Caddo Parish Parks and Recreation will host the Robert Williams Basketball Camp, Monday, July 8th from 9 am – 4 pm at LSUS. The camp is free and open to K-8 girls and boys.
Camp instruction will cover the basic fundamentals of basketball in a safe and fun environment.
NBA Portland Trail Blazers player and Shreveport native Robert Williams will be present throughout the duration of the camp to provide on court instruction to all camp attendees.
Hydration drinks and lunch will be provided by Raising Cane’s and the Caddo Parish Commission.
Camp slots are limited. To register online visit caddoparks.org. For more information, contact Mary Murphy at (318)-220-6284.
Louisiana Music Hall of Fame free entertainment. Some of the greatest sports stars Louisiana has ever produced. Beautiful fireworks, with a sports music bed.
It’s free, this evening, on the Natchitoches riverbank stage, in a cornerstone event of the 2024 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Celebration.
The Rockin’ River Fest Concert, presented by Rapides Regional Medical Center, runs from 6 p.m. to 10:30. You are invited to join the party. At no charge!
At 9:15, members of the LSHOF Class of 2024 will be introduced on stage, and celebrated with 10-minute fireworks show set to sports-themed music over Cane River Lake. Then music resumes for another hour.
There will be food and beverage vendors on the riverfront. Front Street’s always fun watering holes/restaurants are just a few steps away.
It’s family friendly. A free interactive kid’s zone presented by Louisiana Propane Dealers under the Church Street Bridge will include basketball, football, golf, and science games for all ages to enjoy.
Johnny Earthquake and the Moondogs have been a staple of the concert since it began in 2018, but now as Louisiana Music Hall of Fame members, the popular group gets to headline the musical card. The Moondogs have entertained across the south and are set for another July 3-4 gig on Orange Beach during the Independence Day festivities at the Gulf Coast’s unofficial capital.
Cranking up the party this evening at 6 will be Coteau Grove, an energetic and entertaining south Louisiana band with a wide range of sounds and its own Louisiana Music Hall of Fame recognition.
For a preview, visit the bands’ websites – TheMoondogs.com and CoteauGrove.com – and see and hear what’s going to be on the riverbank stage free of charge this evening in Natchitoches.
If you want to beat the summer heat and enjoy a tasty collection of Louisiana foods and specialty refreshments, there are just a few $100 tickets remaining to join the VIP Taste of Tailgating presented by Hancock Whitney. That party is headquartered inside Mama’s Oyster House, The Blues Room and Papa’s Bar and Grill at 608 Front Street. To get set up, call LSHOF operations manager Ronnette Pellegrin at 318-332-8539 – none will be on sale this evening.
That party runs from 7-10 p.m. in the air-conditioned comfort of Mama’s Oyster House and Blues Room that will provide exclusive access to the 2024 Induction Class.
Saturday’s Round Table Lunch at Riverside Reserve also still has a handful of seats available – call Mrs. Pellegrin at 318-332-8539.
Saturday evening’s 2024 Induction Reception and Ceremony are already sold out. A crowd of nearly 800 patrons will attend the ceremony.
You can watch live coverage free beginning at 6 Saturday evening on the LPB.org website.
Work crews with Bossier Parish Public Utilities continue to flush the water lines for residents who receive water service on the Consolidated Waterworks/Sewerage District 1, previously named the Village Water System, ensuring the highest water quality for use.
Crews flushed lines off Winnfield Road, Ball Road, and the Espanita Subdivision on June 20. Public Works officials say that aggressively flushing the system will help remove discolored water in the lines and aid in locating the issue.
Consolidated Waterworks/Sewerage District 1 of Bossier Parish integrated the Village Water System into the parish in March 2023. This expansion encompassed an area stretching east along U.S. Hwy. 80 from Bellevue Rd. to near the border of Bossier and Webster parishes, incorporating several subdivisions, businesses, and sites of new developments.
When Willie Mays passed away earlier this week, I was reminded of a time I saw him and, even more memorably, a time I didn’t see him.
This may be hard to believe for those who don’t go back that far, but in the late 1960s, there were exhibition games played in Shreveport by Major League Baseball teams. In those days, teams would leave Spring Training and play two or three games in various locations on their way back to their home cities before the start of the season.
In 1967, the Cleveland Indians played the Cincinnati Reds at SPAR Stadium (the predecessor to Fair Grounds Field). I was in attendance that day as a seven-year-old and have a number of stories from that day that I’ll save for another time.
In 1968, the Oakland Athletics played Cincinnati and I was in attendance that day as well. (More stories to tell later but here’s the spoiler alert – I got Joe DiMaggio’s autograph that day).
In 1969, Cleveland came back to SPAR Stadium, this time to play the San Francisco Giants. Sadly, I was not in attendance and here’s why: The fourth grade got in my way.
The first two exhibition games had been played on Saturdays, so that was easy. But the ’69 game was on a Wednesday afternoon. We knew the nuns at St. Joseph probably weren’t going to look too fondly on “Going to See Willie Mays” as an excused absence.
However, the two biggest Mays fans I knew – public school refugees — did finagle their way to SPAR Stadium that day and were treated to hearing this over the PA system: “Leading off and playing center field for the Giants … No. 24 … Willie Mays.”
Think about that for a moment. Right here in Shreveport.
By the way, he wasn’t the only future Hall of Famer in that game. Willie McCovey batted cleanup and Gaylord Perry was the starting pitcher for the Giants.
Willie didn’t waste any time – he swung at the first pitch and flew out to center field — and also took a called third strike to go with two walks in four at bats. He had the third-best day of the three Hall of Famers on the field. McCovey hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and Perry pitched a complete game (kids, ask your parents what that is) in a 9-2 win.
Except it wasn’t really a complete game.
In one of the most Shreveport things ever, the game had to be shortened to seven innings because the bank of lights in left field wouldn’t come on.
Fans of Willie will note an interesting foreshadowing that took place in the exhibition game. Mays, one of the greatest defensive players of all time, made an error when he collided at the fence in right-center field with Bobby Bonds, the Giants’ right fielder (and father of Barry).
One year and eight days later, the same two players would have a similar collision at Candlestick Park that is one of the most famous defensive plays in history.
A crowd estimated at 6,000, including my friends who has escaped public school that day, showed up at SPAR Stadium for the exhibition game. In another try-doing-this-these-days moment, one of them recalled in a text to me how he pulled off one of the greatest moves by a nine-year-old in autograph history.
I remember rehearsing what I would say to Willie if I got the chance. Each inning he would run straight into the dugout. In the 5th, he stopped to tie his shoe and that is when I approached him and told him he was the greatest. He smiled, signed above his picture in the program and then shook my hand … I think mine was the only autograph he signed that day. The day I met Willie Mays remains one of the highlights of my life.
Almost 20 years later, I came face-to-face with Willie Mays when I was covering Spring Training for the Shreveport Captains, the Class AA affiliate of the Giants. Mays had recently been named as Assistant to the General Manager after being out of baseball because of a ruling by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn.
