Selber’s Look Into the History of UTPA Basketball
Most people don’t realize just how good the UTPA Broncs men’s basketball team has been over the years.
Dr. Greg Selber isn’t most people.
Through his new book, Bronc Ball: The History of Basketball at Pan American, Selber explores the history of UTPA basketball, dating back to not only before it was UTPA, but before it was a four-year university.
Basketball originally started at what was then known as Edinburg Junior College in 1927. The Pan American College Broncs saw a tremendous amount of success in the 1960s, winning the 1963 NAIA Championship and finishing runner up 1964. The Broncs were consistently in the post-season, including the 1968 NCAA Division II Tournament. This was at a time, as Selber explains, when the Divisions weren’t quite what they are now and the NAIA was a strong competitor to the NCAA. The main difference was that colleges and universities competed separately, so winning an NAIA National Championship then was incredibly impressive, much more so than it is today.
Selber not only guides readers on a journey through the history of Pan American basketball, including both the successes and failures, but he pauses every now and then to look behind the statistics and the game stories to look at the people who made Broncs Basketball what it was then and it today.
Many of those people were getting opportunities that they wouldn’t get anywhere else as Pan American was among the first institutions to integrate.
Available as a hard paperback for $39.95, Bronc Ball went on sale launched on Saturday at the homecoming tailgate party outside the UTPA Fieldhouse with an autograph session including members of the 1963 Championship Team and current players.
Bronc Ball can currently be purchased online through Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Bronc-History-College-Basketball-American/dp/0938738259/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361299955&sr=8-1&keywords=Bronc+Ball
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Selber’s Look Into the History of UTPA Basketball
Most people don’t realize just how good the UTPA Broncs men’s basketball team has been over the years.
Dr. Greg Selber isn’t most people.
Through his new book, Bronc Ball: The History of Basketball at Pan American, Selber explores the history of UTPA basketball, dating back to not only before it was UTPA, but before it was a four-year university.
Basketball originally started at what was then known as Edinburg Junior College in 1927. The Pan American College Broncs saw a tremendous amount of success in the 1960s, winning the 1963 NAIA Championship and finishing runner up 1964. The Broncs were consistently in the post-season, including the 1968 NCAA Division II Tournament. This was at a time, as Selber explains, when the Divisions weren’t quite what they are now and the NAIA was a strong competitor to the NCAA. The main difference was that colleges and universities competed separately, so winning an NAIA National Championship then was incredibly impressive, much more so than it is today.
Selber not only guides readers on a journey through the history of Pan American basketball, including both the successes and failures, but he pauses every now and then to look behind the statistics and the game stories to look at the people who made Broncs Basketball what it was then and it today.
Many of those people were getting opportunities that they wouldn’t get anywhere else as Pan American was among the first institutions to integrate.
Available as a hard paperback for $39.95, Bronc Ball went on sale launched on Saturday at the homecoming tailgate party outside the UTPA Fieldhouse with an autograph session including members of the 1963 Championship Team and current players.
Bronc Ball can currently be purchased online through Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Bronc-History-College-Basketball-American/dp/0938738259/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361299955&sr=8-1&keywords=Bronc+Ball
