NATCHITOCHES – LSU football greats Leonard Fournette and eight-time Pro Bowler Patrick Peterson, along with Tiger baseball legends Aaron Hill and Ryan Theriot, head a star-studded nine-member group of competitors’ ballot inductees chosen for Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame induction next summer. The LSHOF Class of 2027 also includes two-time Triple Crown-winning jockey Robby Albarado; transformational Northwestern State and Alabama college baseball coach Jim Wells; one of the s

John Brady (Official Hall of Fame portrait by Christopher Brown) By GLENN GUILBEAU Written for the LSWA Former LSU men’s basketball coach John Brady wanted to be a coach back when he was at McComb High in the early 1970s. But little did he know that the contacts he would make by chance would lead to the promised land of the 2006 Final Four, induction into the LSU Athletics Hall of Fame last fall, the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame last May and now,

Sylvia Fowles (Official Hall of Fame Portrait by Christopher Brown) By C. KENT LOWE Written for the LSWA All I guess that the Louisiana Sports Writers Association can say tonight 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 Hall of Fame beat us to the punch last year. Our rules for induction after retirement

Kathy Stewart Holloway (Official Hall of Fame portrait by Christopher Brown) By BOB TOMPKINS Written for the LSWA Kathy Stewart Holloway’s life has been marked by unprecedented achievement as a woman in high school sports once ruled by men. Yet, she points with love to two men who, behind the scenes, helped her along the way. Her father, Jack Stewart, a car salesman, put up her first basketball goal on the side of a building on the family property in Lecompte when she was a t

Joe Horn (Official Hall of Fame portrait by Christopher Brown) By SHELDON MICKLES Written for the LSWA Compared to some of his NFL peers, Joe Horn ran a decidedly different pass route to stardom. After all, the many twists and turns that led Horn, a multi-sport high school star, to becoming one of the league’s premier wide receivers would have probably left even a Hollywood script writer a bit dizzy. From his hometown of Fayetteville, North Carolina, to being selected i

Gil LeBreton (Official Hall of Fame portrait by Christopher Brown) By JOHN HENRY Written for the LSWA As a 2026 recipient of the Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism and his induction into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, Gil LeBreton takes his place in the state's sports lore — not as an athlete or coach, and certainly not for a double life led as "the human Ouija board." As the fearless forecaster of all things sports each Jan. 1, this "Nostradamus with the no

Jonathan Lucruy (Official Hall of Fame portrait by Christopher Brown) By DAN McDONALD Written for the LSWA It’s been a good few months for Jonathan Lucroy. Last August, the former Major League Baseball All-Star got the phone call from the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, letting him know that he would be honored with the state’s highest athletic accolade this summer. That happens June 27 in Natchitoches, culminating three days of festivities with Lucroy and the Class of 2026. F

John James Marshall (Official Hall of Fame portrait by Christopher Brown) By RON HIGGINS Written for the LSWA The most forthright advice a college-aged John James “J.J.” Marshall received about pursuing a sportswriting career came from a crusty veteran scribe. “The hours are terrible, you’ll never make any money,” Bill McIntyre, a transplanted Massachusettsan who was a staple on the Shreveport Times staff for 44 years, told Marshall. That’s undeniably true. Forget the timeca

Todd McClure (Official Hall of Fame portrait by Christopher Brown) By ROBIN FAMBROUGH Written for the LSWA Todd McClure vividly remembers the day he got put in his place by one of his high school coaches. “I thought, ‘Why is he doing this,’ ” McClure recalled. “I wasn’t just mad … I was really angry. I was a tight end and a defensive lineman. “Those guys get their names called out on the loudspeaker. The only time you hear an offensive lineman’s name is when they commit a pen

Mike McConathy (Official Hall of Fame portrait by Christopher Brown) By TEDDY ALLEN Written for the LSWA (The scene is a cramped meeting room the size of the average American kitchen. Around a small oval table is a girl and two guys, including Scotty, the production manager, dressed in khaki and polo and youthful confidence. Yellow legal pads and paper cups of coffee are involved, pens and markers and laptops, the out-of-place, somewhat lonely Fresca. Scotty speaks …) “Harve

Warren Morris (Official Hall of Fame portrait by Christiopher Brown) By JOHN MARCASE Written for the LSWA Thirty years after hitting the biggest home run in college baseball history, Warren Morris is still amazed at the impact. “I had no clue that it was gonna be something where strangers would come up to me all the time and tell me, I remember where I was, I was doing this, or, you know, I was at this wedding,” said Morris. “It's kind of like a moment in time; people remembe

Dewain Stother (Official Hall of Fame portrait by Christopher Brown) By RAYMOND PARTSCH III Special to the LSWA If not for a determined crop-dusting principal, Dewain Strother would have likely spent decades working in lumber mills, instead of becoming one of the winningest girls high school basketball coaches in United States history. Despite being an all-district guard at Plainview High School for Louisiana High School Athletic Association Hall of Famer O.D. West and helpin

Pat Williams (Official Hall of Fame portrait by Christopher Brown) By JAKE MARTIN Written for the LSWA One. Two. Three. Four… Hang on. Five. Six. Seven. Eight... Counting game balls that were bestowed to Pat Williams throughout his illustrious NFL career might take a minute. More than that, actually. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen… A 14-year NFL career that began in Buffalo with Pro Football Hall of Famer Bruce Smith saw Williams make a name for himself as one part of “The Pac

By Matt Belinson Written for the LSWA It didn’t take long for Cedar Creek baseball coach Chad Yates to see Kade Luker wasn’t your run-of-the-mill player. After taking the job in May 2023, following two years at Benton, Yates heard about Luker from those in the area, but wanted a first-hand evaluation of a southpaw who reportedly had the makings of a star. One practice was all it took for Yates to be sold that Luker had the potential to be one of the greatest to ever play at

By: Tony Marks Written for the LSWA Life never happens in a straight line. There are always curves that are meant to test a person’s endurance. Kynzee Anderson was thrown one of these bends at a young age, getting cut from her travel ball team. She then persevered to become one of the top softball players in Louisiana, and the nation, eventually signing with the University of Georgia. The Louisiana Sports Writers Association also named Anderson its Miss Softball recipient for

NATCHITOCHES – Tioga’s trailblazing high school sports administrator and successful basketball coach Kathy Holloway, who became a national icon in prep sports, is the 2026 winner of the Dave Dixon Louisiana Sports Leadership Award presented by the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. The first female president of the Louisiana High School Coaches Association and of the National High School Athletic Coaches Association, Holloway has retired but continues to serve her community, the

NATCHITOCHES – Vastly accomplished sportswriters New Orleans native Gil LeBreton and John James Marshall of Shreveport have been selected for the 2026 Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. The duo will be inducted June 27 in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, LSWA president John Marcase and Hall of Fame chairman Doug Ireland announced Wednesday. Both LeBreton and Marshall have been broadly acclaimed by the LSWA and nat

By: Jackson Reyes Written For the LSWA The Dunham School quarterback Elijah Haven entered the 2025 season with his eyes set on winning a Division III select state championship. After falling short in the state title game last year, the junior guided the Tigers to a 13-1 record and their first championship since 2004. Haven put up massive numbers and shattered state records along the way to the ring. He set single-season state records for passing touchdowns (62) and total

NATCHITOCHES – Recent Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Sylvia Fowles, NFL stars Joe Horn, Todd McClure and Pat Williams, Major...

Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame 2025 Inductees By Jason Pugh NATCHITOCHES – The lens through which much of the nation views Louisiana was...