Gerald Rhea Brooks
April 2, 1936 — June 26, 2026
Service: Friday, July 3, 2026, 11am at Rose-Neath Funeral Home, Bossier City.

Dalton J. Harvey
November 23, 1935 – June 26, 2026
Service: Wednesday, July 1, 2026, 9am at Centuries Memorial Park, Shreveport.

Michael Keith Flowers
September 13, 1952 — June 24, 2026
Service: Friday, July 3, 2026, 1pm at Aulds Funeral Home, Shreveport.

Renee Vaughn
April 11, 1972 – June 23, 2026
Service: Monday, June 29, 2026, 11am at Centuries Memorial Funeral Home, Shreveport.

Phillip Ray Semon
May 27, 1942 – June 20, 2026
Service: Saturday, July 11, 2026, 11am at Kings Highway Christian Church, Shreveport.

Dorothy Ann Jones
April 25, 1950 – June 19, 2026
Service: Monday, June 29, 2026, 11am at Bethlehem Baptist Church Cemetery, Shreveport.

Frances Shofner
November 20, 1953 – June 19, 2026
Service: Wednesday, July 1, 2026, 11am at Centuries Memorial Park, Shreveport.

Equilla Louise Brown
October 1, 1931 — June 15, 2026
Service: Thursday, July 2, 2026, 11am at Winnfield Funeral Home, Shreveport.

Janice LaRue Horton
June 15, 1942 – June 12, 2026
Service: Friday, August 28, 2026, 5pm at Osborn Funeral Home, Shreveport.

Kathleen G. Mosley
March 9, 1946 – June 12, 2026
Service: Tuesday, June 30, 2026, 1pm at White Temple Church of God in Christ, Shreveport.

Glen Ross Salvaggio
October 17, 1948 – June 12, 2026
Service: Monday, July 6, 2026, 10:30am at Northwest Louisiana Veterans Cemetery, Keithville.

Leo Jones
October 11, 1942 — June 10, 2026
Service: Thursday, July 2, 2026, 2pm at Winnfield Funeral Home, Shreveport.

Gregory Q. Dawson
September 11, 1958 – June 7, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 1pm at Benevolent Funeral Home, Shreveport.

William Gene Fann
January 15, 1943 — June 5, 2026
Service: Sunday, July 12, 2026, 2pm at The American Legion Post 14, Shreveport.

R

Rita Roberta Poling
? – May 4, 2026
Service: Saturday, July 11, 2026, 10am at St. George’s Episcopal Church, Bossier City. 

The Shreveport-Bossier Journal publishes paid obituaries – unlimited words and a photo, as well as unlimited access.

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A Shreveport man with a criminal record who brandished a firearm while on a video call to his brother who was incarcerated at Caddo Correctional Center was convicted Wednesday, June 24 in Caddo District Court.

The seven-woman, five-man jury in District Judge Donald E. Hathaway Jr.’s court deliberated for two and half hours before returning its unanimous verdict against Tommy Pernell Thompson, 24. Thompson was convicted of two counts of attempted possession of a firearm or carrying a concealed weapon and one count of possession of a firearm or carrying a concealed weapon.

The jury heard that on March 27, 2025, investigators with the Violent Crime Abatement Team of the Shreveport Police Department watched video jail calls made by Thompson to his brother who was a prisoner at CCC. Thompson could be seen brandishing a pistol on two separate video calls.

Investigators continued their monitoring of video calls and on June 18-19, 2025, detectives observed Thompson brandishing an AR-style pistol with a drum magazine. 

Detectives obtained a search warrant for Thompson’s residence, where officers found a Draco-styled rifle with a drum magazine and 100 rounds of ammunition, along with Thompson’s cellphone, insurance card and driver’s license. A search of Thompson’s cell phone turned up photographs that showed him brandishing the rifle in multiple pictures. Metadata showed that he possessed the rifle after his 2023 conviction of aggravated assault upon a dating partner, which prohibits him from possessing firearms.

When Thompson returns to Judge Hathaway’s court July 8, 2026, he faces a prison term of up to 34 years, due to enhanced sentencing through prior convictions for battery on a dating partner and possession of a firearm by a person convicted of battery on a dating partner. 

Assistant District Attorneys Chase Burgess and Jason Waltman prosecuted Thompson, who was represented by the Indigent Defenders office.

The case was docket No. 410336.

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New Book by Shreveport Native; AIDS Activism in the Deep South

A new book by Shreveport native Dr. David Hylan documenting one of the most significant yet overlooked chapters of Louisiana history is now available.

Small Town Rage: Fighting Back in the Deep South chronicles the story of ACT UP Shreveport and the activists, allies, healthcare professionals, and ordinary citizens who challenged fear, stigma, and political indifference during the AIDS crisis. Based on more than a decade of interviews, archival research, and firsthand accounts, the book expands upon the award-winning documentary Small Town Rage and preserves an important chapter of regional history.

The history of the AIDS crisis is often told through the experiences of New York and San Francisco,” said Hylan. “But important battles were also fought in places like Minden, Sibley, Shreveport, and communities throughout the South. I wanted to ensure that these stories, and the people who lived them, were not forgotten.”

The official launch and reunion event for Small Town Rage will be held Saturday, June 27, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Central Art Station in downtown Shreveport. Many of the individuals whose stories appear in the book are expected to attend.

The book features a foreword by award-winning writer and longtime HIV activist Mark S. King and is available in hardcover, paperback, and eBook formats wherever books are sold.

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Haughton High School AFJROTC Marksmanship Team member Chris Fick placed third overall at the CMP National Championships in Ohio.

Fick, the Louisiana state champion, competed against 150 athletes from across the country and represented Air Force JROTC, Louisiana, Bossier Schools and Haughton High School.

He recorded a two-day personal best score of 1,104, setting a new team record and earning a $500 award.

Coach Col. Tony Zucco said Fick performed well under pressure and expressed excitement for what next season may bring.

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After 12 weeks of classroom instruction, hands-on training, and clinical experience, six graduates from the National EMS Academy Alexandria campus have earned their EMT certifications and are ready to answer the call across the Central Louisiana region.  

The Alexandria campus’ new graduates are:

• Emily Hamilton of Woodworth
• Thomas Lewis of Shreveport
• Alfonso Ruiz Rodríguez of Leesville
• Samantha Scaife of Many
• Ayana Slaughter of Alexandria 
• Aidan Eaves of Monroe 

As newly certified EMTs, these graduates are prepared to provide emergency medical care, support patients in critical situations, and serve communities throughout the region. Their training has equipped them with the knowledge and skills needed to respond effectively in emergencies. 

“Becoming an EMT takes a lot of hard work and commitment,” said National EMS Academy Director TJ Dronet. “We’re proud of what these graduates have accomplished and excited to see them begin serving their communities.” 

Upcoming Opportunities: The next class registration is currently open, with class beginning on July 13. Orientation sessions are held on June 30 or July 1 to explore career pathways for EMTs and paramedics. 

Learn More & Register: becomeamedic.com

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There’s a scene from a Seinfeld episode in which George Costanza enters Jerry’s apartment to inform his friend that he has just gotten a job at the New York Yankees. Jerry, of course, can’t believe it and says incredulously –

“Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle … Constanza?”

That’s pretty close to how I feel about this weekend’s induction into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. Believe me, I have no problem if many are saying “Maravich, Guidry, Manning, Saban … Marshall?”

The Hall of Fame choses a select group of outstanding athletes each year – it’s always an impressive list – plus others who have contributed to the state’s sports landscape during their careers. In this case, I’m an “other” and will be a recipient of a Distinguished Service Award for sports media. It definitely isn’t for throwing a touchdown on a screen pass for the only points in the 1976 state championship game (although as screen passes go, it wasn’t bad.)

