NEW ORLEANS – LSU Gymnastics Head Coach Jay Clark and senior Haleigh Bryant were named finalists for the 2023-24 Louisiana Collegiate Coach of the Year and the James J. Corbett Awards, announced by the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Monday.
The Corbett Awards, which have been presented since 1967, recognize the top male and female amateur athletes in the state of Louisiana. The top college coach award has been presented since 1961. Both honors are selected by the New Orleans Sports Awards Committee.
The Collegiate Coach winner as selected by the committee will be announced on Friday, June 28, while the female Corbett Award honoree will be announced on Monday, July 8 and the male winner will be announced the next day on July 9.
The LSU Gymnastics team has had multiple Corbett Award Winners in program history, including Susan Jackson (2009-2010), Ashleigh Gnat (2016-17) and Sarah Finnegan (2018-19), while former coach D-D Breaux won the Collegiate Coach of the Year for Louisiana in 2017 and 2019.
In addition, fans now have the opportunity to visit the Allstate Sugar Bowl website to make their own selections for the best of the best in the state. Voting will close on Friday, June 21. The fan choices will be announced at the same time as the official committee selections.
Click here to vote.
2023-24 Louisiana Sports Awards Finalists:
Louisiana Collegiate Coach of the Year Finalists:
Kyle Blankenship, LSU Shreveport Men’s & Women’s Basketball
Jay Clark, LSU Gymnastics
Will Wade, McNeese State Men’s Basketball
Jeff Willis, LSU-Eunice Baseball
Corbett Award Female Finalists:
Haleigh Bryant, LSU Gymnastics
Camryn Chatellier, Dominican Volleyball
Chloe Larry, Parkway High School Basketball/Track/Softball
Ingrid Lindblad, LSU Golf
Corbett Award Male Finalists:
Ethan Bates, Louisiana Tech Baseball
Harlem Berry, St. Martin’s Football/Basketball/Track
Jayden Daniels, LSU Football
Shahada Wells, McNeese Basketball
The New Orleans Sports Awards Committee began in 1957 when James Collins spearheaded a group of sports journalists to form a sports awards committee to immortalize local sports history. For 13 years, the committee honored local athletes each month. In 1970, the Sugar Bowl stepped in to sponsor and revitalize the committee, leading to the creation of the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame in 1971, honoring 10 legends from the Crescent City in its first induction class. While adding the responsibility of selecting Hall of Famers, the committee has continued to recognize the top amateur athlete in the Greater New Orleans area each month – the honors enter their 68th year in 2021. To be eligible, an athlete must be a native of the greater New Orleans area or must compete for a team in the metropolitan region.