BATON ROUGE — LSU head football coach Les Miles and his wife Kathy will serve as the Grand Marshall of the Katrina Relief Basketball Classic presented by 84 LUMBER hosted by the LSU women’s basketball team in New Orleans on Dec. 30.
The women’s basketball game between the Lady Tigers and Louisiana Tech in New Orleans Arena at 2 p.m. CST on the 30th is the center point of “LSU Operation Rebound,” the brainchild of LSU head coach Pokey Chatman, a native of the New Orleans area, and was created to help the Lady Tigers basketball program rebuild Louisiana
“Obviously we are excited to have Les serve as our Grand Marshall after guiding his team to another outstanding season,” Chatman said. “We are equally pleased that the football team has elected to attend the game and cheer us on as well. New Orleans, which has been through so much, will feel the full effect of LSU support over the holidays with our game against Louisiana Tech and the Tigers trip to the Sugar Bowl.”
In addition to the game, an auction and a banquet will be held during the Katrina Relief Basketball Classic weekend. The auction is currently running at www.LSUoperatyionrebound.com and will conclude on Jan. 8, while the banquet will be held the evening of Dec. 29.
Miles and the LSU football received a berth into the Allstate Sugar Bowl after posting a 10-2 overall record and finishing fourth in the Bowl Championship Series standings and in the polls. The Tigers will face Notre Dame in the Louisiana Superdome on Jan. 3.
“It was an easy decision to select Les and Kathy to be the Grand Marshall’s because of the role that he and the football team played in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina,” Chatman added. “Both of our teams, as well as the LSU community continue to support the rebuilding of New Orleans and the Gulf region.”
All of the proceeds from “LSU Operation Rebound” will directly benefit the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity and the Friends of the New Orleans Recreation Department (NORD).
“Kathy and I are honored and feel privileged to be part of an event that is giving something back to a community that had so much taken from it last year, ” Les Miles said. “This is a wonderful event and something that we feel it’s important to be a part of.”
Along with the funds raised by the game, banquet and auction, the Pokey Chatman Foundation has created the Pokey Chatman Century Club, an organization of 100 people each contributing $1,000 to join.
The Lady Tigers program, along with the LSU Athletics Department, the Tiger Athletic Foundation, LSU Sports Properties and the Fast Break Club, has set a goal to raise at least $150,000 to share between Friends of NORD and the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity.
Tickets for the game are still available and can be purchased from Ticketmaster by calling (504) 522-5555 or 761-8400 locally in Baton Rouge or visiting www.ticketmaster.com.