BATON ROUGE – The LSU men’s basketball team got their singing voices together to brighten the holiday season Tuesday at Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital.
This nearly annual tradition allows the members of the men’s basketball team and Coach Johnny Jones to visit with the young and even youngest patients in the facility along with many of their families.
The players sang Christmas carols and put together their own various interpretations of the classics for each room.
The visit was sponsored as part of the Shaquille O’Neal LSU Life Skills program through the Cox Communications Academic Center for Athletes.
The team presented miniature and full-size autographed basketballs and autographed posters of the 2014-15 men’s basketball team. The team also presented a miniature basketball goal and ball for the children’s play room at the hospital.
“I thought it was really good for our guys to have an opportunity to go to Our Lady of the Lake today and have an opportunity to interact with the kids and the families that are there,” said Coach Jones. “To see the families and the kids with their smiles on their face and our kids to be able to put some joy into their hearts and see the smiles on their faces made a difference. They knew they were making a difference, and that’s what it is all about. I think our guys understand that they are blessed. It’s a blessing to be a blessing to others. I think they were able to see that and share in that today.”