I somehow struck up enough nerve to ask for an interview and he was more than willing to talk. He remembered the exhibition game, especially SPAR Stadium. “That was an old, old park back then,” he said. “I understand you got a new ball park (Fair Grounds Field). Is that other one still around?”
Fast forward that to today and that quote takes on a whole new meaning.
“I’ve got a lot of friends in Shreveport,” he told me. “I used to come there all the time to play ball (in the 1950s).”
I’m sure I asked some other inane questions because all I could think about was I’m actually interviewing Willie Mays.
It was certainly five minutes that I will never forget. My childhood friend had five seconds he will never forget.
AS GOOD AS IT GETS: Basketball superstar Seimone Augustus is going into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this fall, but says being enshrined at home tops her list of honors. (Photo by BRET H. MCCORMICK, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame)
By BRAD WELBORN, Written for the LSWA
NATCHITOCHES – Thursday afternoon’s introductory press conference for the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024 felt like a love letter to the state and its people.
The nine inductees on hand inside the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest Louisiana History Museum recounted the relationships and people that fueled their careers and the pride they feel to represent the place where they rose to prominence in the athletic world.
Regarded as the state’s greatest women’s basketball player of all-time, with credentials that support the claim, Seimone Augustus made a remarkable statement Thursday that was echoed by her fellow Class of 2024 inductees.
A four-time WNBA champion and three-time Olympic gold medal winner, whose statue stands in her hometown outside LSU’s Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Augustus continued her “Hall of Fame year” on Thursday. She enters the Louisiana Sports Hall thius weekend following her Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame induction in April and prior to her October induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.
That last HOF may be considered the “world” hoops hall, but Augustus said as she weighs the accolades coming her way in 2024, being honored by her home state stands above the rest.
“This is the best one,” she said. “Being honored by the people that I know and that I love and those who have watched me since I was knee high. This one means the most because it’s home.”
Augustus credited her family, and many positive influences in Baton Rouge and at LSU, for helping guide her toward greatness.
Influence along those lines also instilled character traits into New Iberia native and McNeese football great Kerry Joseph at a young age that propelled him to legendary status after a 19-year pro career on offense (quarterback and running back) and defense (as a safety) in the NFL, NFL Europe, and including 12 Canadian Football League seasons.
“My mom was an educator and taught me patience,” Joseph said. “My dad pushed me and my brothers to be competitive. We were never going to be outworked. He pushed us every day to be the best and refuse to let the next man take our jobs.”
That patience and drive paid off for Joseph after engineering a comeback win for the Cowboys early in his redshirt freshman season. He never looked back from earning the starting QB job, parlaying his success in Lake Charles into an equally as successful playing career in the NFL and the CFL and to his current role as quarterbacks coach of the Chicago Bears.
“My dad helped me build character and perseverance,” Joseph said. “I just kept working to be the best that I could be. Every time I was told I couldn’t do something, I wanted to prove them wrong. I’ve held on to the saying, ‘never say yes to can’t’. It’s propelled me to the man I am today.”
Augustus, much like Joseph, got her drive, determination and refined her skill set thanks to her father. Helping her with the fundamentals, creating imaginary courts to hone her skills and teaching her how to deal with losses, something she did little of in her career.
The pinnacle came as she took her first step forward representing the USA in the Olympic Games.
“The first time I saw my dad cry was when I made the 2008 Olympic Team in Beijing,” Augustus said. “That was the first goal I had as a basketball player — to be on the U.S. National Team. When I was a kid I told him I was going to be on that team one day. So when I got a chance to put the medal around his neck that was the moment we did what we said we were going to do.”
The fundamentals that helped define Augustus’ career are also what lay at the basis of coach Frank Monica’s philosophy and style for more than five decades.
“I never got into coaching worried about awards,” Monica said. “I got into it to teach fundamentals and techniques. The game of football has changed a lot in my time but the values haven’t. Discipline is discipline and it all comes back to blocking and tackling. I try and teach these kids the importance of the little things. Make the little things matter and the big things will take care of themselves.”
That philosophy and work ethic helped Monica to the most wins (284) by a head coach in River Parishes history and three state titles at three different schools. Monica also spent 12 years spent as an assistant at Tulane, where he credited the talent in the state and the emphasis put on recruiting local talent, that helped change the program.
That talent across the state that continues to produce some of the most elite athletes in the nation, were some of the same ones that left an impact on a Washington D.C. transplant in coach Perry Clark.
Clark resurrected a Green Wave program shut down for four years after a gambling scandal, and took it to three NCAA Tournaments in four seasons and seven trips to the postseason in 11 seasons.
“This state has the most unique people,” Clark said. “If you love people in Louisiana, they will love you back. They will give you their heart and soul and that’s what makes them and this so special. (Fellow 2024 inductee) Ron (Higgins) befriended me and helped me understand how important basketball was in this state.
“And I wouldn’t be here today if it were not for (1999 Hall of Fame inductee) Dale Brown. Didn’t matter he coached at LSU and I was at Tulane. He helped me. He helped humanity. And he helped raise the quality of the game in the state. Because of the culture and because of the people here, it made you raise your game to that next level.”
Ray Sibille has more than 4,200 career wins and $68 million won across the country in 35 years of racing on horseback. He retired in 2004 and in recent years he held out hope of being selected for LSHOF induction, finally realizing a delay has worked into his favor.
“The call came at the right time for me,” Sibille said. “I thought there might be a chance I would get in a few years ago but then my grandkids wouldn’t have been able to come, some of them wouldn’t have even been born yet either. So to have them here with me now and get to experience all this with me is special.”
OVERWHELMED: Shreveport-Bossier Journal LSU beat writer Ron Higgins makes a point at Thursday’s Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame press conference, reacting to his impending induction as one of the state’s greatest sports journalists. (Photo by BRET H. MCCORMICK, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame)
By BRAD WELBORN, Written for the LSWA
NATCHITOCHES – Standing in amazement.
That was a common reaction Thursday afternoon as the four contributor award winners going into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024 took turns reacting to their pending induction Saturday night at a sold-out ceremony in the Natchitoches Events Center.
“It’s stunning,” a sentiment shared by every inductee, including the six competitors at the press conference, and voiced by Distinguished Service in Sports Journalism Award winner Ron Higgins, who had a particularly poignant welcome to the Hall.
“It was an emotional day when I got the call from (Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame chairman) Doug Ireland. He didn’t know, but it was the anniversary of the day my dad died (in 1968) when I was 12 years old. Dad was the reason that I got into the business. I was helping him since I was seven, looking over the shoulder of sports writers and watching how they wrote stories.”
Higgins covered his first high school football game for the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate when he was a high school freshman, at age 14. One of the participating coaches thought he was a team manager until he asked an insightful question, and the response was, “you really ARE a sports writer.”
