Meet the Official 2024 Inductees to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame

Daniel Cormier

Sport: Mixed Martial Arts

Lafayette native is revered as one of the most heralded wrestlers and mixed martial artists ever. He first made a name for himself as a wrestler at Northside High where he was 101-9 overall, captured three consecutive LHSAA Division I state titles (1995–97) and twice was voted Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. He won a bronze medal in the World Championships in Greco-Roman Wrestling Cadet (15–16 years old) division.

An all-state football player in high school, he concentrated on wrestling at Colby (Kansas) Community College. He then competed in freestyle wrestling, winning six consecutive gold medals (2003-08) at the USA Wrestling championships. He competed internationally, capturing the gold medal in 2002 and 2003 at the Pan American Championships, as well as the gold medal at the Pan Am Games in 2003. Cormier was also a member of the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team in the 2004 and 2008 Games.

Cormier transitioned to mixed martial arts and began his career in Strikeforce. He won his first 11 bouts, becoming the King of the Cage heavyweight champion and winning the 2012 Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix before joining UFC. He became just the second UFC fighter to hold two divisional titles (lightweight and heavyweight) simultaneously and was the first fighter to have title defenses in two divisions. Cormier ranks third all-time in light heavyweight wins and is tied for 10th in heavyweight, compiling a 22-3 record with one no-contest.

Cormier is a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association Hall of Fame (2009), Louisiana High School Sports Hall of Fame (2021) and UFC Hall of Fame (2022). He earned the George Tragos Award from the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2019. Cormier currently is a combat sports analyst with ESPN and is a commentator for UFC events. …Born 3-20-1979 in Lafayette.

Drew Brees

Sport: Football

Considered by many to be the best free agent in NFL history, Brees overcame questions about his height and arm strength and a devastating shoulder injury to become the league’s all-time leader in several passing categories.

A 13-time Pro Bowl pick in a 20-year career, Brees shattered nearly every passing mark for the Saints after joining forces with Sean Payton in March 2006 following five seasons with the Chargers. Together, they made the Saints’ offense one of the league’s most productive over a 15-year period until Brees’ retirement in March 2021. The Saints finished in the top five in points scored 10 times, leading the league in 2008 and 2009, and finished top five in total offense 11 times – taking the top spot six times (2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2016)—en route to seven NFC South titles in nine playoff appearances.

A two-time NFL Offensive Player of the Year, Brees, the 2006 NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year, a Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year and an Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year, Brees led the Saints to three NFC championship games (2006, 2009, 2018) after the franchise had none in its first 39 years of existence and they claimed their only Vince Lombardi trophy with a 31-17 win over the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7, 2010. That night, he completed 32 of 39 pass attempts for 288 yards and two TDs to earn MVP honors. …Born 1-15-1979 in Austin, Texas.

Frank Monica

Sport: Coach

Spent a half-century coaching football and baseball in Louisiana before announcing his retirement in January 2021. In 30 seasons as a head coach at Lutcher, Riverside Academy, Jesuit and St. Charles Catholic, where the field will be now known as Frank Monica Field. Monica compiled a record of 284-91 with the 284 victories being the most wins among any head coach in River Parishes history. He won state titles at Lutcher (1978), Riverside (1983) and St. Charles (2011) and was inducted into the Louisiana High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.

In a 24-year stint at St. Charles, Monica guided the Comets to 12 state semifinal appearances and six state finals berths. He also spent 12 seasons over two stints as an assistant coach at Tulane. Served as the team captain and starting third baseman for the 1970 Nicholls State baseball team that reached the Division II College World Series championship game. Monica, a graduate of Leon Godchaux High School in Reserve, played at Nicholls State for Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame member Ray Didier.

Kerry Joseph

Sport: Football

New Iberia native is regarded as perhaps the top quarterback in McNeese State history, leading the Cowboys to a 43-10 record and a pair of Southland Conference titles. Joseph helped the Cowboys to their first-ever playoff win (1992) and first Division I-AA national semifinal appearance (1995). He threw for 7,874 yards with 67 TDs and had 9,674 yards of total offense.

Joseph remains McNeese’s all-time career leader in touchdown passes and is second in career passing yards and total offense. He earned All-SLC honors twice (1994–95) and was named the SLC Player of the Year and Louisiana Player of the Year in 1995 after leading the Cowboys to a 13-1 overall record and No. 1 national ranking.

