Variety Of Louisiana Legends Inducted
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
Lifetime stories wrapped in iconic moments, analyses for thousands of basketball court victories, trailblazing accomplishments and lasting impacts of NFL careers were among told before thousands this weekend during the annual Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame weekend.
The annual three-day event held in Natchitoches not only inducted new members into the LSHOF on Saturday night, but it also attracted an assemblage of national sports celebrities who also there among the 1,200 to hear the accounts of the inductees who were presented at the Natchitoches Events Center.
State sports writers and members of other news outlets were also present to chronicle the remarks from inductees who appeared at a series of press conferences held prior to their Saturday night induction remarks.
Basketball careers that included thousands of victories for former LSU head coach John Brady, Florien girls’ basketball coach Dwain Strother and Northwestern head basketball coach Mike McConathy were told in detail.
Todd McClure and Pat Williams explained the divert trajectories of their football careers in college and the NFL, while former LSU baseball player Warren Morris described the before-and-after moments of hitting the walkoff homerun that provided the Tigers with an NCAA baseball championship in 1996.
Jonathan Lucroy and Morris recounted how playing for USA baseball teams in the Olympic and World Games inspired their patriotism and Kathy Hollway remembered the steps that preceded her path as a national and state advocate for women’s basketball.
Lucroy, a former Louisiana standout catcher and major league all-star, said playing for Team USA against players from other countries in 2017, was a special moment.
“You’re wearing that USA jersey that has your country’s colors. You realize the pride you have and that you’re playing against some of the best in the world,” Lucroy said on Saturday night.
Morris hit the 1996 walk off homer against Miami, said he also remembers representing the USA Olympic team in Atlanta that year and how wearing the USA jersey was special.
After hitting the game winner, Morris said the interviews he did afterward prevented him from riding on the team bus, which left him at Rosenblatt Stadium.
“I ended up walking through the parking lot and jumping in a van with my father,” said Morris.
Strother’s Florien teams won 1,235 games in 39 years and in 1990-91 his girls went 48-0.
“(Induction) never really crossed my mind. My wife told me, ‘I thought you were already in there,’.”
McConathy coached Bossier City Community College and Bossier High boys’ basketball teams at the same time and then coached the Northwestern State men, efforts which enabled him to accumulate more college wins than any other Louisiana college coach.
His motivational methods were somewhat unique, like handing out candy to kids just minutes before tip offs.
“The greatest part of athletics for me were the athletes and seeing where they would end up,” McConathy said on Saturday night.
For Brady, who led LSU to a Final Four in 2006, it meant following the legendary Dale Brown in addition to coaching his first LSU team just months after Hurricane Katrina.
“We were practicing just about anywhere. Most of my players came from 50 miles around Baton Rouge and each of them in some way was touched by Katrina. It kind of united them in a way,” Brady said.
McClure grew up in Central and always wanted to play baseball for LSU with his brother Trey, who did play for the Tigers.
“When I was a sophomore (at LSU) Coach (Gary) DiNardo told me I had the ability to play in the NFL someday,” McClure said.
Williams was a standout at Wossman-Monroe, but unlike McClure, he earned his Division 1 invitation after playing junior college.
As an NFL standout playing at Buffalo and Minnesota, Williams’ teammates voted to present him with 37 game balls.