The son of LSU sports information director Ace Higgins, he said the bug for writing and the “fun part of the unpredictability” of covering sports still thrills him, in a career that has seen him serve as president of the Football Writers Association of America, and for a wide range of publications in Louisiana and Tennessee, for the last year with the Shreveport-Bossier Journal.
The recipient of the second-ever Louisiana Sports Ambassador Award, Wilbert Ellis spent 30 years as the head coach of Grambling baseball and is recognized as one of the finest representatives of that sport. He’s in the American Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame, among nine different HOF honors he holds.
But there’s so much more impact to appreciate. He has also earned acclaim for continuing service work in Lincoln Parish, elsewhere in the state – he’s in the Louisiana Justice Hall of Fame — and even in Omaha, Neb., during the annual College World Series, where his youth clinics have been impactful in troubled neighborhoods.
A trusted advisor for countless coaches and administrators, all the way to GSU presidents, Ellis reflected on those that he learned from and now joins in the state’s most elite sports group.
“Eddie Robinson would say don’t cry,” Ellis joked. “It’s pretty hard not to but I think I’m alright. I’ve been honored to go into a few of these but when you think about it being your own state it’s something to be proud of.
“I knew I wanted to be a coach from the time I was nine. I just wanted to form a group and see what we could do to win some games. My dad said you might win ball games, but can you win lives. And thankfully through the grace of God we’ve been able to do that.”
Along with his dear friend “Coach Rob,” Ellis offered credit to iconic basketball coach Fred Hobdy, longtime publicist Collie J. Nicholson, and legendary president and baseball coach Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones, three more pillars of Grambling, for being mentors and guides through his career and life.
Tom Burnett, the Dave Dixon Louisiana Sports Leadership Award winner, also reflected on the people in his life going back to his time at Louisiana Tech that launched him to his role over two decades as commissioner of the Southland Conference and ultimately, chair of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament committee.
“I was born in Texas, but Louisiana is home to me,” Burnett said. “The Hall itself is special and even more so because of people like Jerry Pierce (2000 Distinguished Service Award inductee). You think of people like Teddy Allen, Ro Brown and of course Dave Dixon, it’s truly an honor to be here. To be mentioned in the same breath as him, it’s overwhelming.”
It was Hall of Fame Tech sports information director Keith Prince who helped the “meandering student” onto his path to commissioner. Craig Thompson introduced him to the sports world of New Orleans and Wright Waters, longtime Sun Belt commissioner, polished Burnett into being ready for a 20-year stint leading the Southland Conference.
Burnett’s connection to Pierce, who died in November 2022, was one also felt by the other recipient of the Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism, Bobby Ardoin of Opelousas.
“I had a few choices for journalism school but when I visited Northwestern and met Jerry Pierce, that’s where I wanted to go,” Ardoin said. “I met Rick Woodson about a year later or so and I knew that sports writing was what I wanted to do.”
Ardoin, a baseball player growing up, covered the gamut of sports while working at the Opelousas Daily World, including fellow 2024 inductee jockey Ray Sibille at nearby Evangeline Downs, all while teaching full time.
“I never started out wanting to be a teacher,” Ardoin said. “I was working on my masters and wanted to get married, so it was kind of a survival tactic. But it was great to be with the kids every day.”
He stopped teaching English and history after 42 years, but Ardoin is still working daily as a news and sports reporter for the St. Landry Today website. In fact, he was filing a story Thursday night on the LSHOF press conference.
MOVED UP: Evangel has moved back up to play in District 1-5A again for the 11th season in its history. (Journal file photo)
By LEE HILLER, Journal Sports
Evangel Christian has moved back up to play in 1-5A this season after spending the last five years in 1-4A to give the district nine teams for the first time since 2007-08.
ECA previously spent the 1999-2004 seasons and 2014-08 in 1-5A and won the district with undefeated seasons nine times and finished in a 3-way with for the title in 2015.
The Eagles’ two non-district opponents in 2024 are 4A schools Neville and Lafayette Christian and are the only ones on their schedule that hold a series edge over ECA. Only two of their eight district opponents have won games over the Eagles, Byrd once and Huntington twice.
ECA hosts 2-4A Neville of Monroe in its season opener. The Tigers, who have won the last two seasons in non-district games with the Eagles, hold a 4-1 series advantage.
Evangel goes on the road the second week to open 1-5A play at Natchitoches Central. The Eagles have won all six games in the series.
Byrd will visit Rodney Duron Field the third week of the season. Evangel has won eight of nine meetings between the two.
The Eagles then cross the river to play at Airline. They have won all six games against the Vikings.
Evangel will entertain Huntington in a mid-season clash. The Eagles have a 10-2 series advantage with the Raiders who have won two of the last three.
Captain Shreve hosts Evangel the second week of October at Lee Hedges Stadium. ECA has won all four meetings the two schools have played.
Benton is the first of three straight home games for the Eagles. Again, ECA has won all four previous games.
Haughton is the second of the trio of home games before the only other non-district game on the schedule when Lafayette Christian comes to Rodney Duron Field. Evangel has won all four games with the Bucs but has lost both previous games with LCA.
INCOMPARABLE: Drew Brees put up more than just NFL record-shattering passing stats for the New Orleans Saints. He was the pivotal figure in a struggling franchise becoming one of the league’s best. (Photo courtesy New Orleans Saints/Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame)
By LUKE JOHNSON, Written for the LSWA
Nobody could have seen what the future held when the first-time NFL head coach took the quarterback with still-fresh surgical scars on his throwing shoulder on a free-agent tour through a leveled city.
The three main characters in this story all needed someone to bet upon them. Coach Sean Payton was an unproven commodity taking over a franchise that had gone 3-13 the previous year and had just one playoff victory in its ignominious history. New Orleans was still reeling from the catastrophe wrought by Hurricane Katrina. And the quarterback, Drew Brees, was seeking a new home after suffering a devastating injury a few months before his free agent visit.
Payton was in the driver’s seat. He’d tried his best to hide the worst of Katrina’s destruction, but he was new to the city himself. After giving the Brees family a tour of the northshore of Lake Pontchartrain, Payton took a wrong turn down a road that turned into a dead end when the street was blocked by a tugboat.
Who sitting amid the wreckage would have pictured what would unfold — that Brees would become one of the most prolific passers in NFL history, and that the full measure of his importance would go far beyond the sheer weight of the numbers he accumulated on the field?
That initial pact Brees signed with the Saints and the city of New Orleans immortalized him in South Louisiana — the $60 million deal being repaid many times over. Brees is not only arguably the greatest free agent signing in NFL history because of what he did on game days, but also because of the role he played in getting a city and its people to heal and believe in what was possible.
Brees will soon be a Pro Football Hall of Famer, of that there is no doubt. First, he will take his rightful place among the greatest sports icons in the state’s history when he is enshrined Saturday night, via Skype, in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. He is part of the 12-member Class of 2024 to be inducted in festivities that will be live streamed on LPB.org beginning at 6 Saturday evening from a sold-out Natchitoches Events Center.
