Grambling hopes 2015 game vs. Tech is start of future relationship

Grambling and Louisiana are scheduled to meet next November for just the third time in program history, a number second-year Grambling coach Shawn Walker hopes to change.

The Tigers will host the Bulldogs as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational tournament, a five-team multi-tournament event that also includes Ohio State, Memphis and Texas-Arlington.

"It's going to be good for us," Walker said Monday. "It has a dollar value for us as well. We'll be able to play at home, but we're hoping people at Tech will come over and watch the game."

The game is tentatively set for Nov. 24, 2015, although that date is subject to change. The remaining dates for Grambling and Tech against Ohio State, Memphis and UT-Arlington are still being worked out. Tech will host UT-Arlington and travel to Ohio State and Memphis (Dec. 1), while Grambling will play road games against those three teams.

With or without the tournament, Grambling and Tech, which played twice back in 2009 as part of a home-and-home, were bound to play at some point in the future.

Walker said he had tentative plans with former Tech coach Mike White for a future three-game series — two games in Ruston and one at Grambling.

However, the Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational trumped that.

In the future, Walker hopes to hammer out a deal to bring the two schools back together, even if that means just a scrimmage or exhibition game.

"In my talks with our administration, we basically have a high-major program five miles away that we ought to try to play yearly that doesn't make us have to go on an airplane and travel a boatload of miles to play," Walker said.

"It would be good for both institutions. That's my vision. I'm hoping we can get to a point where we can play Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana Tech and Northwestern State and all those surrounding schools because I think it's good for Grambling in order to make our program more viable."

Walker's first order of business is to build a relationship with new Tech coach Eric Konkol, who was introduced as White's successor last week.

Konkol is new to scheduling at Tech, but is certainly open to exploring the relationship with Grambling and Walker once he gets his feet wet in Ruston.

Walker never got a chance to meet White, so he's eager to get to know Konkol in what Walker described as a relationship that "needs to happen."

"I'm hoping it works," Walker said. "Having coaches so close to us in the area, we'd like to have a sense of relationships with their staffs, holistically. At this point, I don't see any reason we shouldn't play."

Some fans at either Tech or Grambling might wonder how the Tigers, who went 2-27 in 2015, landed a home game.

Walker referred to it as the luck of the game. The Basketball Hall of Fame, not individual schools, make up the schedules for the NCAA exempt tournament.

"We were going to get a home game. That was a guarantee," Walker said. "It just so happens to be Tech."

Grambling will end up netting around $100,000 for the four games and hopes to receive a boost from the marking and residual effects from home game with Tech.

Grambling has other non-conference games lined up against Marquette, Virginia Tech and East Carolina. The only other non-conference game set for Tech is Southern.

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