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.”
Contact Brad at welbornb@nsula.edu