The Southeastern Louisiana University men’s basketball team will keep its head man in Hammond, America through the end of the 2027-28 season with head coach David Kiefer agreeing to a contract extension, SLU Director of Athletics Jay Artigues announced.
“We are excited about the direction of our men’s basketball program under the leadership of Coach Kiefer,” said Artigues, “and look forward to continue to strive for excellence on and off the court under his leadership.”
Kiefer is entering his sixth season as the head coach of the Lions, looking to continue a run of success that saw him become the quickest Southeastern head basketball coach to hit 50 wins in the program’s history.
Over the last three seasons, Kiefer has led SLU to a 52-46 record, including 32-18 in Southland Conference games and no less than 10 wins in the SLC in each season over that span, the first coach in program history to have 10 or more wins in-conference in three seasons in a row in the Division I era and will be going for a historic fourth-straight 10-win season in the Southland this season. He’s also enjoyed immense success against Louisiana foes during this time span, holding an 18-11 record against fellow Bayou State institutions the last three years.
Kiefer’s teams have qualified for the Southland Conference Tournament in four of his five seasons at the helm of the program, including a run to the Championship Game in 2022. That 2021-22 season also saw the Lions get an invite to play in The Basketball Classic, SLU’s first postseason tournament experience since the 2017-18 National Invitational Tournament (NIT) appearance under Jay Ladner. The only other postseason experience for Southeastern came when Billy Kennedy’s 2004-05 Lions squad won the Southland Tournament to automatically qualify for the NCAA Division I National Championship Tournament.
“I am excited for our staff and players,” said Kiefer, “that this University believes in us and asked us to be a part pf the present and extend into the future. I can’t thank Jay Artigues and [University President] Dr. [William] Wainwright enough for this opportunity. Together, with our supporters, we will continue to build and grow this program. We are thrilled with what we have been able to accomplish and we are proud of the culture we’ve built. Most importantly, we pride ourselves on the way our players have grown both on and off the court.”
With Kiefer at the helm, Southeastern has two of the biggest comebacks in NCAA history, including the largest comeback inside of five minutes as SLU erased a 20-point deficit in that time frame to defeat Campbell during the 2022-23 season. The other came as the Lions closed a 21-point gap in 16:30 over Nicholls for a senior night win at the end of the 2021-22 season.
Outside of conference, Kiefer’s teams have achieved success, picking up wins at places like Wyoming in 2022-23 and Murray State in 2023-24. In-conference successes include being the lone Southland Conference team to knock off the 2023-24 McNeese squad and being the only SLC team in the regular season to defeat the 2021-22 Nicholls team which included the aforementioned 21-point comeback at home, beating that Colonels team all three times they faced off during the regular season. Both the 2023-24 McNeese and 2021-22 Nicholls teams are generally regarded as the best team in their respective program’s history with both winning the Southland Conference’s regular season championship and earning postseason nods beyond the SLC Tournament.
His 2023-24 squad picked up two wins over teams that would qualify for the NCAA Division I National Championship Tournament, the McNeese squad mentioned above as well as a Grambling State team that would go on to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference and an auto-bid to the Big Dance.
Five different players under Kiefer’s tutelage have been named All-Southland Conference with Jalyn Hinton being named the Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2022. Kiefer joined Billy Kennedy as the only two SLU head coaches to be named SLC Coach of the Year when he was bestowed the award following the 2021-22 season where the Lions went 19-15 overall and 10-4 in the Southland.
Kiefer’s sixth season leading the Lions officially starts on Nov.4th as the Southeastern welcomes in William Carey to Hammond, America to open the 2024-25 season. Tip-off of the season opener against the Crusaders is set for 7:30 p.m. in the University Center.
https://lionsports.net/news/2024/9/24/mens-basketball-southeastern-extends-kiefer-through-2028.aspx