Saturday night’s program will be a full one with lots of the state’s sports figures to celebrate. It is well orchestrated for television (it’s on LPB) and the last thing they need is some media hack giving a speech and how he learned about the perils of splitting an infinitive.

And I’m not being inducted for my marvelous oratory skills, so nobody’s missing out. But I do feel the need to express some thoughts and feelings, so if I had been asked to give a speech, it would have gone something like this:

“Since it’s because of words – written and spoken – as to why I’m here tonight, here are two to get this started –

“Honored.

“Humbled.

“And by the way, it’s a tie between those two as to which one hits the tape first.

“It’s an honor to be in this class of inductees, but far more of an honor to be among those who came before me in the state’s media. These are people I have admired and who I consider giants of our state’s media.

“It’s humbling to think that this could have even happened in the first place.

“Years ago, when I was president of the Louisiana Sports Writers Association, I remember coming to these events to hand out plaques to recipients such as the NFL’s Charles Alexander and the NBA’s Calvin Natt.

“And now, someone’s going to hand ME a plaque? Does not compute.

“I don’t feel very far removed from the young whipper-snapper who wrote 2,000-word game stories on a meaningless Huntington-Parkway football game and got away with it. I did that because I was allowed to. I was surrounded by a cast of sportswriters at the old Shreveport Journal that was the greatest collection of talent that a mid-sized paper could have ever had. Any city, any state. You had to bring it every day, every byline.

“Though I had no reason to think that I’d do anything other than have a 40-year career as a sportswriter and then retire, I am thankful that I was afforded the ability to explore my creativity in ways I had never thought of before.

“That helped led to a three-decade career in sports radio as well as to a career in journalism-based educational instruction, neither of which I was necessarily qualified for. The ultimate ‘fake it ‘til you make it.’

“I like to say that in my heart, I have always been a sportswriter, even though I haven’t been one on a full-time basis for more than 30 years.

“I started this by saying I’m honored and humbled by this. But there is actually another word that may be even more apropos: fortunate.

“Fortunate to be surrounded by colleagues, friends and, most importantly, family who had supported me as I branched out into something new to explore that next creative challenge. The 2,000-word game stories may have disappeared, but the creativity that goes into them never leaves you.

“Which is good news for me because I’m not done. There’s always another story to tell. And I want to tell it.”

Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com

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By JONATHON ZENK, Written for the LSWA

NATCHITOCHES — The power of family and relationships was on full display during Thursday afternoon’s introductory press conference for the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026.

The inductees shared their gratitude and fondness for the state that helped them the people they are today and led them to be enshrined in the state’s athletic hall of fame, the top honors an athlete from Louisiana can receive.

The 10 inductees speaking, as well as former New Orleans Saints legend Joe Horn and LSU  women’s basketball great Sylvia Fowles, are being officially enshrined Saturday evening.

Family came up during everybody’s speech, but not everybody works with a family member, which is exactly what Shreveport’s John James Marshall does. He co-hosts with his older brother Ben on “SportsTalk with J.J. and Bonzai Ben,” the longest-running sports talk show in the state.

“It’s easy arguing with my brother for an hour,” Marshall, who is being awarded the Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism, said. “We grew up doing that. He’s a Red Sox fan and I grew up as a Yankees fan—until (former New York Yankees owner George) Steinbrenner came along. We argued about Yankee-Red Sox things our entire lives.

“If I was talking with (fellow 2026 inductee) Warren Morris, I’d be very careful what I said to Warren Morris. With your brother, you can say anything you want at any time and not worry it is going to offend him. And he does the same to me.”

As an accomplished sportswriter as well, Marshall always has that in him.

“I’ve done a lot of writing, and I’ve done a lot of talking, and now I try to find a way to combine both of those.”

While Marshall works with his brother, former Florien High girls basketball head coach Dewain Strother was able to coach his granddaughters, leading them to a state semifinal appearance in his 39^th and final season three years ago.

“Who would have ever thought you’d be coaching long enough to coach your grandchildren?,” Strother asked. “I was able to coach my daughter and while I didn’t coach my son, I coached him at home. After my grandchildren were done playing, I knew it was time to go.”

Strother, who has the second-most wins nationally with 1,235 and is the all-time state leader in girls basketball coaching victories, led Florien to six state championships, five runner-up finishes and 21 semifinal appearances.

Legendary Northwestern State basketball coach Mike McConathy had his two sons play for the Demons as he continued the legacy left behind by his father.

While a great player in his own right, ‘Coach Mike’ received words of wisdom from his father, N-Club Hall of Famer Johnny McConathy, at a young age.

After the younger McConathy was a fourth-round NBA Draft pick after starring at Louisiana Tech, he was cutting yards in Bossier City waiting for training camp, and told his father that he bet no other NBA picks were doing that.

“He told me, ‘Son, you can take that draft choice down to the coffee shop and coffee is still 35 cents a cup.’

“He was saying to me that I am who I am and I am no better than anyone else,” said McConathy.

McConathy, through his time at Bossier Parish CC and NSU, is the state’s all-time coaching wins leader (682) for college basketball. He led the Demons to unprecedented heights, notably three NCAA Tournament berths, including two wins, with one coming in an upset of third-seeded Iowa on a corner 3-pointer from Jermaine Wallace.

Like McConathy, former LSU men’s basketball coach John Brady came into a program down on its luck and turned it around in a quick fashion.

In his third season, he guided the Tigers to the Sweet 16, led by Shreveport native Stromile Swift.

During the 2005-06 season, the team had to deal with the adversity of Hurricane Katrina, and it only strengthened an already-strong bond between the team members, as five of the players were from Baton Rouge and two more were from close by.

All they did was knock off No. 1 Duke on their way to the Final Four behind Baton Rouge natives Glen Davis, Tyrus Thomas and Garrett Temple.

“We were displaced after Katrina hit,” Brady said. “We had to practice at different facilities, but because that group was so close, they tried to do something for the state to be proud of and they took them to the Final Four.”

While Jonathan Lucroy is originally from Florida, he made a name for himself in Louisiana to start his career, setting records at UL Lafayette, and eventually became a two-time All-Star in MLB and a gold medalist in the 2017 World Baseball Classic for Team USA.

He looks back at his time at UL with fond memories, making it to the NCAA regionals twice in three seasons with the Ragin’ Cajuns. He credited his late coach for that success and being a cornerstone for him and all the players he encountered at UL.

“Coach Tony Robichaux is a Hall of Famer here,” Lucroy said. “Outside of family, he is probably the most influential man in my life, and most every player he has had says that. It’s a special thing when you have a special coach and he was very impactful in my life. If it wasn’t for playing for him, I never would have made it to the big leagues.”

Like Lucroy, Warren Morris also made it to the big leagues and won a medal with Team USA. The Alexandria native owns an Olympic bronze medal in the 1996 Atlanta Games, a few weeks after the most pivotal swing of his life.

Morris, who will receive the Louisiana Sports Ambassador Award, made his biggest mark for LSU in the bottom of the ninth inning of the 1996 College World Series championship game. He hit a game-winning homer for the Tigers.

He is only the third ever recipient of the Louisiana Sports Ambassador Award, which combines athletic involvement with advocacy of the state.

“As a young man, I never really thought the home run would be something we still talk about 30 years later,” Morris said. “I remember the next day, we were walking through the airport to fly back to Baton Rouge, I remember seeing my picture on the front page of the Omaha paper. I thought ‘That’s awesome that they put me on the front page.’”

For years, there’s been a statue of Morris in Omaha commemorating his historic blast.

