Jeff Matthews, Alexandria Town Talk - jmatthews@thetowntalk.com

Somewhere along the line of Mike McConathy turning a downtrodden Northwestern State program into a champion, folks figured out it was about more than basketball.

Nowhere was that on display better than Saturday, when former players from McConathy's 10 years at NSU got together for a reunion lunch at Prather Coliseum.

"I don't know that I've had a prouder day in my coaching career," said longtime assistant Mark Slessinger.

Including conference championships and NCAA Tournament wins?

"Yes," Slessinger said without hesitation.

Indeed, in Saturday's celebration graduation rates and solid citizenship were feted as much or more than success on the court.

Make no mistake, there has been plenty of winning since McConathy came back to Natchitoches in 1999.

Among the highlights of McConathy's first decade in charge of the Demons are:

two 20-win seasons. The last one before McConathy was 1974.

two Southland Conference championships and one SLC East Division championship, the first conference titles for NSU since 1960.

six Southland Conference Tournament title game appearances.

the first two NCAA Tournament appearances in school history.

two NCAA Tournament wins, including the buzzer-beating 2006 victory over Iowa that earned the team and the university national recognition.

As impressive as those feats are, though, they take a backseat to what those present Saturday say the program is really about -- concepts McConathy has stressed such as sublimating personal goals for the good of the group, taking care of the people who take care of you, treating people the way you would want to be treated and being a man of your word.

"We've still got that family atmosphere," said Chris Thompson, who played on McConathy's first NCAA Tournament team in 2000 and is in his first year as head basketball coach at Calvary Baptist in Shreveport. "The guys who come through here, we all still stay in touch. We're a family."

The reunion was set up so recent players could "see each other and be a family again," Slessinger said. It was also, McConathy said, an opportunity to further tie recent players into the program, with the idea that they will continue to be a part of it and give back.

"The way we play, everybody has a part, everybody contributes," said McConathy, who uses a rotation of 10 or more players. "One night it's going to be one guy, the next night it's going to be another guy. I think that culminated today, you see that everybody is a part of this."