As a reporter, occasional color commentator and basketball fan, I often find it hard to distinguish between being a fan or an unbiased journalist. Regardless, the Salukis are setting a new standard in terms of mid-major programs (programs with less scholarship funding and fewer big-name recruits than larger universities).

But despite the mid-major tag, the Salukis have become a special basketball program over the past four years. As of Feb. 26, the Salukis have won 101 games, ranking eighth in the nation over the past four years just below some college powerhouses like Kentucky, Illinois, Kansas and Duke. Just think about the numbers. After last week’s victory over Wichita State, the Dawgs captured their fourth consecutive Missouri Valley Conference championship. That’s four rings in four years – impressive no matter what sport or conference. The last team in the MVC to do that was Cincinnati from 1958 to 1963. To make it more impressive, the players have been coached by three different coaches in four years.

Chris Lowery, who is the first black basketball coach in school history, has done a great job of inheriting the program and continuing to elevate the standard set by Bruce Weber and Matt Painter, not to mention he is one of the five youngest coaches in the nation and leads all first-year head coaches in victories with 25.

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As for the players, you have to begin with seniors Darren Brooks and Stetson Hairston. The two have done nothing but win basketball games since they stepped on campus and have created a winning tradition at Southern unmatched by any Salukis of the past. As their careers come to an end, the two continue to solidify their places in Saluki history with every pass, steal and basket they make.

Brooks is the University’s all-time leader in victories with 104, and Hairston, the only player who started on the Sweet 16 team, is right behind him with 101. Maybe most impressively, the duo has never lost a conference game at SIU Arena in their careers. That’s makes them 36-0, but they probably owe Sly and Josh some thanks for that. Nevertheless, those numbers are incomparable.

Brooks was just named Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the conference for back-to-back seasons, making him the first player in the Missouri Valley conference to ever do so – and there have been some NBA greats, like Doug Collins, Walt Frazier and Larry Bird, in the conference.

Both names are tattooed all over the Saluki record books, and justifiably so. After last week’s game, Lowery said, “This community needs to embrace this team and embrace Darren and Stetson because you may never see anything like them again.” True indeed, Coach.