While baseball was the first love for Todd McClure, the Baton Rouge native made a name for himself in football for LSU and in the NFL.

After All-America honors with the Tigers, McClure was a 14-year veteran at center for the Atlanta Falcons, blocking for quarterbacks such as Michael Vick and Matt Ryan.

A seventh-round draft pick in 1999, he had an unfortunate beginning to his career, as he tore his ACL during training camp as a rookie, but came back and carved out a sensational career and earning a spot on the Falcons Ring of Honor.

McClure, who loved LSU throughout his life, did not think his dream of being a Tiger would come true.

“Early on, I wasn’t a very physical kid,” McClure said. “I remember my dad getting on me about not wanting to hit anybody or be physical. But one day, it clicked.

“I was a tight end/defensive end in high school,” he said, remembering his move to center at LSU, and a preseason major injury to the starter there. “I was told ‘McClure, you’re in.’ I had a training camp and eight games to get ready for the SEC. At the end of the season, coach (Gerry) Dinardo told me I had a future in the NFL.”

One of the guys McClure blocked in the NFL was Monroe native and resident Pat Williams, who was a massive defensive tackle for the Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings, where he was part of the ‘Williams Wall’ with Kevin Williams.

Williams was key on a defense that was either No. 1 or No. 2 in opposing yards per carry from 2006-08 and in the top 10 every year from 2006-10.

He was awarded 37 game balls throughout his NFL career.

“I got my first one from (Pro Football Hall of Famer) Bruce Smith,” Williams said. “Ted Washington got hurt and I came in and got three sacks.”

Williams’ first taste in playing organized football came after seeing his friends walking down the street with pads and then asking his mom if he could sign up. She said yes, and the rest is history.

Gil LeBreton, who will also be awarded the Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism, grew up in New Orleans and graduated from LSU to become a goliath in the industry. He spent 50 years as a writer and columnist and covered 26 Super Bowls, 16 Olympics and 13 World Series.

Even though he spent 37 years at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, his roots remained back home.

“LSU was so important in my life and career,” LeBreton said. “After serving in the Vietnam War, I decided I am going to use the G.I. Bill to get a degree in journalism at LSU. Those years, working for (former LSU SID) Paul Manasseh, working with those people you got to meet. Out of the first 12 recipients of the distinguished service award, I worked with eight of them.”

Kathy Holloway is the recipient of the Dave Dixon Louisiana Sports Leadership Award. The Rapides Parish native and resident was the first woman president of the Louisiana High School Coaches Association and a few years later, broke the glass ceiling as leader of the  National High School Coaches Association.

She received the news of her selection a bit different from everybody else, at a Christmas Eve program at her church in Pineville.

“(Louisiana Sports Writers Association president John Marcase) is in our church and asked to speak at the service. My son, the pastor, was delighted. John said, ‘Many of you know her as the pastor’s mother’ and  asked me to come to the podium. John announced it and I was shocked. It was a really sweet time.”

Before she was the president of the high school coaches association, she was a terrific basketball coach at Tioga High School. But she moved into an administrative role and quickly became prominent statewide in that capacity.

“A lady from Thibodaux saw there was a committee on girls athletics,” she said. “She wanted to know who was on the committee and no one was on it. The LHSCA president appointed me, the woman who wrote the letter and (Jennings coach) Charlotte Creed to serve on that committee. So that was the start of it.”

The Class of 2026 all have different stories, but they all share pride and roots in the state of Louisiana.

“I’ve lived in different places, and I’ve been to other places, but there is no place like this,” Morris said.

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By J.A. ANGLIN, Centenary Gents head basketball coach

I am excited to be attending the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Natchitoches Saturday night. They have an all-star class and it is only right that Coach Mike McConathy is a major part of it.

I heard all the stories of how great of a player Coach McConathy was from my father. They attended Louisiana Tech together during some historic years at their university.

I grew up in a football household. My father won two state championships at Haynesville High School and two national championships at Louisiana Tech. Football was life.

When I have reflected about my journey as a coach in college basketball, I have often wondered why I chose to play and coach basketball. The only conclusion I can come to is Coach Mike’s influence.

I attended the majority of his camps at Bossier Parish Community College and Northwestern State as a child. I watched his teams compete at Northwestern State and even saw the Demons play in the Gold Dome several times as a kid. He is someone my father always held in high regard. We followed his teams religiously.

After attending the Southland Conference Championship Game in Natchitoches in 2005, I decided that there was only one school I wanted to attend and there was only one coach I wanted to play for.

I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to play for him. We were extremely competitive in my time with him (historic NCAA Tournament upset over Iowa, two conference championships and three conference tournament championship appearances). We were held to the highest standard on and off the court.

We were expected to play the right way, his way, together. The strength of our team was our team. It would have been hard for us to play another way when we constantly saw him picking up trash around Prather Coliseum, mopping the floor, or striping parking lots. He was a servant leader in the finest form.

Losing was not acceptable, but neither was missing class. I think that is evident in his 90 percent graduation rate. To him, basketball was a big part of all of our lives, but it was not the biggest part. Basketball was just a vehicle that was preparing us for life after basketball. He wanted us to be leaders of our families and communities. Proof provided with all the leaders and head coaches he has produced at all levels in all walks of life.

Coach Mike stayed true to his Louisiana roots throughout his career. He represented his home state as a player at Louisiana Tech. He continued to show loyalty as he coached at Bossier Parish and Northwestern. Louisiana took priority in all of his recruiting classes. He left no stone unturned on the recruiting trail.

Coach Mike has stayed in touch during all of my coaching stops throughout my career, something that is not common for everyone’s college coach. He still calls to recommend players that he saw in the middle-of-nowhere Louisiana on a random Tuesday night. When he’s not on a tractor or cutting grass, I’ll often see him in the gym, watching a high school game.

He’s always around somewhere. I always put my shopping cart back when I finish grocery shopping. I do my best to park between the lines every time I park my car. That’s what he expected us to do. The small things matter the most. Doing the right thing all the time always took priority.

Coach Mike has definitely left his mark on the state of Louisiana. There are very few, if any, who have done more for the game of basketball in our state. Several championships won, but endless lives impacted! Congratulations Coach! Looking forward to seeing you go in the Hall of Fame Saturday night!

Contact Coach Anglin at janglin@centenary.edu

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By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports

The straw hat. The overalls. A weed eater, and a rake.

At other times, a wet mop, or a paint brush. In another setting, a spatula, griddle, and serving dishes.

Some of the tools of the trade for Louisiana’s all-time winningest college basketball coach.

Yes, Mike McConathy also relied on dry erase boards, whistles, and video replay equipment as he led teams at Bossier Parish Community College for 16 seasons, then the next 23 at Northwestern State.

But “Coach Mike” approached his role differently. He was not just breaking down tape and building teams. He was building two programs, one from scratch and the other from the doldrums, and fundamental to the process was lifting up everyone involved or in the vicinity.

It’s his coaching resume that has earned him induction in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, upcoming Saturday in his adopted hometown of Natchitoches. The Saturday night ceremony at the Natchitoches Events Center, carried live on LPB, culminates seven events that began Thursday. For information and purchases for the four ticketed events, visit LaSportsHall.com or call 318-332-8539.

The credentials are impeccable. He was a prep All-American guard at Airline High School, pursued by Dale Brown at LSU and future NBA coach John McLeod at Oklahoma, but ultimately choosing between his father’s alma mater, Northwestern, and Louisiana Tech, where one of his dad’s best coaching pals, Scotty Robertson, was head coach – and near the family’s roots outside of Bryceland in Bienville Parish.

He became one of Tech’s great players, combining his genetics – his father John was the No. 5 pick in the 1951 NBA Draft – with a relentless work ethic.