Joseph played with the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Redskins before winning a World Bowl championship with the NFL Europe’s Rhein Fire in 1998. He later played safety for the Seattle Seahawks before getting a chance to play quarterback with Ottawa of the CFL in 2003. Joseph became just one of three CFL players to exceed 4,000 yards passing (4,466) and 1,000 yards rushing (1,006) in a single season in 2005. He went on to be named a CFL all-star and was the Most Outstanding Player when he helped the Saskatchewan Roughriders win the Grey Cup in 2007.

Joseph was inducted into the McNeese Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, the Southland Hall of Honor in 2012, the Roughriders Hall of Honour in 2019, and was named to McNeese State’s 75th anniversary team in 2018. He is an assistant coach for Pete Carroll’s Seahawks …Born 10-4-1973 in New Iberia.

Kevin Jackson

Sport: Wrestling

An LSU star from 1984–86, Jackson, wrestling in the 82kg (181-pound) freestyle class, became only the second black wrestler to win an Olympic gold medal when he beat Elmadi Zhabrailov of the Unified Team in the 1992 Barcelona Games. Jackson also won swept the gold medals in the 82kg division at the 1991 and ’95 World Championships and Pan Am Games—giving him five major wins in a five-year period. He’s one of only six U.S. men’s freestyle wrestlers to claim at least three career World-level (Olympics/World Championships) titles.

A three-time All-American for LSU before the school dropped the sport, Jackson moved on to national powerhouse Iowa State to finish his career where, after being voted team captain, he won his fourth All-America honor with a runner-up finish in the 167-pound class—helping the Cyclones win the 1987 NCAA title. He was also a two-time state champion in high school in Lansing, Michigan, where he also was the Junior National Greco-Roman champion.

Jackson had a brief career as a mixed martial arts fighter in the late 1990s, finishing with a 4-2 record, before turning to coaching. He joined the USA Wrestling coaching staff in 2001 and was freestyle coach for the U.S. at the 2004 and 2008 Games when Cael Sanderson (2004) and Henry Cejudo (2008) won gold medals. Jackson also was the primary coach for Brandon Slay, who won Olympic gold in 2000. Jackson went on to serve as head coach at Iowa State from 2010-17, leading his team to a third-place finish in his first season when he coached two individual national champions. He stepped down in 2017 after coaching four NCAA champions, 14 All-Americans, and nine Big 12 champions.

Since 2017, he has been USA Wrestling’s national freestyle development coach. His honors include the 1995 John Smith Award as National Freestyle Wrestler of the Year, 1992 Amateur Wrestling News Man of the Year, and 1991 USA Wrestling and USOC Wrestler of the Year. He’s a member of the FILA International Wrestling Hall of Fame, the United States National Wrestling Hall of Fame (as a distinguished member), and Iowa State University Athletics Hall of Fame. Inducted into the LSU Athletics Hall of Fame in September 2019. …Born 11-25-1964 in Highland Falls, N.Y., but grew up in Lansing, Mich.
 

Perry Clark

Sport: Coach

As Tulane's head coach from 1989–2000, Clark led the program back from a self-imposed shutdown and to three NCAA Tournament appearances in a four-year span—the only three NCAA trips in the program’s history.

In 11 seasons at Tulane, Clark compiled a 185-145 (.561) record, had six 20-win seasons, seven postseason appearances (3 NCAA, 4 NIT), and won the 1992 Metro Conference championship (the only conference title in program history). Was named the 1992 National Coach of the Year (UPI and USBWA) and twice was named Metro Conference Coach of the Year (1991,1992). Coached the top two scorers in program history (Jerald Honeycutt, Anthony Reed) and three consecutive Metro Freshmen of the Year (Reed, Kim Lewis, Pointer Williams).

He was also the head coach for four years each at Miami (Fla.) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and has 304 career wins as a head coach. As an assistant coach at South Carolina, he reached Final Four in 2017, and retired in 2020. Inducted into the LABC Hall of Fame in 2008, Tulane Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009, and Greater New Orleans Sports HOF selection in 2020. …Born 9-4-1951 in Washington, D.C.

Ray Sibille

Sport: Horse Racing

Sibille retired from racing in 2004 after a 35-year career that saw him record 4,264 wins, the first of which came at Evangeline Downs in July 1969 after honing his craft on the Louisiana bush tracks. His mounts won $68,880,807.

