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 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 39th and final season.
“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 a great career playing 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.