His playing career spanned 20 NFL seasons, the last 15 of which were spent leading the Saints. He played a critical role in reversing the fortunes of the Saints franchise at a time when the city and region needed it most, leading the Saints to their first conference championship appearance in his first season, and a Super Bowl title in his fourth.
“When I was hired by the Saints as head coach in 2006, the very first goal was to establish a functional and winning culture,” Payton said after Brees’ retirement. “In doing so, it was vital to know what we were looking for in a player. Talent, work ethic, makeup, intelligence and leadership are all qualities we found in Drew Brees. We also found a player with a burning desire to win.”
Those traits fueled a football legacy that is almost unrivaled. At his peak, Brees reached previously unknown heights, and because his peak spanned what would amount to an entire career for many accomplished football players, Brees’ career towers even above the greats.
At the nexus of skill, intelligence and focus, there was Brees, beating the world’s premier athletes and defensive minds not only because he had the talent, but because he was so thoroughly prepared he seemed to know where they all were going better than they knew it themselves.
He was a football supercomputer, processing in real time and at breakneck speed what is difficult for most to decipher with the benefit of high-resolution, slow-motion instant replay. Brees did not come upon this trait by chance. His work ethic is the stuff of legend.
Brees famously embodied the “first one in, last one out” ethos that belongs to the greats.
His former teammate, Jeremy Shockey, once said about Brees’ early arrivals to the Saints
practice facility, “I cannot beat him here.”
His constant excellence was rooted in that meticulous and grueling preparation. No details were too small, no stone left unturned. While Payton was constantly pushing against the idea that Brees was not a tremendous athlete, it was this combination of brain and ability that made him transcendent.
When Brees formally announced his retirement in 2021 — 15 years to the day after he signed with the Saints — he was the NFL’s all-time career leader in passing yards (80,358) and completion percentage (67.7). His 571 career passing touchdowns ranked second all time.
Brees led the NFL in passing seven times in his first 11 seasons in New Orleans. During one five-season stretch, he led the league in touchdown passes four times. He currently owns six of the nine best single-season completion percentages in NFL history. And for a player who came to New Orleans with durability concerns, he missed only one start because of injury in his first 13 seasons with the Saints.
Taken as a whole, his career is hard to wrap one’s mind around. Brees and the Saints offense routinely shattered NFL norms, trailblazing a path for the high-flying modern offenses of today. Sprinkled throughout that long period of excellence were some of the single best performances in NFL history.
Before he became an NFL star in his own right, Tyrann Mathieu was a kid in New Orleans watching Brees perform his magic. Seeing Brees in a No. 9 Saints uniform gave him a feeling he didn’t know too often before: A chance to win every Sunday.
That feeling of thinking anything was possible reached new heights when Brees was named the MVP of Super Bowl XLIV, after throwing for 288 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-17 win against the Colts.
“He definitely brought a different attitude, a different spirit to the city,” Mathieu said after Brees’ retirement. “And I think when he brought that championship back home to New Orleans, that not only did that do a lot for him and the Saints organization, but I think everything that city had been through, we finally had a reason to celebrate.”
The year was 2015 and every surface of my house was covered in jars filled with orange candy.
I always loved orange, the color and the flavor, and I’d just discovered that you could order candy in one flavor only. Gone were the days of buying packs of Starburst and Sprees and throwing out all but the orange ones.
I’d discovered, much like the select-a-flavor Skittles machines often found in theaters, that I could order only my favorite flavor in a variety of candies from Jelly Bellies to Lifesavers.
In my trademark excessive fashion, I ordered nearly 50 lbs. of the stuff. I tend to go overboard when I’m passionate about something and, if orange was my love color, candy was my love language.
There’s something innocent and childlike about the sweet treat, honored every June as National Candy Month.
The National Confectioner’s Association shares, “For those who love chocolate, candy, gum and mints, those who appreciate the strong economic impact of a responsible and fun industry, and for many others, this is a month made for celebration. It is a moment to celebrate a classic American manufacturing success story.”
Celebrate indeed! I am literally like a kid in a candy store any time I visit a locale that separates out my beloved orange candy!
Jeanni Ritchie is an orange-obsessed contributing journalist from Central Louisiana. She can be reached at jeanniritchie54@gmail.com.
Wilmer Monette, Jr. August 21, 1947 – June 13, 2024 Service: Saturday, June 22, 2024, 11am at Mt. Canaan Baptist Church, Shreveport
Robert Wayne Wilcox July 1, 1955 — March 23, 2024 Service: Saturday, June 22, 2024, 2pm at Rose Neath Funeral Home, Shreveport.
Nancy Moore April 3, 1935 — June 18, 2024 Service: Saturday, June 22, 2024, 2pm at Rose Neath Funeral Homes, Shreveport.
Dorothy Williams January 23, 1952 – June 15, 2024 Service: Saturday, June 22, 2024, 10 am at Heavenly Gates Funeral Home
Ella Vasher July 16, 1927 – June 10, 2024 Service: Sunday, June 23, 2024, 1pm at New Bethel MBC, Shreveport
The Shreveport-Bossier Journal publishes paid obituaries – unlimited words and a photo, as well as unlimited access – $95. Contact your funeral provider or SBJNewsLa@gmail.com . Must be paid in advance of publication. (Notice of Death shown above are FREE of charge. You may email them to SBJNewsLa@gmail.com)
A Caddo Parish jury deliberated less than an hour before finding Kenmiccael Dano Ray guilty of the 2022 slaying of Shreveport teen Landry Anglin.
The eight-woman, four-man jury in District Judge Ramona Emanuel’s court unanimously found Shreveporter Ray, 25, guilty-as-charged of second-degree murder for the May 1, 2022 death of Anglin, a 13-year-old girl struck by a stray bullet while visiting with relatives in the 4500 block of Fairfield Avenue. The bullet was fired in the course of a running gun battle between gang members, including Ray. The 40 minutes of deliberation ended the weeklong trial.
Over the course of the trial, the prosecution called 10 witnesses and produced evidence to prove Ray was affiliated with a gang in Shreveport and fired an assault-style rifle at a vehicle pursuing him on Erie Street between Thornhill and Line avenues. Evidence also showed that occupants in the pursuing vehicle returned fire.
After the shooting, Ray fled to Arlington, Texas, where five days later he was apprehended by the by the U.S. Marshals and found to be in possession of the Kel-Tech assault weapon that was used in the Anglin slaying. An expert from the North Louisiana Crime Lab proved that the bullet that killed Anglin was fired from Ray’s weapon. Shreveport police officers and detectives testified, as did other Texas-based members of the U.S. Marshals.
Ray will return to Judge Emanuel’s court July 16, 2024, where he faces a mandatory life sentence without possibility of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.
Three co-defendants also are awaiting trial for the slaying.
Assistant District Attorneys Ron Christopher Stamps, Christopher Bowman and Britney Green prosecuted the case. Leslie Kelly defended Ray.
