The 2016 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Inductions are set for Saturday, with the celebration getting underway tomorrow.
Of the 11 inductees in this year’s class, one reigns from Lafayette.
St. Thomas Moore (STM) head football coach Jim Hightower will be inducted this Saturday. Hightower has over 40 years of head coaching experience, including 30 at STM. He has also accumulated a 386-119-1 record (259-92 at STM), featuring an impressive winning percentage of .764. To this point, Hightower has never experienced a losing season in his 4 decades as a head coach.
His illustrious career includes 13 district titles, a Class 1A state title in 1978 at Catholic-Point Coupee, a state runner-up in 2015, eight semi-final, 16 quarterfinals, and 22 regional appearances. He’s been named Coach of the Year for his classification twice.
Joining Hightower in the 2016 LA Sports Hall of Fame class is longtime NBA player and Louisiana Tech graduate P.J. Brown, former Tulane head baseball coach Rick Jones, former baseball player and World Series Champion Gentlemen Dave Malarcher, former basketball player and coach Janice Joseph Richard, multi-time MLB All-Star pitcher and olympic gold medalist Ben Sheets, LSU all-world athlete Arthur “Red” Swanson, NFL running back Anthony Thomas, Dr. Julian Bales Jr. (leading figure in the field of sports-related concussions), former play-by-play man for LSU sports on the radio Jim Hawthorne, and longtime sports journalist Bob Tompkins.
For a full schedule rundown this week’s Sports Hall of Fame events, click here.