A year after his retirement, he was selected as the winner of the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, which is given annually by Santa Anita Park for career achievements and personal character that reflect positively on themselves as well as the sport of thoroughbred racing.

Sibille, who had to retire from racing at the age of 52 because of hip and back problems, won the Breeders Cup Turf in 1988 aboard Great Communicator. He made his name at some of the nation’s top Midwest tracks in the 1970s, winning riding titles at Arlington Park, Hawthorne, and Sportsman’s Park. He had 105 wins at Sportsman’s Park in 1981, which was a record that stood until 1992.

Sibille, the brother-in-law of jockey Pat Day, won his 4,000th race in 2000 at that same track. A 31-year member of the Jockey’s Guild, he served on its board of directors as well as on the financial committee. ...Born 9-13-1952 in Sunset.

Seimone Augustus

Sport: Basketball

Arguably the greatest women’s basketball player in state history, she played point guard/forward while starring at high school, college, and professional levels. Part of three gold medal-winning Olympic teams and four WNBA title teams. Was on the cover of Sports Illustrated for Women as a high school freshman. LSU unveiled a statue in her honor in January 2023. Augustus led Baton Rouge’s Capitol High to a 138-7 record. The Lions won Class 4A titles in 2001 and 2002 and were runners-up in 1999. Scored 3,600 points, had 1,728 rebounds and 869 assists. Was a four-time Class 4A MVP and Miss Basketball in 2001 and 2002. Played in the first McDonald’s Girls All-America game, finishing with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

At LSU, Augustus scored 2,702 career points, averaging 19.3 points. 5.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists over four seasons while leading the Tigers to a 114-17 record and three Final Fours. Augustus was the USBWA National Freshman of the Year in 2003 and swept National Player of the Year awards (Wade, Naismith, Wooden, and Honda) in 2005 and 2006.

Augustus was the WNBA’s No. 1 draft pick in 2006 by the Minnesota Lynx and was its Rookie of the Year in 2006. Won WNBA titles with the Lynx in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017. Was the 2011 finals MVP, first-team All-WNBA in 2012, and made the All-WNBA second-team five teams. Was an eight-time WNBA all-star. She made the WNBA’s 20th-anniversary and 25th-anniversary teams. Augustus scored 6,005 career points (tied for 13th in WNBA history), averaging 15.9 points a game for the Lynx and 15.4 overall.
 

Overseas, Augustus was the Euro Cup MVP in 2009 and led her teams to Euro Cup titles in 2008 and 2009. Was a member of the U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning teams in 2008, 2012, and 2016. Has been inducted into the National High School Sports Hall of Fame (2019) and Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame (2021). …Born 4-30-1984 in Baton Rouge.

Louisiana Sports Ambassador Award

Wilbert Ellis

Sport: Baseball

Nationally regarded as one of the finest representatives of college baseball and beloved by Grambling alumni for his expansive yet unofficial role at the university, Ellis spent 30 seasons as the head coach and a grand total of 43, including time as a graduate assistant and assistant coach, for the Grambling baseball program.

Ellis retired in 2003 after posting a 743-463-1 record with three Southwestern Athletic Conference titles, five SWAC Western Division crowns, and three NCAA Tournament appearances. He coached future major leaguers Gerald Williams, Ralph Garr, Tommie Agee, and Matt Alexander while he was either the Tigers’ coach or assistant coach.

Ellis was Grambling’s second baseball coach after serving as an assistant to program founder Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones, Ellis was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2006. He has been a trusted advisor for generations of presidents, athletic directors, and coaches at Grambling, and in community and governmental affairs. Ellis was instrumental in the establishment of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum in Grambling, and the school’s Grambling Legends sports hall of fame. He still conducts baseball clinics for kids in Lincoln Parish and serves as an NCAA Regional site supervisor, most recently in June 2023 at the Baton Rouge Super Regional pitting LSU against Kentucky.

Dave Dixon Louisiana Sports Leadership Award

Tom Burnett

Burnett spent over 19 years in the Southland’s top post and capped his tenure with the league as the 2022 chairman of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Committee that runs March Madness culminating with the Final Four. After working with Tech’s basketball team that advanced to the second round of the 1989 NCAA Tournament, he took a communications position with the American South Conference, headquartered in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie. Burnett continued in the lead communications role as the American South merged into the Sun Belt Conference as that Tampa, Fla.-based league relocated in 1991 to the New Orleans area, its home ever since. 