Surrounded by legislators, educators, school kids, and community leaders, Governor Jeff Landry signed into law monumental bills that will transform our education system and bring back common sense in our classrooms.
Governor signed the LA Gator Scholarship Program into law, which ensures every child has the opportunity of a great education, regardless of where they live. Governor Landry’s Louisiana GATOR (Give All a True Opportunity to Rise) scholarships will allow parents to choose the school that best suits their child’s needs. GATOR Scholarships provide parents with a scholarship account that allows them to customize their child’s education. These scholarship accounts can be used for school tuition and fees, tutoring, educational therapies, textbooks and curricula, dual enrollment courses, uniforms, and transportation.
Also signed into law on June 19 were common sense bills that prioritizes learning over government bureaucracy, returns our curriculum back to the basics, and allows our teachers to teach.
One is HB 71, Rep. Horton: Ten Commandments:
Digest of Bill as Finally Passed by Senate – Proposed law requires each public school governing authority to display the Ten Commandments in each classroom in each school under its jurisdiction.
Proposed law applies to charter schools and public postsecondary education institutions. Further requires the display of a context statement with the display of the Ten Commandments in K-12 public schools.
Proposed law authorizes the display of the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the Northwest Ordinance in K-12 public schools.
Proposed law requires governing authorities, management boards, and institutions to either accept donated displays or to spend donated funds to purchase displays.
Proposed law requires that the Ten Commandments:
(1) Be displayed on a poster or framed document that is at least 11 inches by 14 inches.
(2) Be the central focus of the poster or framed document.
HB 47, Rep. Edmonston: School immunization communications
HB 908, Rep. Amedee: Prohibits discrimination based off vaccination status
HB 320, Rep. Owen: Let Teachers Teach
HB 121, Rep. Crews: Requires parental consent for preferred pronouns
HB 122, Rep. Horton: Let Kids be Kids
SB 205, Sen. Miguez: Teacher compensation
HB 334, Rep. Amedee: Chaplains
SB 508, Sen. McMath: Tutoring
HB 244, Sen. Hughes: Literacy
HB 267, Rep. Carver: Numeracy
HB 644, Rep. Dickerson: Home study
HB 967, Rep. Riser: Teacher retirement
HB 647, Rep. Romero: Teacher regulations
HB 424, Rep. Phelps: Grading scale
HB 940, Rep. Turner: Deferred maintenance
SB 313, Sen. Edmonds: Education Scholarship Accounts
“Today, we fulfilled our promise to bring drastic reform to our education system and bring common sense back to our classrooms. A strong education system leads to a strong economy and a strong state. Our historic Dream Big Package puts the focus back on our kids, and allows Louisiana to follow in the footsteps of our neighbors in the South. I am thankful to the legislature for their commitment to making the education system in Louisiana one that students, parents, and teachers can all be proud of,” said Governor Jeff Landry.
A retirement ceremony was held in honor of Lieutenant Walt Hollis to celebrate his retirement from the Bossier Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Whittington and staff, along with family and friends, gathered to celebrate his retirement at the Bossier Parish Courthouse on June 18.
Lt. Hollis retires with 30 years of service with the Sheriff’s Office. During his career, Lt. Hollis worked in Dispatch, Patrol, as an FBI Task Force member, Narcotics, Special Investigations, White Collar Crimes, and as the Special Services Coordinator at the Viking Drive Substation. Sheriff Whittington thanked Lt. Hollis for his service and dedication and wished him well in his future endeavors.
The Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office will host its Youth Firearms Safety Camp on July 10 and 11 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Regional Academy, located at 15639 LA-1 in Shreveport.
Please sign up and select a day for your young one to enjoy and learn about the importance of gun safety. Spots are available but limited. The camp is available for ages 10-13.
To sign up, go online caddosheriff.org and click on the COMMUNITY tab to the far right. Then click on Camps & Classes and scroll down to Youth Firearms Camp, where you can access the application. There is more information there to learn about the camp, as well.
You’re invited, free of charge, this evening from 5-7 to a star-studded casual party kicking off the 2024 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Celebration.
It’s in downtown Natchitoches, at the Hall of Fame museum at 800 Front Street (at the traffic circle) in Natchitoches. No need to dress fancy, just enjoy food and refreshments and music and a world-class museum, mingling with some of our state’s greatest sports stars and their families.
The Welcome Reception provides the best possible opportunity to stroll around the 27,500-square foot museum – and to take in the debut of the “Showtime: LSU’s Spectacular Pistol Pete” exhibit in the Atmos Energy Gallery on the first floor. It includes dozens of photos, many taken by Baton Rouge photographer John Musemeche behind the scenes and never seen in public before, encompassing basketball legend Pete Maravich’s days at LSU from 1967-70.
Ralph Jukkola, who is on LSU’s All-Decade Team for the 1960s and was a Maravich teammate, is planning to come up from Baton Rouge to represent his Tiger comrades.
Another LSU basketball legend, Seimone Augustus, headlines the Class of 2024 inductees who will be attending Thursday’s reception. Augustus, from Baton Rouge, is heading into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in October after joining the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in April. She is a three-time USA Olympic gold medalist, one of the greatest players in WNBA history, and is immortalized with a statue outside the Maravich Assembly Center at LSU along with Shaquille O’Neal, Bob Pettit and Pistol Pete.
Flying in from Michigan to be inducted is 1992 Olympic gold medalist Kevin Jackson, a three-time All-American wrestler at LSU from 1983-85. Jackson later was a two-time Olympic wrestling coach, inducted in LSU’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.
New Iberia native Kerry Joseph is the new quarterbacks coach of the Chicago Bears, developing 2022 Heisman Trophy winner and 2024 NFL Draft No. 1 pick Caleb Williams. Joseph’s 19-year pro playing career – in which he played quarterback, H-back, and safety in six NFL seasons and became a Grey Cup MVP at quarterback as a standout in the Canadian Football League – followed a record-shattering four seasons at QB for the McNeese Cowboys.
Coming in from South Carolina to be inducted is former Tulane basketball coach Perry Clark, who guided the Green Wave to their only three NCAA Tournament appearances after reviving the program in the early 1990s.
Renowned jockey Ray Sibille, ranking among the best American riders ever with over 4,200 wins, is rolling up I-49 from his home in Sunset to be enshrined. He will be joined by iconic Grambling baseball coach Wilbert Ellis and another incredible coach, Frank Monica, who led three different south Louisiana teams to LHSAA football state championships.
Former Southland Conference commissioner Tom Burnett, a Louisiana Tech graduate, is in the Class of 2024 along with sports writers Bobby Ardoin, who got his start writing for Northwestern State’s student newspaper, and Ron Higgins. The other two members of the Class of 2024’s dynamic dozen, former New Orleans Saints star Drew Brees and Daniel Cormier, a two-time Olympic wrestler who became one of MMA’s greatest figures, will be inducted Saturday night during a sold-out ceremony at the Natchitoches Events Center.
