NACOGDOCHES, Texas (KTRE) – Stephen F. Austin basketball fans gathered at the William R. Johnson Coliseum for the annual Meet the Jacks event, getting their first look at the 2025-26 Lumberjack and Lady Jack basketball teams.
The event drew a large crowd less than two weeks before the season opener, with both the Lady Jacks and Lumberjacks expressing appreciation for the community support that fills the Coliseum throughout the season.
“This community is everything to Lady Jack basketball,” Bishop said. “They make us have a home court advantage. We were 13-1 a year ago at home.”
Bishop noted the visible community support extends beyond game days.
“I love the fact that I can go to Chick-fil-A on a game day and 60 to 85% of the people in there are gonna have on purple ‘cause they’re planning on coming to the game later on that day,” the coach said.
And the ‘Jacks treat the community support as a two-way street.
“We try and do our best to get out in the community and show them as much love as they show us,” Bishop said. “It’s nothing like coming down that tunnel to the William R. Johnson Coliseum and having a whole bunch of people out there screaming and yelling and making the Sawmill a really tough place to play.”
And new Lumberjack head coach Matt Braeuer got to see the support that helped bring him to Nacogdoches up close and personal.
“Nacogdoches as a whole loves SFA, and so that’s really what drew me to this job,” he said. “My interest here is just how important SFA is to the people here and not just basketball. It’s football, it’s academics, it’s everything. It’s the local restaurants. It’s really cool the environment here.”
He described Nacogdoches as a supportive community.
“The community here is very tight knit and they support each other,” he said.
Both teams will open their regular season at the Coliseum in a doubleheader. The Lady Jacks tip off against Nelson University at 11 a.m., followed by the Lumberjacks against Millsaps College at 2 p.m.
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