Retired NBA and college coach Tim Floyd was a Bulldog teammate.

“I have never seen the drive Mike had in any other player on any level. Looking back, I realize that the things we coaches try to emphasize each day to our players are the things that Mike did back then. He was completely self-made and his numbers each year reflected how hard he was working. He could have started for North Carolina, UCLA or anybody else.”

By the time McConathy’s career (1973-77) ended at Tech, he was a two-time all-conference pick, conference “Player of the Year,” honorable mention AP All-America and his name was splashed throughout the record book. He scored 2,033 points, tied the school record for points in a single game with 47 and is the only Bulldog to score 41 or more points in a game six times.

After making it to the last cut with the Chicago Bulls, and briefly playing in Europe, McConathy turned to his life’s work – influencing lives through teaching and coaching.

His 682 wins (330 at Northwestern State in 23 seasons, 352 in 16 seasons after starting the Bossier Parish CC program) tops any state college coach in men’s or women’s basketball. McConathy’s overall 330-373 mark at NSU included a winning record (220-203) in Southland Conference games against peer opponents while he led the Demons into 117 guarantee games bringing in over $5 million to the school’s athletic budget — including road wins at Auburn, Oklahoma State, Mississippi State, UTEP and neutral-court victories over Oregon State and most notably, beating 15th-ranked Iowa in the 2006 NCAA Tournament.

His 43-year coaching career began as girls coach at Airline High, before he launched the Bossier Parish CC program, initially playing home games at Airline. Following 16 seasons literally driving the team bus while building the Cavaliers into one of the more successful NJCAA programs, including seven seasons of 23-plus wins, in March 1999 he took over a Demons’ program with only five winning seasons and no postseason trips in 24 years of Division I history.

The junior college coach didn’t gut the roster and bring in a horde of transfers. Without a roster makeover, McConathy led Northwestern to the Southland Conference championship game to cap his first season, then won that contest the next March to earn the first of four postseason tournament appearances (NCAA 2001, Opening Round win over Winthrop; NCAA 2006, No. 14 seed First Round upset of No. 3 seed and Big Ten Tournament champ Iowa; NCAA 2013, First Round loss to eventual NCAA champion Florida) and the 2014 CIT.

His NSU teams made seven Southland championship game appearances (four straight from 2005-08) and graduated 90 percent of his players. Five current or former Division I head coaches, including Maryland’s Buzz Williams, were part of his NSU staffs. So were two current college head coaches in Shreveport-Bossier:  BPCC’s Jeff Moore and Rodney Broughton at Southern-Shreveport, and Centenary’s J.A. Anglin played for McConathy’s Demons.

He is in the Louisiana Tech and Northwestern athletic halls of fame, the Ark-La-Tex Museum of Champions and NSU’s Hall of Distinguished Educators — he served as an active faculty member during his 23 seasons.

Understandably, the Prather Coliseum court was officially named for him Feb. 15, 2025, with close to 200 family, former players, coaches, and staff members gathered on the floor during the halftime ceremony.

How best to describe him?

“He’s unassuming,” said James Smith, who was Northwestern’s highly-successful women’s coach during McConathy’s first five years with the Demons.

“Mike is about people. He looks at others before he looks at himself,” said Smith, who won 340 games in 17 seasons with the Lady Demons.

“Examples of that run amok. Before the games, home AND road, he’s up in the stands, shaking hands, thanking people for showing up. If need be, at halftime, he would mop the floor.

“I enjoyed home games, because I always got my office vacuumed. He’d do that on game days – he couldn’t sit there looking at tape. He wanted to be doing something useful, something to help somebody else,” said Smith. “He comes way second, third or fourth, when it comes to people. If you’re around him very much, you can’t help but like him. You’re drawn to him because he’s so sincere, so laid-back and easy-going.”

McConathy was, and still is at age 71, a servant-leader. He continues teaching a Sunday school class at First Baptist Church in Natchitoches, his involvement in prayer groups, his daily morning devotional e-mails, and lending a hand however he can to help a friend or a community group.

Four years after his college coaching days ended, he’s in his second year as a special assistant to NSU president Jimmy Genovese, primarily focused on recruiting – general students, not simply basketball players.

That often takes him to high school gymnasiums, stadiums, and athletic events – or the office of a guidance counselor, principal or the teachers’ lounge, asking about students looking for a college destination.

He remembers being a late-bloomer, nicknamed “Opie” for his tousled red hair and slight build that reminded schoolmates of Ronnie Howard’s character on the iconic 1960s “Andy Griffith Show.”

“It all started because I fell in love with the game when I was a kid. I just thought it was normal to turn the lights on outside at our house and keep shooting at night, then get in a gym any time I could,” said McConathy, who came from off the radar to rank among 100 U.S. prep players named Sunkist All-America in 1973.

“What I accomplished was through having a passion for the game. Even when I was playing at Tech and things were going well, I always had this desire to work harder than the day before.”

Hard work remained a cornerstone. Symbolic of that, when his Demons were winning back-to-back Southland Conference championships in 2005 and 2006, McConathy donned a hard hat in a locker room talk to his team – then began wearing it in his pregame travels through the stands at Prather Coliseum.

When janitors didn’t have time to sufficiently wet mop or even sweep the court, there he was, sometimes in his game gear, taking care of it. When the campus grounds crew was overwhelmed and didn’t have the grass trimmed around the arena before a Lady Demon basketball camp, there was “Coach Mike,” in straw hat, long sleeves and overalls, with assistants if needed, doing what was needed. It didn’t stop there – or even, on campus.

Smith had been cooking breakfast for his players on game days for a few years when McConathy arrived. The new coach asked if his team could join in – starting a routine that extended to hotels on SLC road doubleheader mornings, and resulted in the renovation of a concession stand at Prather into a fully-functional kitchen.

“Bonds were formed between the teams. Mike was always up for doing the work and getting his staff involved,” said Smith. “We also did the Sixth Man Club, TV shows, radio shows – his idea, ‘let’s do it together,’ and he was always wanting to include us – include everybody, really.”

The mantra for his program was “Championship Basketball – With a Purpose.”

He was a leader in the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches, helping spearhead an annual free kids clinic in Baton Rouge. He engaged the Demons with local and area schools, promoting literacy and other educational activities. The National Association of Basketball Coaches gave him its Pillar of the Game for Education Award in 2013 for a program NSU pioneered with junior high students at Zwolle High School near Toledo Bend, 45 miles west of Natchitoches.

One of his most staggering credentials is the Demons’ 90 percent graduation rate during his career, when other Division I programs were graduating players at less than half that. His NSU program consistently topped the Southland and nearly every state program in the NCAA’s two surveys of academic achievement.

“So many times we get caught up in the fact we are teaching kids to play games,” McConathy said. “If we don’t teach those kids to be young men and what’s right and what’s wrong, and that as people we need to reach out to those in trouble, we have failed as coaches and teachers. There is more to life than the game.”

For all of McConathy’s endeavors off the court, what NSU and BPCC accomplished in competition will also stand any test of time. Bossier Parish had to overcome well-established and well-funded opponents in Texas and Mississippi to succeed, and emerged as a regional powerhouse. Northwestern was never near the top half of budgets in the state or Southland, but with rosters brimming with in-state products, the Demons had sustained success with “Coach Mike.”

In the brightest spotlight, after his team knocked off Iowa, CBS Sports analyst Bill Raftery pegged it perfectly.

“Mike is remarkably relaxed in this pressure cooker. You can tell his players hold a reverence toward him. If you didn’t meet him, you’d think he was too good to be true,” said Raftery, who was courtside for the Iowa win. “He’s a quality human being, more concerned about his kids getting through school and doing well in life than anything else, and they know it.”