There’s no need to dress up tonight. Just come in, and enjoy the visit to a world-class museum with 491 sports heroes celebrated inside, with some of them beginning their LSHOF induction weekend.
Just ahead — the free Friday evening Rockin’ River Fest concert on the downtown riverbank stage. Music starts at 6, with the Class of 2024 inductees introduced on stage at 9:15, followed by a 10-minute fireworks show set to sports-themed music. Johnny Earthquake and the Moondogs, the second of two Louisiana Music Hall of Fame bands, will fire back up the music for another hour until 10:30.
There will be a free kids zone presented by Louisiana Propane Dealers with games under the Front Street bridge, and food vendors along with beverages available for sale.
You’re invited to all the fun. Visit LaSportsHall.com or call 318-238-4255 to get more information.
HIGH TIDE: Bossier City native Jim Wells, who started his coaching career in local youth leagues, then in high school at Loyola, led Alabama to the College World Series three times. (Photo courtesy Alabama Athletics)
By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
Jim Wells likes to tell the story of when Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench, then a teenager living in Oklahoma, was watching the New York Yankees play in the World Series and his father told him that Mickey Mantle was also from Oklahoma. “You mean a kid from Oklahoma could actually play in the World Series?” a fascinated Bench asked his father.
As Wells looks back on his time as a college baseball coach, he says he knows exactly how Bench felt. “You mean a kid from Bossier City could actually coach in the College World Series?” he says.
Yes he can.
And not just once. Or twice. Wells took Alabama to Omaha three times in the late 1990s and also served as a graduate assistant at LSU for two other CWS appearances.
“I have fond memories of going to Omaha,” Wells says. “Sometimes I look back and think, I was a part of that? It was kind of a blur. It happened fast. But very grateful to have the opportunity to do that.”
It certainly did happen fast.
In 1987, Wells was one year removed from coaching at Loyola Prep, where he took the Flyers to the state finals in two of the four years he served as head coach. As a graduate assistant in ’87, his main job was to take the LSU team to the Class AAA minor league game the day before.
Typical GA stuff.
But he also learned a valuable lesson at the end of that CWS, when Stanford’s Paul Carey hit a shocking opposite-field grand slam in the 10th inning off future No. 1 pick Ben McDonald to deny the Tigers a spot in the finals.
It was a gut-wrenching loss for the Tigers. When Carey hit the home run, Wells happened to be standing next to LSU head coach Skip Bertman, who immediately put his hand on Wells’ shoulder and said, “See, stuff like this really does happen.”
And stuff like that really did happen to Wells. He went back to the CWS in ’89 with the Tigers, but soon was on his way to his alma mater, Northwestern State, as a head coach (making two NCAA Regionals from 1990-94) before taking over at Alabama in 1995.
In his second season with the Crimson Tide, he found himself as a head coach at College World Series. His Alabama team was the No. 1 seed and preparing to play Oklahoma State, making its 17th CWS appearance.
Only 10 years earlier, he had been hitting fungos to 15-year-olds behind the Loyola gym on a makeshift practice field. “I have those thoughts now (of how far he had come) but it was such a blur,” he says. “You are always thinking about the next game or the next pitch. When you lose, you just think about going to recruit or get ready for summer camps. I wish I would have enjoyed it more.”
Wells took Alabama to Omaha in 1996, 1997 (also seeded No. 1) and 1999 and won the opening game in all three appearances.
The 1996 team lost its next two games and was eliminated, but the 1997 team took an interesting path. After beating Mississippi State 3-2, Alabama lost to Miami to fall into the loser’s bracket. After beating Mississippi State again, the Crimson Tide was faced with having to beat Miami (Fla.) twice to advance to the finals.
Which is exactly what happened.
Now, Wells had taken his team to the CWS finals. And who was over in the other dugout? Skip Bertman and the LSU Tigers. One game for it all.
But LSU had only played three games to get to that spot; Alabama had played five. “We threw a guy who I think had only thrown 11 innings all year,” Wells says. “I think by the end of the first inning, they had us by a touchdown.”
It was 6-0 after one inning, 9-0 after two and ended with a 13-6 LSU win.
In his final appearance in 1999, the fifth-seeded Tide made it to the semifinals before losing to Miami.
Wells finished his career at Alabama in 2009 with 625 wins (adding those at NSU, 817 overall). This year, the American Baseball Coaches Association inducted him into the Hall of Fame Class of 2024.
Alabama has not been back to the CWS since Wells retired.
“I dreamed of going to the College World Series, but I never thought I could do that,” Wells says. “Yeah, I was a lucky guy.”
Skip Bertman was right. Stuff like this really does happen.
DEFENDING THE TITLE: Captain Shreve will play for its first back-to-back outright district championships since 1980-81. (Journal photo by KEVIN PICKENS)
By LEE HILLER, Journal Sports
Captain Shreve will kick off the 2024 football season with a chance to win back-to-back undefeated district championships for the first time since 1980-81, but it will have to fend off eight 1-5A league opponents to do so.
The season starts with Ouachita coming to Lee Hedges Stadium in non-district competition. The Gators last played the Lions in 2012 and have not beaten them since 1986. Ouachita has won the last 13 in the series its leads 14-9.
District 1-5A play begins with a matchup against Huntington at Independence Stadium. The Gators lead the series 13-11 and have played the Raiders five times since last playing them in 1-5A in 2008.
Natchitoches Central comes to Shreveport for a 1-5A clash. The Gators and Chiefs have been district rivals going back to the first-ever meeting in 1973 when both were in 2-AAAA. Shreve has a slim 25-18 series lead, having won five of the last six after losing four straight.
A short trip to Benton for the sixth meeting with the Tigers is next. The Gators have won four of the five in the series, scoring a school-record 65 points last year.
The first of its only back-to-back games at Lee Hedges Stadium is against Airline. The Gators have won four of the last six after the Vikings took 19 straight from 1997-2017. Airline leads the series 30-23-1.
Evangel is the next home game at Lee Hedges. The Eagles have won the six meetings between the schools, all 1-5A games.
The only other non-district game on the slate is a trek down south to face Destrehan for the first time. The Wildcats finished 11-1 losing in the quarterfinals of the Non-Select Division I playoff bracket.
A home game with Parkway precedes a pair of away games to end the season. The Gators lead the series over the Panthers 31-17 and have won five of the last seven.
The first of the two away games is on the road to Haughton. Shreve has won four of the last five but the Bucs have the series edge, 16-13.
A game everybody at Shreve and Byrd looks forward to every year between the Gators and Yellow Jackets culminates the regular season at Lee Hedges. The Jackets lead the series 29-17, but the Gators won last year for the first time this decade.
Hubie Brown, named the NBA’s Coach of the Year at age 70, still works today at age 90 as an NBA analyst for ABC and ESPN.
I love Hubie. He’s always been my senior citizen role model. I want to be him when I grow up.
