Twelve people does not a village make, but plenty of villages made the 12 inductees in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2023.
Thursday afternoon was about “R and R” for 11 members of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2023.
Consider the accomplishments of his father and brothers that Eli Manning was challenged to live up to on the way to his own considerable football stardom:
Recruiting services listed Matt Forte as a fullback coming out of Slidell High School. He would make his mark over four years at Tulane and 10 more in the NFL as a lead back.
A two-time All-America receiver and the SEC Player of the Year as a senior in 1987, former LSU Tiger Wendell Davis is so unassuming, so under the radar and in the moment, that how good he was can somewhat escape a lot of folks.
If anyone had a reason to look back and wonder why things were as they appeared, weightlifting champion Walter Imahara might have had a reason.
Once offered a live goat in appreciation of her basketball prowess, Alana Beard was a generational athlete who won nearly every award imaginable for a women’s basketball player.
That resume’ makes the long journey from Leonville to LSU to track stadiums all over the globe to his induction into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in Natchitoches all the more special for the 44-year-old Davis, and those who marveled at his highly-successful career.
Mainieri inherited a troubled program and few high quality players before the 2007 season, but he returned LSU to Omaha in just his second season in 2008. He won the national championship in 2009.
Many things about M.L. Woodruff’s life paint the picture of an old-school baseball coach. Still, nothing fueled a desire to coach within him. A major life change did.
