By Nick Eatman

When Southwestern Oklahoma head coach Todd Thurman announced last week that he would be stepping down after the season to take over solely as the school's athletic director, it appeared that day would be coming sooner than later.

            While that might be the case, his players are doing their part to extend his coaching career as long as possible.

            The Bulldogs entered the Lone Star Conference as the No. 3 seed in the North and have been an underdog in every game they've played. But that hasn't stopped SWOSU from making a serious run in the tournament, leaving the school just one win away from the first LSC tournament title in school history.

            For the players, they have plenty of incentives to beat Midwestern State in Sunday's championship game. Not only would it give SWOSU an automatic berth to the South Central Regional tournament, and just extend the collegiate careers of five seniors, but it would also keep Thurman's current coaching tenure alive as well.

            "We really just want to win for coach," said senior guard Abdullah Lawal, the two-time LSC North Defensive Player of the Year.  "He's really a special person for a lot of the seniors. And we want to keep it going, for a lot of reasons."

            While Thurman's announcement came to a surprise to some, his players had an idea earlier in the season.

            "We kind of knew the whole year," said senior forward Jordan Frosch. "We've been around him for a while so he doesn't have a problem telling us stuff that no one else really knows. He didn't come out and tell us straight up, but we kind of got the hint. And then he told us during the season and we pretty much knew because of all the stress that he had, working two jobs."

            Thurman, who took over as basketball head coach in 2005, has decided to retain as the school's AD and will likely head the committee to find his replacement.

            In the meantime, his players hope that day doesn't come that soon.

            Senior guard Clarke Hale, whose game-winner of Central Oklahoma in Saturday's semifinals put the Bulldogs into the final round, said if it weren't for Thurman, he probably wouldn't have continued his career some three years ago.

            "I started my career at Louisiana Tech and went to a Junior College the following year," Hale said. "I really didn't like basketball anymore and it wasn't much fun. I wasn't going to play anymore. Coach Thurman called me and told me he wanted me to come see the school and come with him. I went out there and Coach Thurman just has a charm about him. When you talk to him and you're around him, you realize that it's a guy you want to play for."

            Thurman found both Frosch and Lawal as teammates on a Fort Worth shootout tournament, which also featured Midwestern State point guard Earl Rabb. Thurman was able to convince both Frosch and Lawal to come to Southwestern and they have been forever grateful.

            "He got me here and I really didn't think I wanted to play in Division II," said Lawal, who originally signed with the University of Wyoming. "But I bought into it and I'm glad I'm here."

            Lawal is the Lone Star Conference all-time leader in steals and led the NCAA Division II by averaging 4.4 steals per game this season. As for Frosch, Thurman convinced him to come to SWOSU despite suffering a major knee injury at a junior college.

            "He was recruiting both of us," Frosch said of Lawal and himself. "I told him that I wasn't sure about my knee. But he told me to come on and I think it's worked out pretty well."

            For most of the seniors, they had only defeated Central Oklahoma once (2006), so knocking off one of the top teams in the conference was a huge win. But they don't seem satisfied yet.

            "We've talked about this for three years - we wanted to make a big run," said Hale. "It makes it that much sweeter that it's his last go-around."