BATON ROUGE — Three of Louisiana’s best collegiate players to ever hit the hardwood were honored today at the 29th Annual SportsCare-Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame Awards Luncheon held in Baton Rouge.
Inducted into the Louisiana Basketball Hall of Fame were Dillard University’s Marlbert Pradd, LSU’s Jerry Reynolds and Louisiana Tech University’s Randy White.
LSU senior forward Ronald Dupree was given the Pete Maravich Memorial Award as the Louisiana Major College Player of the Year. This season he was a second team All-Southeastern Conference selection, as well as being named to the SEC All-Tournament team. He finished in the top seven in the SEC in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage, averaging 15.8 points and 7.8 rebounds and shooting 52.9 percent from the field. Dupree finished his career as the eighth leading scorer and sixth leading rebounder in LSU history.
Coach John Brady of LSU was presented the Tommy Joe Eagles Memorial Award as Louisiana’s Major College Coach of the Year for the second time in four years. This year he led LSU to a second place finish in the SEC Western Division, to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament and to the NCAA Tournament with a 21-11 record. He advanced LSU to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in four years and to post-season play for the third time in four years. Perhaps Brady’s biggest win this season was when he defeated No. 1 ranked Arizona early in year.
The other major honoree was former Louisiana Tech and NBA head coach Scotty Robertson, who won the LABC’s prestigious Mr. Louisiana Basketball award. This award is given annually to someone who has made a significant long-term contribution to the game of basketball at any level in the State of Louisiana.
Also recognized at the luncheon were Louisiana’s major college, small college, junior college and high school players and coaches of the year, along with the top pro player from the state.
Pradd was a three-time NAIA All-American at Dillard in the mid-1960s and the leading scorer in Dillard history, pouring in 2,907 points and averaging 37.5 points per game. He led the nation in scoring in 1966 with a 39.1 ppg average and set a school record in 1967 with a 92 percent free throw percentage. He also averaged 42.0 points in 1967, 35.4 points in 1965 and 34.3 points in 1964. He set a school single-game scoring record of 55 points.
Reynolds was a two-time All-Southeastern Conference and All-Louisiana selection for LSU in the mid-1980s. During his three-year career he scored 1,069 points for an 11.9 ppg average while pulling down 613 rebounds for a 6.8 rpg average. He finished his career ranked second in LSU history with 194 steals for a 2.16 average and led the SEC in steals in 1984 with a 2.79 average. Reynolds was the 22nd player selected in the first round pick of the 1985 NBA Draft.
White was the American South Conference Player of the Year in 1989 and the Louisiana Player of the Year in 1988. He was a two-time first team All-ASC and All-Louisiana selection. The two-time ASC Tournament MVP finished his career as Tech’s third all-time leading scorer with 1,947 points and fourth leading rebounder with 1,048 rebounds, for averages of 15.3 points and 8.3 boards per game.
He averaged 21.2 points and 10.5 rebounds in 1989, and 18.6 points and 11.6 rebounds (5th in the nation) in 1988. He also had field goal percentages of 60.0 percent in 1989 and 63.8 percent (seventh in the nation) in 1988. White was the eighth player selected in the first round of the 1989 NBA Draft.
Robertson was head coach at Louisiana Tech from 1965-74 and amassed a coaching record of 161-86 (.652) while guiding the Bulldogs to their first two NCAA Tournament appearances and to the No. 1 spot in the national college division rankings in the early 1970s. The two-time Gulf States Conference Coach of the Year led Tech to three GSC titles and to seasons of 23-5 in 1971, 23-3 in 1972 and 20-8 in 1967.
The eighth of the Bulldogs’ 15 all-time head coaches also developed Mike Green, who was the AP College Division National Player of the Year in 1973. Green became the fourth overall player selected in the 1973 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics.
Robertson left Tech to become the first head coach of the NBA’s expansion New Orleans Jazz, and later served as head coach of the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons. Overall, he spent more than two decades in the NBA as a head coach, assistant coach or scout.
2003 LABC Award Winners:
Louisiana Basketball Hall of Fame Inductees: Marlbert Pradd, Dillard; Jerry Reynolds, LSU; Randy White, Louisiana Tech.
Mr. Louisiana Basketball: Scotty Robertson, Louisiana Tech.
Bob Pettit Award for the Louisiana Professional Player of the Year: P.J. Brown, Louisiana Tech/New Orleans Hornets.
Pete Maravich Memorial Award for the Louisiana Major College Player of the Year: Ronald Dupree, LSU.
Tommy Joe Eagles Memorial Award for the Louisiana Major College Coach of the Year: John Brady, LSU.
Louisiana Small College Co-Players of the Year: Roberto Ferriar, Southern-New Orleans and Toshay Harvey, Southern-New Orleans.
Louisiana Small College Coach of the Year: Earl Hill, Southern-New Orleans.
Louisiana Junior College Player of the Year: Kevin Taylor, Southern-Shreveport.
Louisiana Junior College Coach of the Year: David Francis, Southern-Shreveport.
Louisiana High School Players of the Year:
Class AAAAA: Tasmin Mitchell, Denham Springs
Class AAAA: Chaz Dykes, Carver
Class AAA: Isaac Gay, Brusly
Class AA: Corey Deans, Lakeview
Class A: Paul Millsap, Grambling
Class B: Marcellas Ross, Glenmora
Class C: Brandon Smith, Atlanta
Louisiana High School Coaches of the Year:
Class AAAAA: Kevin Sanders, Fortier
Class AAAA: Charles Smith, Peabody
Class AAA: Herman Weston, Lake Charles-Boston
Class AA: Todd Viator, Jeanerette
Class A: Joel Hawkins, Southern Lab
Class B: Robert Flowers, Glenmora
Class C: Trenton Smith, Calvin