Moving up the ladder to associate commissioner, Burnett was involved with local Sugar Bowl game operations and served on local New Orleans host committees for Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002, and a number of NCAA basketball postseason events, including Men’s and Women’s Final Fours in the Crescent City. In 2001, Burnett was part of Commissioner Wright Waters’ team that brought league-wide football sponsorship into the Sun Belt for the first time, helped develop the New Orleans Bowl, and the conference’s first football-based television agreement with ESPN.  In late 2002, Burnett was selected to become the seventh commissioner of the Southland Conference, based in the north Dallas suburbs. 

He began a record tenure of almost 20 years as Southland commissioner, moved the headquarters to sports-centric Frisco, and expanded membership through Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. He also restructured and resumed the long-running neutral-site Southland Conference Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament, started the league’s first comprehensive corporate sponsorship program, and negotiated numerous television agreements, including the 2020 ESPN Networks deal, the Southland’s first multi-million dollar broadcast contract. 

In 2022, Burnett departed the conference office and started a new sports consulting and events firm, Southwest Sports Partners, LLC. A longtime member of the National Football Foundation/College Football Hall of Fame’s Awards Committee, he was honored with the NFF’s Legacy Award in 2022, and in 2023 was presented a Distinguished Alumni Award by West Monroe High School.

Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism 

Bobby Ardoin

Ardoin has been tirelessly working the sidelines of high school and collegiate sports for more than five decades, and his byline has appeared routinely in some of the state’s biggest and most respected newspapers. His impact has been far-reaching around Acadiana, and particularly in Opelousas and nearby communities. Ardoin also began serving as a sports correspondent for The Daily Iberian from 1989 to 1998 covering high school sports, LSU football and basketball, and the New Orleans Saints. From 1990 to 2016, Ardoin also served as a sports and news correspondent for The Advocate covering high schools, UL Lafayette athletics, LSU-Eunice, and Evangeline Downs. For the news department, Ardoin covered parish and municipal governments as well as writing general features. Ardoin even served as interim bureau chief for The Acadiana Advocate in 2007. 

In addition to his 50-plus years as a journalist, Ardoin also worked as a full-time teacher beginning at Amy Bradford Ware High in Opelousas (1971–74) to the ensuing 39 years spent at Opelousas High School where he taught English, social studies, journalism, and served as the school newspaper advisor. As an educator, he was a major influence to author and national award-winning sports journalist John Ed Bradley. Ardoin also won three separate State Education Writer of the Year Awards presented by the Louisiana Association of Educators, and was named Teacher of the Year at Opelousas High three times.

Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism 

Ron Higgins

Higgins has carried on the sports journalism of his late father—former LSU sports information director Carl "Ace" Higgins. A native of Baton Rouge and a 1979 LSU graduate, Higgins has written for seven newspapers, three online websites, and a magazine in four states during a sports writing career that now spans six decades. The man nicknamed "Mad Dog" has won more than 190 state, regional, and national writing awards including more than 85 first places won while working for the Shreveport Times, Shreveport Journal, Baton Rouge Advocate, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Memphis Commercial Appeal, Mobile Press-Register, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, TigerDetails.com, and Tiger Rag Magazine/TigerRag.com.

Higgins co-founded the Tennessee Sports Writers Association with Natchitoches native Jimmy Hyams in the late 1980s and eventually was a 10-time Tennessee Sportswriter of the Year. He was inducted into the Tennessee Sportswriters Hall of Fame in 2011. Higgins has covered three Super Bowls, 18 men’s Final Fours, three women’s Final Fours, three Summer Olympics, 70 bowl games including seven national championship games, one NBA Finals, 12 NBA playoff series, three NBA All-Star Games, 20 PGA Tour events, a heavyweight championship fight (Tyson-Lewis) as well as several seasons of Class AA minor league baseball, the Arena Football League, the AFL2 and four minor league pro basketball franchises. A longtime Heisman Trophy voter, Higgins is a frequent guest on sports radio talk shows and occasional TV shows from Hawaii to New York and is the author of six books. He has become a background actor in numerous movies and TV shows shot in south Louisiana and has mentored and helped many young writers find jobs.

Learn more about past inductees at LaSportsHall.com.