A few weeks later, McConathy was spotted weed-eating outside of Prather Coliseum.

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

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BOM Bank was proud to have a full crew attend the Annual Evergreen Life Services Banquet, Masquerade in the Quarter. This wonderful event raised funds to support Evergreen Life Services’ mission of providing essential services and opportunities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities throughout our community. We are honored to support organizations that make a meaningful difference in the lives of others and help create a more inclusive, supportive future for all. Pictured left to right: BOM’s Sam Marvin, Drew Baker, Ireland Slocum, Melinda Williams, Eldeen Potter, LaToya Braziel, Jessica Ammons, and Catie Colvin.

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Harriet “Crickett” Doogan, born on October 8, 1948, in Shreveport, Louisiana, passed away peacefully on June 2, 2026, in Woodstock, Georgia. She was 77 years old.

Harriet is survived by her devoted husband of 54 years, Patrick Doogan, and their two sons, Todd and Corey. Her family meant the world to her, and she will be deeply missed by all who knew her.

Harriet’s memory will live on in the hearts of her loved ones. As they grieve her loss, they hold onto the hope of being reunited with her one day. May her memory bring comfort and peace to those who cherished her. 

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“A Legacy of True Love, Compassion, Faith and Service”

Grace Mae Hall Jenkins was born on February 22, 1933, to the parents of Lottie Mae Hudson and Willie Garland in Benton, Louisiana. She and her siblings were raised by their mother and stepfather Morris Hall, with Grace being the baby of the family. Grace married Grady T. Jenkins and to this union, eight children were born. She is preceded in death by her mother, Lottie; father, Willie; step-father, Morris; husband, Grady; son, Vernon Bruce Jenkins; sisters: Fannie Mae Garland Mills, Ola Mae Garland Hart, Willa Mae Garland Muldrew, Willie T. Smith, Marie Garland Hall Robinson, Sally Garland Hall Manning, Dorothy Garland Hall Williams, Hattie Garland Hall and Gladys Garland Hall; brother: Willie Lee Garland Hall; grand children: LaWanda Blake, Akeerah Blake, Germaine Vinson, Terric Glover, Sharon LaKishia Blake; aunt: Julie Hudson Jones; uncle; Tom Hudson; and ALL of her first cousins.

Grace graduated from the Bossier Parish Training Center. After having eight children, she attended nursing school and became an LPN. Eight years later, she received her RN license and became a supervisor at LSU Medical Center in Shreveport where she worked in Pediatric and then the Renal Transplant Unit. In 1986, while working as Flex RN for LSU Medical Center, she transferred to Shreveport Mental Health Center until retiring in 1998. However, she couldn’t stop, so she decided to continue to work for LSU Medical Center (10 Psych) until finally retiring again on November 29, 2011. She stated, “I had 44 years of happy, enjoyable, loving days. I loved my job. I loved caring for and helping others, as I cared for and helped myself. I worked rain, sunshine, sleet and snow. (with transportation assistance during bad weather from Bossier and Caddo Police Departments).” After retiring from the hospital, she volunteered yearly assisting the American Red Cross with Flu and Pneumonia Vaccines working as a Disaster Nurse. She worked with the Mental Health Association Compeer Program (teaching
3rd graders in Bossier and Caddo Parish how to navigate difficult life transitions, promoting positive decision-making, and self-esteem). She worked as the nurse for the group home on Brownlee Road in Bossier City and on Palmetto Road in Benton. She was Secretary/Treasurer for Benton’s Metropolitan Planning Commission and worked at the Polling Station in Benton. She served as a prison ministry volunteer for Bossier Max and Caddo CCC from 1988 until her health failed. Also, as a retired RN, she went around Benton nursing and caring for others in the community.

Grace confessed Christ at an early age at Macedonia B. C. where she was a Choir Member and Sunday School Teacher. In 1994, she became a founding member of Abundant Life Christian Church. There, she maintained her membership and and attended every church service while continuing support Macedonia as a Sunday School teacher and occasionally attending Greenwood Acres FGBC. She was an inspiration to many. Some followed in her footsteps and became Nurses. Those who encountered her, loved her energy, her expressions of love, her genuine kindness, her compassion, her words of encouragement, her heart of giving, her sense of humor, and yes– the way she kicked her leg up.

She had an amazing love for her siblings. When their health failed, she was there. As an RN, she believed it was her place to step in and see that they had the best care and she did it joyfully. Her favorite words to her grands, great-grands, great great-grands and all other children were: “I like your eyes, I like your nose, I like your mouth, I like your hair, I like your smile, and I LOVEEEE YOU!”. She believed that words are powerful, that you can speak life into the kids. They loved it and they believed it and they loved her.

Mother Grace leaves to cherish her memory… seven children : Daphne Jenkins Coleman, Helen Jenkins McConnell, Wanda Jenkins Hunter, Gregory Lamar Jenkins (Wardena), Marilyn Jenkins Anderson, Winnifred Jenkins Robinson (Keith), and KaSandra Jenkins Frederick: 33 grandchildren; and host of great- grands, and great great-grands; One Step-Son, Wiley Hudson {Cindy); One Step Daughter, Edwina Carr; Two Special Children, Taulese Freeman and Kelli Mims.

Celebrating her loving memories are also her nieces, nephews, cousins, dear friends, and associates. Mother Grace’s life is a testament to Our Heavenly Father’s faithfulness, goodness, and divine promise of eternal peace and of an expected end to all who believe.

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Phonetic: /des·​ic·​cat·​ed/

Part of Speech: Adjective

Definition

dried up
a desiccated landscape

preserved by drying
a cup of desiccated coconut

all around were barrels of dried apples and apricots, shriveled and desiccated …
—Margaret Laurence

drained of emotional or intellectual vigor or vitality

Singer’s utilitarianism is so dry and desiccated that it drains the drama from philosophy.
—George Will

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Betty L. Duvall
January 24, 1939 – June 23, 2026
Service: Friday, June 26, 2026, 3pm at Osborn Funeral Home, Shreveport.

Patricia Sanders Link
February 25, 1940 – June 23, 2026
Service: Sunday, June 28, 2026, 1:30pm at Centuries Memorial Funeral Home, Shreveport.

Matthew Scott Thrash
January 31, 2001 – June 23, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 10:30am at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Shreveport.

Renee Vaughn
April 11, 1972 – June 23, 2026
Service: Monday, June 29, 2026, 11am at Centuries Memorial Funeral Home, Shreveport.

Sandra Jean Dolan
July 14, 1940 – June 22, 2026
Service: Friday, June 26, 2026, 10:30am at Centuries Memorial Funeral Home, Shreveport.

Marilyn Geneva Lee Parker
September 17, 1932 – June 21, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 12:30pm at Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Church, Shreveport.

Janie Mae Smith
October 25, 1925 – June 21, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 10am at Baptist Temple Baptist Church, Shreveport.

Gabrielle Johnson Aziz
Sep 28, 1987 — Jun 20, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 3pm at Winnfield Funeral Home, Shreveport.

Dr. Edward Gary Chumley
November 26, 1944 — June 20, 2026
Service: Friday, June 26, 2026, 2pm at Rose-Neath Funeral Home Southside, Shreveport.

Mark Page, Jr.
August 1, 1954 – June 20, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 1pm at Good Samaritan Funeral Home, Shreveport.

Phillip Ray Semon
May 27, 1942 – June 20, 2026
Service: Saturday, July 11, 2026, 11am at Kings Highway Christian Church, Shreveport.

Karen M. Bryant
May 19, 1969 – June 19, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 11am at Colquitt Baptist Church, Vivian.

