By LARRY HYMEL, Journal Sports
NATCHITOCHES –Thursday’s annual press conference that launches the Louisiana Hall of Fame Induction Celebration was loaded with LSU athletes – more than ever before.
This year’s group of five former Tigers — six if you count LSU graduate Claney Duplechin — had an unusual twist.
As usual, there was an LSU football player in the group – two actually, Kyle Williams and the late Eric Andolsek.
The twist came with two female Tiger superstars, who represented the first players of their respective sports at LSU to earn LSHOF enshrinement.
Toss in a one-year football player who became a rodeo legend, and Duplechin, who didn’t compete at LSU, but since gained his distinction as a prep cross country and track coach, and you have a Tiger-heavy 12-person Class of 2022.
Dynamite gymnastics star Susan Jackson was joined by softball pitcher Britni Sneed Newman representing women’s sports from LSU, speaking Thursday on the 50th anniversary of Congress passing Title IX laws opening opportunities for women.
The Purple and Gold group also includes rodeo star Steve Duhon, who played one year of football before starting on his road to future stardom. Add in Duplechin, the most successful cross country coach in Louisiana history, and you have a unique bunch.
Another fun fact: Jackson and Sneed-Newman are following their LSU coaches into the Hall of Fame.
Jackson, who was a 12-time gymnastics All-American for 2017 LSHOF inductee D-D Breaux, has been active in Hall of Fame Foundation events since Breaux’s induction while living in Louisiana before returning to her home state of Texas in January.
The only three-time NCAA individual champion for LSU’s powerhouse gymnastics program, Jackson said her stay in Louisiana was awesome. “The love in Louisiana was inspiring,” she said. “Performing for a coach like D-D Breaux was awesome.”
Jackson said “they say you can take the girl out of Texas, but you can’t take the Texas out of the girl. Louisiana is something special. It’s half of me now.”
She joins her coach and former Centenary standout Kathy Johnson-Clarke, a Centenary superstar and captain of the 1984 USA Olympic team, representing their sport in the LSHOF.
Two-time All-America pitcher Sneed-Newman is another transplanted Texan. She was originally recruited to LSU by Glenn Moore, who has since been her boss as she works as associate head coach and pitching coach at Baylor. Moore took that job after her sophomore year and she finished starring at LSU, as a four-time first-team All-SEC pick, under another Hall of Famer, Yvette Girouard.
Asked about her biggest thrill, she didn’t hesitate. “Making it to the World Series. We got beat in the regionals the year before by Southern Mississippi (led by last year’s Hall of Fame inductee Courtney Blades Rogers). It was a goal we accomplished as a team.”
Accompanied by her mom and her 7-year-old son Brooks, she was grateful for the attention and quality of college softball, and optimistic that a successful pro league could thrive soon.
“I’m really happy about where the sport of softball is going. It’s growing every day,” she added. She also spoke about being a mother and coach. “Both are great, and I’ve been fortunate to do both, and Coach Moore makes it a priority for all of us at Baylor.”
She credits Girouard for laying the foundation for LSU’s program. “It was great playing for a legend,” she said.
Duhon was a unique story. Despite an impressive true freshman season as an LSU linebacker, and the thrill of playing in an energetic Tiger Stadium, he gave up football after one year to concentrate on the avenue that earned him Hall of Fame accolades.
He doesn’t look back at that decision. “I learned (rodeo) techniques from my dad, but with my size (he can match up physically with football inductees Kyle Williams and Jahri Evans), I had an advantage other cowboys typically didn’t.
“The biggest thing I learned in life through rodeo and athletics is ‘never give up.’ ”
His fondest LSU memory was a game against Alabama. “The team came out of the tunnel, and I saw all those people. I just stood in awe and then finally realized I was supposed to follow my teammates on the field.
“This is the icing on the cake,” Duhon said about his induction. “I started out young in the rodeo business and loved traveling around the country competing.
“My dad was very instrumental in my career and helped me get a start in bulldogging at an early age,” Duhon said. “It was not an overnight success. It was following a pathway since I was a boy and being very dedicated and having a great family supporting me.”
Williams, a native of Ruston who is coaching at his high school, said it was an honor “to be representing Ruston, LSU and the state of Louisiana in the Hall of Fame.”
He related a pair of NFL feats rare for a defensive lineman.
“In one game a ball popped up in the air, I caught it on my fingertips and fell into the end zone — touchdown,” he said. “Also, I had a chance to run with the ball, from the 1, and score in a game that sent us to the playoffs for the first time in forever. All I had to do was fall forward, but it sure was fun.”
Photo by CHRIS REICH, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame