Great eras begin with great firsts and the 1994-95 Howard Payne University men’s basketball team would be the first of a run for HPU that would define that decade and era of HPU men’s basketball.
Finishing with a 12-13 overall record, and 9-1 in the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (TIAA), the Yellow Jackets under head coach Charles Pattillo won the 1995 TIAA Championship and secured a bid to the NAIA Division II national championship tournament in Nampa, Idaho.
The national tournament appearance was the first for the Yellow Jackets basketball program since the late 70s.
Falling to #1 Northern State University 90-78 in the opening round of the NAIA Division II National Tournament, if #32-seeded Howard Payne, which led by as much as 3 in the second half, had beaten the #1-seeded Northern State, it would have been the biggest upset in NAIA Division II Tournament history
The more significate a season the more it impacts those outside the team. My wife Torri was a member of the HPU cheerleading squad and she and her fellow teammates talk of some of their fondest memories in college being the trip they took to Nampa, Idaho for the national tournament.
Throughout that season several HPU players have memorable performances but Danny Wynn and Edward ‘Big” Randle would both be named TIAA Players of the Week during the season.
The Yellow Jackets carried an eight-game winning streak going into the national tournament. HPU’s last loss that season was a 92-85 overtime decision at McMurry on Jan. 28th, 1995. That season, the Yellow Jackets were 10-1 in games in which they led at halftime.
Danny Wynn led the Jackets on the year with (448 points) 17.8 ppg followed by Edward ‘Big” Randle with (238 points) 14.0 ppg. Constine “Cornbread” Jack also averaged in double-digits at (183 points) 10.8 ppg
The leading rebounder was Edward Randle at (121) 7.1 rpg, and leading in assists was Nadir Dalleh at (88) 3.5 apg.
Those receiving All-TIAA honors were Danny Wynn – 1st Team All-TIAA, Edward Randle – 1st Team All-TIAA, and Nadir Dalleh – HM All-TIAA.
The Howard Payne men’s basketball team members that year included- Kelly Clark, Ryan Tomlin, Derrick Davis, Nadir Dalleh, Edward Randle, Danny Wynn, Steve Lefleur, Neal Rundell, Jeff Jenkins, Jow Bruner, Tremenio Yates, Constine Jack, and David Canfield. Staff included head coach Charles Pattillo and assistant coached Matt Wilkins and Jason Petty, manager Jeremy Bailey.