Dorothy Ann Jones
April 25, 1950 – June 19, 2026
Service: Monday, June 29, 2026, 11am at Bethlehem Baptist Church Cemetery, Shreveport.

Captain Linda Ann Kinchen
October 28, 1951 – June 19, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 2pm at Mount Paran Baptist Church, Shreveport.

Frances Shofner
November 20, 1953 – June 19, 2026
Service: Wednesday, July 1, 2026, 11am at Centuries Memorial Park, Shreveport.

Tina Ann Nichols
September 15, 1968 – June 18, 2026
Service: Friday, June 26, 2026, 11am at Osborn Funeral Home, Shreveport.

Earnest Ray Smith
June 20, 1957 – June 18, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 11am at New Bethel Baptist Church, Shreveport.

Billie Jean Webster
August 18, 1934 – June 18, 2026
Service: Friday, June 26, 2026, 11am at Hurricane Bluff Church, Shreveport.

Emma Lee Flanagan Davis
May 15, 1940 — Jun 16, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 1pm at Whites Temple Church of God In Christ, Shreveport.

William Washington Sr.
March 12, 1961 – June 16, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 3pm at Benevolent Funeral Home, Shreveport.

Thelma N. Harris
June 11, 1943 – June 15, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 11am at Zion Baptist Church – John H. Wilson Chapel, Shreveport.

John Brennan Hussey
May 29, 1934 – June 15, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 11am at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, Shreveport.

Harriet Nelson Williams
December 24, 1934 – June 15, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 1pm at Morning Star Baptist Church, Shreveport.

Marcus Darrell Hays, Jr.
September 24, 2006 — June 14, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 11am at Elizabeth Baptist Church, Benton.

Virginia Ann Sims Russell
November 30, 1947 – June 14, 2026
Service: Friday, June 26, 2026, 3pm at Centuries Memorial Park, Shreveport.

Mary Venus “Lizzie” Brown
October 4, 1929 – June 13, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 11am at Good Samaritan Funeral Home, Shreveport.

Joyce Marie Davis McKeever
April 13, 1943 – June 13, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 11am at Shiloh Baptist Church, Mooringsport.

Janice LaRue Horton
June 15, 1942 – June 12, 2026
Service: Friday, August 28, 2026, 5pm at Osborn Funeral Home, Shreveport.

Kathleen G. Mosley
March 9, 1946 – June 12, 2026
Service: Tuesday, June 30, 2026, 1pm at White Temple Church of God in Christ, Shreveport.

Glen Ross Salvaggio
October 17, 1948 – June 12, 2026
Service: Monday, July 6, 2026, 10:30am at Northwest Louisiana Veterans Cemetery, Keithville.

Kenneth Smith
March 21, 1975 – June 12, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 1pm at Saint Abraham Baptist Church, Shreveport.

Frederick Adolphus Collins
December 6, 1961 – June 11, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 11am at Heavenly Gates Funeral Home, Shreveport.

LaToya Collins
August 18, 1982 – June 11, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 11am at Roundgrove Cemetery, Shreveport.

Leo Jones
October 11, 1942 — June 10, 2026
Service: Thursday, July 2, 2026, 2am at Winnfield Funeral Home, Shreveport.

Florence L. Vinson
February 27, 1938 – June 10, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 11am at Apostolic Miracle Temple, Shreveport.

Lee Otis Ceasar
January 15, 1965 – June 9, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 1pm at Heavenly Gates Funeral Home, Shreveport.

Karris Verdell Hayes
September 6, 1969 – June 9, 2026
Service: Friday, June 26, 2026, 10:30am at Northwest Louisiana Veterans Cemetery, Keithville.

Willie Lee Housley, III
March 25, 1966 – June 9, 2026
Service: Friday, June 26, 2026, 11am at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, Shreveport.

Loyce Mae Singer
December 22, 1943 – June 9, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 12pm at Lake Bethlehem Baptist Church Cemetery, Shreveport.

Gregory Q. Dawson
September 11, 1958 – June 7, 2026
Service: Saturday, June 27, 2026, 1pm at Benevolent Funeral Home, Shreveport.

William Gene Fann
January 15, 1943 — June 5, 2026
Service: Sunday, July 12, 2026, 2pm at The American Legion Post 14, Shreveport.

R

Rita Roberta Poling
? – May 4, 2026
Service: Saturday, July 11, 2026, 10am at St. George’s Episcopal Church, Bossier City. 

The Shreveport-Bossier Journal publishes paid obituaries – unlimited words and a photo, as well as unlimited access.

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By JIM BUTLER

Published tallies show state senators voted yes on Governor Jeff Landry’s plan to retain teacher stipends in the upcoming fiscal year. 

House counts readily available Wednesday evening did not detail how those members voted. 

Clearing both chambers gives the go ahead to Landry’s shift of $168 million in state money to school systems from other uses to the classroom. 

The proposal is subject of a lawsuit pending in East Baton Rouge Parish district court. 

Two-thirds of each chamber had to vote yes for the appropriation to proceed.

Thirty-seven of 39 senators did so, according to published reports. One abstained and one, Neil Riser, a Democrat of Columbia, said no. 

Seventy votes were needed in the 195-member House side. The plan received 76. 

Eight representatives, all Democrats, said no and one abstained. Twenty members did not vote, according to published information.

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Shreveport Regional Airport has opened a new Interactive Visitors Center in the airport lobby near baggage claim.

Airport officials joined Visit Shreveport-Bossier and the Regional Air Service Alliance for a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the center’s opening.

The center provides travelers with information about local attractions, events, dining, hotels and other offerings throughout the Shreveport-Bossier area.

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Calvary softball’s national championship finally becomes official

By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports

It wasn’t a big surprise, but it was a huge relief.

Calvary softball All-State junior infielder Baylor Bockhaus broke the long-awaited news to her coach, Tiffany Frazier Wood, about 12:30 Wednesday afternoon.

The Lady Cavaliers held on to the national No. 1 ranking in the MaxPreps.com high school softball top 25 poll finalized Thursday. They’d been in the top spot for nearly two months, even before winning their sixth straight state title. That and their final 37-1 record earned a first-ever national championship.

It’s the first MaxPreps national softball crown for a Louisiana team in the 15-year-history of the poll. In any sport, it’s the first national championship this century for a local school. Evangel’s unbeaten 1999 football team was a consensus national champ with No. 1 rankings in five of eight polls and that is believed to be the only other Shreveport-Bossier team to finish at the top in the country.

“I felt relieved the final standings held, and then I was just so excited,” said Wood.

“I called my dad (Greg Frazier, an assistant coach) and he started crying. Been a little anxious waiting on that final ranking to come out, and since it has, it’s been unbelievably awesome.”

Right after Bockhaus called, Wood heard from avid Cavalry supporter Clint Hortman and many more. She took a few moments to access the MaxPreps website and read the official announcement and watch the site’s video report.

Quickly she went to the team’s GroupMe text circle, offering congratulations and advice.

“Take a minute to enjoy it now,” she said. “We’re always on to the next thing, and a lot of them are doing travel ball this summer, but it’s important to take this in. It’s now official, how much they’ve been able to accomplish.”

Wood’s team outscored opponents by nearly 300 runs, 391-36.

Calvary’s dominant run came with a relatively young roster – the Lady Cavs return all but two seniors, two-time Miss Louisiana Softball winner Kynzee Anderson and all-district outfielder Abby Sims.

Anderson, a Georgia signee, posted a 30-1 pitching record with a 0.61 ERA and a staggering 318 strikeouts in 171 innings pitched. She set a state record with 129 career wins.

Bockhaus clubbed 21 home runs and collected an astounding 69 RBI, while leading Calvary with a .486 batting average.

