The Grambling State Tigers won the NAIA National championship tournament in 1961 , beating Georgetown College ( Ky. ) . The victory made Grambling State the first and only college basketball program in the state to win a national basketball championship . In the following years , the Tigers made it to the NAIA Final Four , and placed 3rd in 1963 , and 1966 , defeating Fort Hays State ( Kan. ) and Norfolk State ( Va. ) respectively . The Tigers appeared in the NAIA National Tournament eight times from 1959 to 1971 , with a total NAIA National Tournament record of 19 – 7 . Former NBA star Charles Hardnett played for the National Championship Tiger team . The team has never played in the NCAA Division I Men 's Basketball Tournament . In 2013 , the Tigers went 0-28 , with only one single-digit loss ( an 8-point loss to Alabama A&M in the SWAC Tournament ) . Grambling State 's most popular and highest attended basketball rivalries are against the Southern Jaguars and Prairie View A&M Panthers
SWAC Tournament
2013 SWAC Men's Basketball Tournament
Grambling State Tigers