On Saturday in Natchitoches at age 67 after 45 years as a sportswriter for nine publications in four states, I’m being inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame (which will be streamed live on lpb.org and LaSportsHall.com starting at 6 p.m.; today’s 3 p.m. press conference is on LaSportsHall.com from 3-5 o’clock).
Such an unbelievable honor plus aging forces self-reflection, something rarely done when you have the career pedal to the metal for decades.
My biggest life regret is my job consumed me. I failed miserably to balance it with my family life. My wife Paige (the smartest and best-looking one in our marriage) carried the daily load, working full time and managing the household.
She raised our sons Carl and Jackson. Both fortunately have Paige’s finest traits of intelligence and kindness and are two good men who make me extremely proud daily.
They also have unique senses of humor. I once apologized to Carl for being immersed in my career and not spending enough time with him.
He replied, “Dude, it’s okay. Just give me $10,000 and we’ll call it even.”
My Hall of Fame honor belongs more to my wife and sons than it does to me. They had to live with a maniacal perfectionist who was rarely satisfied, too driven, and always focused on the next story.
I wasn’t a person I would have liked to have been around. I apologize to my family and every managing editor or sports editor wherever I’ve worked.
A few weeks ago, I did a one-hour TV interview with Eric Asher on “Inside New Orleans Sports.” He interviewed me about my career that unofficially started at ages 8 and 13 (my first non-byline story and first byline story, both in the Baton Rouge Advocate).
I rarely go back and watch myself in any interview. But Paige viewed it and said, “I learned things you’ve done I didn’t even know about. And you always think you never accomplished enough in your career.”
I watched the interview and instantly became grateful. It’s like someone drenched me with a Gatorade cooler full of humility.
My career flashed before my eyes, the places I’ve been, the people I’ve met, and the unique situations I’ve experienced.
I once told Bear Bryant to get his team off Legion Field in pregame warmups, was 20 feet away when Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes slugged the Clemson player at the Gator Bowl, shared a Final Four halftime press room refreshment and conversation with actor Jack Nicholson, ordered a pizza 30 minutes before kickoff at a 100,000-seat college stadium to see if it could be delivered to the press box within the half-hour, and picked up a loose basketball that bounced into press row during pregame warmups at a college game and swished a 40-foot shot standing next to my seat (then sat down expressionless like it was no big deal).
I also cruised the streets of Seoul at 2 a.m. with a Korean taxi driver playing a Frank Sinatra cassette tape because he thought all Americans loved Ol’ Blue Eyes, saw an open switchblade thrown at a basketball ref, spent all night in an Atlanta emergency room with food poisoning being released just in time to cover a full day of the SEC basketball tournament, sat courtside at an SEC hoops tourney when a tornado bounced off the Georgia Dome roof, interviewed an apologetic and somewhat drunk Luc Longley who had just rehydrated with a six-pack of beer after an Olympic post-game drug test, and attended the greatest Final Four media party in history at a Kentucky horse farm in 1985.
Along the way, I’ve had so many great mentors like LSU sports information directors Ace Higgins (my late dad) and Paul Manasseh, my Baton Rouge High English teacher the late Laura Cotton, my Angelina College journalism teacher Cassy Burleson, former Advocate sports editor Mike McKenzie and the entire family of the late Joe “String Music” Dean Sr. who became my emotional rescue after my dad died when I was 12.
A huge thanks to my first daily newspaper boss Gerry Robichaux for hiring me, to editor Stan Tiner for hiring me twice in different locales, to the late Advocate prep editor Ted Castillo for assigning me to cover games when I wasn’t old enough to own a driver’s license, to former Scripps-Howard sports editor Marvin West who sent me around the world to cover the Olympics, to former Commercial Appeal executive sports editor John Stamm who always had my back and to longtime friend Jim Kleinpeter and James O’Byrne for bringing me back to Louisiana as a NOLA.com/Times-Picayune columnist after three decades away from home.
And finally, thank you to the Louisiana Sports Writers Association, especially Doug Ireland (the unofficial mayor of Natchitoches) and the multi-talented soon-to-be Reverend Raymond Partsch III for making my Hall of Fame honor an unexpected reality.
In the meantime, as long as my employer considers my age and experience a plus and my health is good, I’ll aim to become the Hubie Brown of Sportswriters.
NEW WAVE: Perry Clark revived a Tulane basketball program that was literally shelved for four years after a gambling scandal, and led the Green Wave to seven postseason appearances in 11 years. (Photo courtesy Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame)
By LENNY VANGILDER, Written for the LSWA
Perry Clark has often described his 11 seasons as head men’s basketball coach as Tulane University as his own Camelot.
But one of the great stories of college basketball in the 1990s didn’t exactly start out that way.
Shortly after Clark was hired in July 1988 to bring back the Green Wave program after a four-year, self-imposed shutdown, the coaching staff was set to host tryouts.
One significant thing was missing, however. No one had remembered to order basketballs.
It’s safe to say things got much better from there. Clark won 185 games in 11 seasons, taking Tulane to its only three NCAA Tournament appearances in school history, seven total trips to the postseason, and one conference and three division championships.
It is that remarkable rise from the ashes that has landed Clark in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024. He is among a dozen state sports greats to be enshrined in a three-day celebration beginning today in Natchitoches.
Today’s 3 p.m. press conference can be viewed online at LaSportsHall.com; Saturday’s 6 p.m. induction festivities and ceremony will be live streamed, also free, at LPB.org.
While Clark’s time at Tulane may have indeed been Camelot, it was also unique in so many ways.
What team has gone from no program to winning a conference title and reaching the NCAA Tournament in three seasons? Or at a university that had never even been to the NCAAs before, or since? Or using a 10-man rotation that featured an entirely new team coming onto the floor five minutes into the game?
“One through five, there are a lot of teams that might be better,” Clark would say on more than one occasion during the breakthrough 1991-92 season. “But one through 10, we can play with just about anybody.”
Clark, who played Division III basketball at Gettysburg (Pa.) College, had been a winner at every stop in his career. He was an assistant at his alma mater, DeMatha Catholic, under legendary head coach Morgan Wootten, where the Stags lost a total of eight games in three years.
As an assistant at Penn State, the Nittany Lions had three winning seasons and reached the NIT. Then in six years on Bobby Cremins’ staff at Georgia Tech, the Yellow Jackets won 123 games and made four trips to the NCAA, including an Elite Eight.
“I knew I hated losing,” Clark said in 1991, “and I wasn’t going to be (at Tulane) for four years and still be talking about building.”
Early on, Clark and his staff — which included eight future college head coaches during his time at Tulane — looked for something a little different. “What we really tried to do was get the best defensive player (in the Metro Conference) at every position,” Clark said.
After a 4-24 season in his first campaign with eight of the 11 roster spots occupied by freshmen, Tulane added another solid recruiting class and jumped all the way to 15-13 in year two. From 1974-91, only six teams went from a season of 24 or more losses to a winning record the next year.