Another All-State junior infielder, Loren Sivils, hit .462 with 60 RBI, cracking 15 homers. All-State freshman outfielder Brynn Robinson batted .470 with 30 RBI and stole 13 of 14 bases.

Three more Calvary standouts, all juniors, were honorable mention Class 2A All-State. Carlie Guile was disruptive on the bases, with 28 steals in 30 attempts to go with a .431 batting average and 34 RBI. Reese Walker hit .425 and also drove in 34 runs. Mallory Carver brought home 44 runners and hit .347.

Wood, whose 400^th career win came in the Select Division III state championship game win over Parkview Baptist, was thrilled by the scope of the national title.

“To represent Louisiana, to represent this part of the state, this community and of course this school is an incredible feeling,” she said. “It’s a program me and my dad have built, with great support, and it’s taken so much time, effort and energy, from the kids who came before this team to raise the standard, to the kids on this team who have been a part of the past state  championships, the time and pride they’ve put in.”

Every champion gets asked the same question after they’ve finished the season – can you repeat? With the national title secured, Wood did not back away from raising the stakes, saying another national title is in the bullseye for 2027.

“Yes. The answer is yes. That’s going to be our goal. The goal is always to win a state championship, and the added stuff is just extra goodness, but we have a really good group coming back and some young kids who have been waiting to get out and make an impact. This sets a tone, a standard we want to be at, and everybody’s hungry and excited to uphold this title.

“Everybody’s going to be coming for us – they already were – but to beat the Number 1 team in the nation would be really something. It’s a bigger target on our back. When you play for Calvary softball, you have to learn to expect that, and it kinda fuels the fire, keeps you going.”

A more immediate challenge: how to celebrate the MaxPreps title?

The 2026 seniors are headed off to college. The returning players are scattered around this summer. There’s a championship ring to design and get produced, along with banners, signs, commemorative gear … and until now, Wood hasn’t wanted to consider those plans.

“Lots of things will be in the works,” she said. “This could be a once-in-a-lifetime thing so you want to do it right for everyone.”

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

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Marshall’s ability to adjust his plan carried him alongside McConathy as a Hall of Famer

Over the last 50 years, a lot has been written about Bossier City’s Mike McConathy.

And a lot has been written by Shreveport’s John James Marshall.

JJ has written about Mike. They have actually shared a mic – at what used to be known as the Radio Ranch, KWKH. Same mic, different shows.

This weekend, they will have the shared experience of a Bayou State sports lifetime – induction in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

McConathy, who was a scrawny redhead nicknamed “Opie” when he got to Airline High School, left there as a high school All-American basketball star.

Marshall left Jesuit High School as an All-City third baseman, best remembered for throwing the winning touchdown pass in the 1976 Class 3A championship game, a 62-yarder, the only TD. His only completion in five attempts. A screen pass that All-State safety Greg Page, pinch-hitting at halfback, took to the south end zone midway through the second quarter.

Marshall did his part perfectly. Winnfield blitzed, as they had done repeatedly. He retreated, then just as the Tigers probably thought they were about to take down the Blue Flyers QB, he tossed the ball out to the right side to Page, who veered left and downfield. I watched, sitting behind the Jesuit bench with some Jonesboro-Hodge teammates..

That play, and that game, has nothing to do with J.J. joining McConathy and 10 others in the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026. When America was wrapping up its bicentennial year, Marshall was already writing a few stories on American Legion baseball, high school hoops and such as a correspondent for The Shreveport Times.

At that point, McConathy was lighting it up in Ruston at Memorial Gym for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. He was the 1975-76 Southland Conference Player of the Year as Emmett Hendricks’ team won the SLC title with a 9-1 mark.

Two years later, he made it to the last cut with the NBA’s Chicago Bulls. Told by coaches he was making the team, the front office decided otherwise. He headed to Europe to play pro ball. That didn’t take. The basketball part was OK, but across the pond there was no sweet tea, no Connie Herrmann (they’re in Year 48 of the marriage) and there was a career to start back home.

McConathy’s Hall of Fame resume’ is well documented, with the state record 682 college coaching wins, two at Northwestern in the NCAA Tournament, topping his long list of accomplishments.

Marshall doesn’t lack for credentials either; they’re just not well known. One of the fascinating aspects leading to his enshrinement is his versatility. Another attribute is resilience. The overriding characteristics: a passion for telling stories, and elite talent doing it.

Ron Higgins saw that first-hand when he was a Shreveport Journal teammate of Marshall’s in the early 1980s, and has enjoyed it over the past few years as a Shreveport-Bossier Journal colleague.

“J.J. is the best writer I’ve ever worked with,” said Higgins as the LSWA selection committee discussed a talent-laden field of nominees for the 2026 Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism. “Anywhere.”

That resonated with those who weren’t very familiar with Marshall, because they hadn’t read him much. Most of that segment of the committee had worked alongside or read Higgins during his years in south Louisiana. They also had recently elected him for the 2024 DSA and knew he had been both the Louisiana and Tennessee sportswriter of the year, and was the only Louisiana native elected president of the Football Writers Association of America.

J.J. dropped his accounting major at Louisiana Tech, declared for journalism and found purpose. Mentored by the late, great Wiley Hilburn, teamed with Teddy Allen and Greg Hilburn on the Tech Talk staff, he came home to join Jerry Byrd and Nico Van Thyn in the Journal newsroom. Very soon, he was cranking out not only LSWA award-winners, but capturing honors in nationwide contests.

“You couldn’t teach the creativity J.J. had,” Van Thyn said. 

As you know as an SBJ reader, that has not faded. At all.

But a decade into it, he stepped away from sportswriting. Given an ultimatum in 1993 to give up his daily radio show “Sports Talk with J.J. and Bonzai Ben” by his Shreveport Times editor, he said sayonara to scribing. Until this publication launched in January 2022, Marshall was not a regular published writer. Along with staying the sports talk show course, he’s been media director, instructor and many other things for Loyola.

The SBJ has provided a regular writing platform for him and a showcase of his greatest professional talent. He’s cashing winning tickets in LSWA writing contest every summer, and he’s getting better with age.

Saturday night, it becomes official with his Hall of Fame induction. What we’ve known will no longer be just our very bonifide opinion.

John James Marshall is as good as it gets. He is a legend of those who cover and talk about the games, and always will be.

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

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No deliberations needed: A slam dunk for Fowles to join her latest Hall of Fame

By C. KENT LOWE, Written for the LSWA

All I guess that the Louisiana Sports Writers Association can say Saturday night is, “we’re sorry.”

Almost always, we have been proud to start the run of big Hall of Fame inductions here in Natchitoches for stars of their games. But this time, the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame beat us to the punch last year.

Our rules for induction after retirement got a bit in the way, so we had to wait the requisite period of time before we could make the move. But Sylvia Fowles was on the LSHOF’s radar from the moment she announced her retirement and last August it was a lightning-quick decision that she would be the next women’s basketball standout to join our Hall.

Fowles is part of a 12-member Class of 2026 going into the LSHOF to culminate three days of festivities beginning today with seven events (six in Natchitoches, bowling in Alexandria). A free Welcome Reception at the Hall of Fame Museum (800 Front Street, Natchitoches) today from 5-7 p.m. kicks off the festivities.

For participation information on any event, visit LaSportsHall.com or call 318-238-4255.

Hall of Famers come in all shapes and sizes. When it comes to basketball Hall of Fame types, LSU’s longtime associate basketball coach Bob Starkey knows one when he sees one.

“When you talk about being a Hall of Famer, you’re talking about a complete body of work long term,” he said. “And when you look at what Sylvia’s done first on the collegiate level here at LSU, then you take it to the WNBA. You take it to her overseas basketball career and then her Olympic career.

