BATON ROUGE — LSU baseball players Jordan Faircloth and Brandon Nall spoke to students at Villa Del Rey Elementary School on Friday morning as part of the Shaquille O’Neal CHAMPS/Life Skills program.
The student-athletes were speaking as part of the Brotherhood/Sisterhood Program at the school, which stresses the importance of keeping an open heart and an open mind. Villa Del Rey also took the opportunity to hand out the academic awards for the previous semester, honoring the students for their academic achievement. In addition to the appearance by Faircloth and Nall, WBRZ-TV Channel 2 News anchor John Pastorek spoke at the assembly.
The LSU student-athletes signed autographs and mingled with the students during the beginning of the assembly. They then spoke to the students about the importance of academic achievement. The pair stressed the importance of education and setting goals and that finding a mentor and someone that motivates them is a key to success.
Faircloth, a senior pitcher for the Tigers, threw 56.1 innings last season with four saves. The solid relief pitcher from Alexandria, La., also posted a 2.40 ERA and 40 strikeouts.
A senior right-handed pitcher for the Tigers, Nall hasn’t pitched since undergoing shoulder surgery in the spring of 2003. He has been impressive in his offseason workouts and will return to action this spring.
The CHAMPS (Challenging Athletes Minds for Personal Success)/Life Skills Program was designed by the NCAA to help student-athletes realize higher academic achievement, increase likelihood of graduation and enter a chosen profession with a higher level of vision, knowledge, motivation, self-responsibility and greater overall success. In Spring 2003, the CHAMPS/ Life Skills Program honored one of LSU’s most memorable graduates, Shaquille O’Neal, by naming the program after him.