Early that second season, Clark began using freshmen Carlin Hartman, Kim Lewis and Makeba Perry and senior Michael Christian together off the bench for the initial iteration of what would become college basketball’s most famous bench, “The Posse.” (Clark took the name from the popular wide receiver group of the 1980s of the NFL team in his hometown of Washington.)
“It evolved in the fall of 1990,” said Hartman, now associate head coach at the University of Florida. “(Clark) had a pretty good top five, but he had a talented group of freshmen that he and the staff wanted to get on the floor. He used (Christian, the team’s second-leading scorer in 1989-90) to be the captain of the second unit.”
The best, however, was yet to come.
Tulane got through the pre-conference phase of the 1991-92 season with eight consecutive victories and was one of 10 Division I teams still unbeaten as the calendar turned to January. All of them were ranked — except for Clark’s team.
The Green Wave opened conference play on a Saturday afternoon against Louisville, the longtime gold standard in the Metro. Tulane had one win in its history over the Cardinals, none in Freedom Hall.
The second version of “The Posse” — now a five-man wave who would enter around the first media timeout and immediately step up the tempo with its defensive pressure — featured Hartman, Lewis, Perry and newcomers Pointer Williams and Matt Greene.
“The Posse” combined for 59 points, including 21 from Greene and 20 by Lewis, as Tulane prevailed 87-83 in overtime.
Less than 48 hours later, the 9-0 Green Wave was ranked nationally for the first time since the 1950s. And from there, the story would grow by leaps and bounds.
Tulane won the Metro regular-season title on the final day of the season, defeating Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, and eight days later — while the team sat on the plane awaiting takeoff from a tough one-point loss in the Metro tournament final — CBS unveiled the NCAA Tournament bracket with Tulane’s name on it for the first time ever.
Clark’s team was a No. 10 seed in the Southeast Region, and he returned to his old stomping grounds, Atlanta, to face a St. John’s team under retiring head coach Lou Carnesecca.
A late jump shot by junior Anthony Reed — the first player to commit to Clark three years earlier — clinched a 61-57 victory.
The rapid ascent had not only made headlines, but earned Clark his second straight Metro coach of the year award and national coach of the year honors from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and United Press International.
Two more NCAA berths followed in the next three years, then four NIT appearances amid six 20-win seasons for a program that was in mothballs when Clark came on the scene.
“Through it all,” Clark said, “it was just a magical time.”
To put in perspective the remarkable decade-plus run that Clark, his staff and players assembled, Tulane, which made only two NIT appearances before the 1985 shutdown, has not been to either the NCAA or NIT since.
Though Camelot may have come to an end, the memories remain, three decades later.
It sounds like something you might see in a horror movie. A monster attacks helpless defenseless people who have no way of escape as it mutilates and destroys everyone in its path.
There is a disease spreading across the country among cervids including whitetailed deer, elk, moose that is strikingly similar to the fictitious monster from the movies. When an animal contracts the Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), they die; there is no cure.
The Ruston Rotary Club heard ULM professor Dr. Kim Marie Tolsto, share grim details of what happens once deer become affected by CWD. The disease has been documented in 22 states and as of January, 2022, Louisiana was added to that list. The malady so far has only been found in Tensas Parish but neighboring parishes are likely to learn the disease has spread to their locales.
Just exactly what is Chronic Wasting Disease? Dr. Tolston explained it and why it is impossible to cure.
“It is caused by prions that cause the brain of affected animals to form holes much like a sponge. These prions are proteins, not living organisms which means you can’t kill them,” she said.
“How does a deer get these proteins? It has to be ingested and spreads from one animal to another from saliva, urine, feces or other body fluids. If an infected deer feeds at a feeder and for instance drops a grain of corn or two and another deer eats it, it becomes infected.”
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has published regulations concerning deer that are taken in the control area, which includes all of Tensas Parish along with portions of Madison, Concordia, Franklin and East Carroll Parishes. These controls include prohibiting of baiting, placement of bait or hunting over bait. In addition, only meat that has been cut, boned out and wrapped with no part of the spinal column or head may be taken from the control area.
Eddie Barnes, a Ruston businessman, has a hunting lease in Tensas Parish and he shares his impression of what he has observed since CWD entered Tensas.
“There have been 22 deer that have tested positive in Tensas, our club has shot 16 of them,” said Barnes. “The only way to stop it is to reduce the number of deer. We have some 800 deer on our club and we have been instructed by LDWF to get the number down to 400. We hate to have to do it but it seems the only way we can reduce the spread is to take out lots of deer.
“After we shoot them, they are placed in coolers and LDWF comes and removes the heads and tests them for CWD. The deer that are cleared as not having it are quartered with bones removed, meat packaged and are taken to the Deer Factory in Dubach which processes the meat and donates it to Hunters for the Hungry.”
According to Dr. Tolston, the prions can remain active for at least 10 years. “There was a pen where infected elk that had tested positive for CWD and were all shot and removed. Ten years later, more elk were put in the pen and they all contracted CWD because the prion was still active on the ground where they were penned,” she said.
“The disease affects not only mature deer but even fawns have been found with CWD. The only way to help control it is to reduce the number of deer in affected area because if one gets it, likely as not the entire herd will,” she noted.
The monster in the movies that wipes out victims is bad, but it’s just a movie. Chronic Wasting Disease is worse because it’s real. The entire deer hunting industry in Louisiana could eventually be subject to restrictions if CWD continues to spread.
Happy Juneteenth from Caddo Parish Sheriff-elect Henry Whitehorn, Sr., Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith, Shreveport City Marshal James Jefferson, Caddo Parish District Attorney James E. Stewart, and Shreveport Fire Chief Clarence Reese.
Students in the Caddo Parish School District’s STARS program are developing the skills needed to pursue a career in education. They’re learning the fundamentals of teaching in the classroom, gaining some insight into the profession from Dr. Grady Smith of Woodlawn High.
Wilmer Monette, Jr. August 21, 1947 – June 13, 2024 Service: Saturday, June 22, 2024, 11am at Mt. Canaan Baptist Church, Shreveport
Robert Wayne Wilcox July 1, 1955 — March 23, 2024 Service: Saturday, June 22, 2024, 2pm at Rose Neath Funeral Home, Shreveport.
Dorothy Williams January 23, 1952 – June 15, 2024 Service: Saturday, June 22, 2024, 10 am at Heavenly Gates Funeral Home
Ella Vasher July 16, 1927 – June 10, 2024 Service: Sunday, June 23, 2024, 1pm at New Bethel MBC, Shreveport
Susan Ouellette January 21, 1967 – June 17, 2024 Service: Pending
The Shreveport-Bossier Journal publishes paid obituaries – unlimited words and a photo, as well as unlimited access – $95. Contact your funeral provider or SBJNewsLa@gmail.com . Must be paid in advance of publication. (Notice of Death shown above are FREE of charge. You may email them to SBJNewsLa@gmail.com)