“She’s been absolutely one of the best of the best at every single level for an extended period of time. To me, that’s what a Hall of Famer is. It’s not about having a good year or a good run. It’s about your entire career being elite.”

Hard to argue with that.

At LSU, she’s remembered for a lot of numbers like four straight NCAA Final Four appearances, averaging a double double, winning and winning big, a three-time All-American and more.

But what everyone at LSU will remind you about is “the dunk.” The night she became, at that time in 2007, just the sixth women’s player in college basketball to dunk the basketball in a game.

It was a simple play, so it seemed. And with due respect to my friends in Lafayette where the Ragin’ Cajun player may still have nightmares, Fowles came out to steal the ball near midcourt, gathered it up, dribbled down the court and right hand dunked it to the delight and maybe some amazement of the Maravich Center crowd.

“We had been begging her. I know I had been begging her (to dunk in a game),” said Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame teammate Seimone Augustus, who is now an LSU assistant coach. “Coach Starkey is the post coach so we were seeing it every day in practice she would have like a little dunk. It wasn’t too crazy, but it was a dunk. We were like why don’t you do it a game? She’s just like, if you know her demeanor, it’s like ‘do I need to?’ And we were like, ‘Yes, you need to.’

“It just so happened that I was in town from overseas, on our Christmas break or whenever it was, like during a break and (Sylvia) got a breakaway. She got a steal at half court and it was just her and the basket. We were like, she’s going to do it. I saw her start to gather her steps and I’m like she’s got to do it and she did it. That was like the most amazing thing ever because there’s very few women in the college game that have done it. I mean, you are talking Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker, Sylvia Fowles, Brittney Griner. There’s a handful of women that have ever done that. She’s one of those women.”

Patrick Wright, the radio voice of LSU women’s basketball for over 35 years, remembers it well.

“We all knew she was capable of dunking,” he said. “It happened because of a smart defensive play by Sylvia. Not many girls Syl’s size were remotely coordinated to dribble the ball 70 feet, but she had the grace of the point guard she just stole the ball from. As she got to the free throw line, the thought everyone in the arena had was the same – she might dunk this. She threw it down with one hand. It was a legitimate dunk that any men’s player would be proud of. I will always remember the reaction of her teammates and the crowd, and everyone knew they just witnessed something historic.”

But it was more than dunking. It was scoring, rebounding, blocked shots and being a good teammate that LSU folks remember.

“The thing about Sylvia and again, this is what makes her not just a Hall of Fame player, but a Hall of Fame person is she is, legitimately, seriously happy for other people’s success,” said Coach Starkey. “So when she came here, we went to four straight Final Fours, and then, three out of four years, we won the SEC championship.

“It’s never been done before or after at this school. And those where when those three out of four SEC championships, that’s the days of Pat Summitt (Tennessee) and Andy Landers (Georgia) and Joe Ciampi (Auburn) and Gary Blair (Texas A&M) and all these Hall of Fame coaches. So it was a remarkable, remarkable period. But it meant a lot to her because, she was able to help her teammates garner some success.”

Unfortunately, with the passage of time those NCAA Final Four appearances in the mid-2000s have drifted a slight bit to the back of LSU fans’ minds because of LSU’s most recent success in women’s basketball. But those banners hang high in the Maravich Center and they are just as important as any others that hang there.

More important, in the rafters with the greatest LSU players like Abdul-Rauf, Macklin, Maravich, Pettit, O’Neal and Augustus, flies the banner for Fowles. All of those as of tonight are well-deserved Louisiana Sports Hall of Famers.

The numbers back up all of those being in this Hall and others. But what struck Coach Starkey most was a personality that made her a player he wanted to bring to LSU.

“There’s no question that having a good, athletic, fast, quick post player is enticing,” he said. “But it wasn’t until Sylvia came to our elite camp, and we got to sit down to have a conversation that she became somebody that I just had to recruit, and that was because of her mindset. Her personality. She was obviously gifted physically, but it was the other things that I got to learn about during that week, that made me know that she had a chance to be just not really good, but to be absolutely one of the game’s best. It was her ability to be a great teammate, to be unselfish. I was able to gauge her desire, her commitment to wanting to be at a different level … I just knew I really, really want to coach her.”

But there was some learning that had to be done.

“A funny story is very early on,” Coach Starkey remembered. “I think it was an exhibition game. There was a battle for a rebound. She went up and grabbed it and, knocked the other team’s rebounder down. Instead of running the floor, she leaned over and helped her up. It speaks to the type of character she has.

“But it’s not really what I want from a post player when we’re between the lines. So we had to make her a little bit tougher. We had to make her, to be honest with you, a little bit more selfish. She was such an unselfish kid. You throw the ball in the post and she’s looking to pass it out. We want her to score down there.”

And then the most important praise this veteran could assess.

“She was a great teammate. Unless you’ve coached on this level, (you don’t realize) when your best players are your best people, that’s when you have a chance as a team.”

She would continue to prove that in the WNBA and in the Olympics and for overseas professional teams. She won four Olympic gold medals, two WNBA titles, honors galore professionally in the league and beyond. She even teamed with her two-year college teammate Augustus in the W for the Minnesota Lynx after Fowles looked to move after several years with the Chicago Sky.

“We never really thought we would play together,” Augustus said. “An opportunity came in 2015. It was between two teams that she was deciding between. Obviously, we had won a number of championships so we looked a little bit more appealing to her. I just remember our coach telling us, ‘Sylvia might want to come here and would I give her a phone call and see where she is in the process?’

“I picked up the phone and the phone call was like, literally, five seconds. I was just ‘we would love to have you here.’ She was like ‘on my way.’ Click. And within a matter of a few hours, maybe a few days, she was in Minnesota and the rest is history.”

The team won championships in 2015 and 2017 and Fowles was Finals MVP both times.

Now, not long after retirement, comes coaching for this dominant star post player. A new role began this season in Portland.

Great player. Great person. Great Hall of Famer.

“I know it has been said before, but since we are honoring her again, she is just the nicest person possible off the court,” said Lindsay Whalen, teammate of Fowles on two WNBA title teams who won two Olympic Gold Medals with Fowles. “Anytime we had somebody who had like a baby shower or something, she would come with a wagon filled with clothes and diapers and all the things that would be needed for that expecting family. Just a great human being first.”

The LSWA is happy it didn’t have to wait any longer to make this official. Welcome to our Hall, Syl!

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Tina Ann Nichols, 57, of Bossier City, Louisiana, passed away on June 18, 2026. She was born on September 15, 1968.
Family and friends are invited to attend a visitation from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. on Friday, June 26, 2026, at Osborn Funeral Home, 3631 Southern Avenue, Shreveport, Louisiana.

Full obituary to follow.

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Gigi Adcock Ferlito, age 63, of Shreveport, Louisiana, passed away peacefully on June 22, 2026, surrounded by the love of her family.

Born on August 27, 1962, Gigi lived a life marked by strength, kindness, and a deep appreciation for the beauty of the world around her. She found joy in walking, hiking, and exploring nature, always taking time to admire and appreciate the simple wonders of life.

Above all, Gigi was a devoted mother, sister, and friend. She shared her love generously and touched the lives of those around her with her caring spirit. Her memory will be cherished by all who knew and loved her.

Gigi is survived by her children, Kye, Deric, and Samantha, and by her sister, Bett, along with many extended family members and dear friends whose lives were enriched by knowing her.

A memorial service honoring Gigi’s life will be held at Aulds Funeral Home on Thursday June 25th, 2026 at 2pm.

Though she has departed this life, the love, memories, and moments she shared with family and friends will remain forever in their hearts.

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