Doug Ireland / Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Contributed to this release.
NATCHITOCHES, La. – Former head football coach Pat Collins is one of eight greats selected as part of the 2015 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Class to be enshrined next summer. Joining Collins as part of the 2015 class will be: Kevin Faulk, Jake Delhomme, Avery Johnson, Yvette Girouard, Otis Washington, Leonard Smith and Frank Brothers.
They will be officially enshrined Saturday, June 27, in Natchitoches to culminate the 2015 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Celebration June 25-27.
The 2015 Induction Class will be showcased in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Museum, operated by the Louisiana State Museum system in a partnership with the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. The striking two-story, 27,500-square foot structure faces Cane River Lake in the National Historic Landmark District of Natchitoches and has garnered worldwide architectural acclaim and rave reviews for its contents since its grand opening during the 2013 Hall of Fame induction weekend.
A 35-member Louisiana Sports Writers Association committee selected the 2015 inductees. The panel considered 115 nominees from 28 different sport categories on a 24-page ballot, said Hall of Fame chairman Doug Ireland.
Collins coached ULM (then Northeast Louisiana University) football team to the 1987 NCAA Division I-AA National Championship, still the only I-AA (now FCS) title ever won by a Louisiana school. It is also the only time a Southland Conference team ever won the national title. That team had a 13-2 record and defeated North Texas, Eastern Kentucky, Northern Iowa in playoff games leading to the title game in which ULM defeated Marshall, 43-42, in Pocatello, Idaho. Collins coached at ULM for eight years and is the school's all-time leader in wins with a 57-35 record for a winning percentage of .620. His 1983 team also won a Southland Conference crown. Was named the National Coach of the Year in 1987 by CBS Sports and Football News and also was the LSWA's Coach of the Year in 1983 and 1987
The eight new inductees will raise the total of Hall of Fame members to 318 competitors honored since the first induction class -- baseball's Mel Ott, world champion boxer Tony Canzoneri and LSU football great Gaynell Tinsley -- were enshrined in 1959 after their election a year earlier.
The Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame includes 16 Pro Football Hall of Fame members, 18 Olympic medalists (10 gold medal winners), nine members of the Basketball Hall of Fame, seven of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players, six Baseball Hall of Fame inductees, 34 College Football Hall of Fame members, five National High School Hall of Fame enshrines, jockeys with a combined 12 Triple Crown victories, six world boxing champions, seven Women's Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinees, seven College Baseball Hall of Fame inductees, seven College Basketball Hall of Fame members, four NBA Finals MVPs and two Super Bowl MVPs. Biographical information on all current members is available at the LaSportsHall.com website, with a steady stream of info available at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Facebook page and the @LaSportsHall twitter account.
The 2015 Induction Celebration will kick off Thursday, June 25 with the press conference and reception. It includes three receptions, a youth sports clinic, and a Friday, June 26 golf scramble at Oak Wing Golf Course in Alexandria. Tickets for the Induction Dinner and Ceremony, and golf entries, will go on sale next spring through the LaSportsHall.com website.
Also to be honored at the event will be three other Hall of Fame inductees, the winner of the 2014 Dave Dixon Louisiana Sports Leadership Award and the recipients of the 2014 Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism presented by the LSWA. Those award recipients will be announced soon.
Adding to the 310 sports competitors currently enshrined, 14 winners of the Dave Dixon Louisiana Sports Leadership award and 54 recipients of the Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism, there are 378 current members of the Hall of Fame before next summer's inductions.
The 2015 Induction Celebration weekend will be hosted by the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Foundation, the support organization for the Hall of Fame. The LSHOF Foundation was established as a 501 c 3 non-profit entity in 1975 and is governed by a statewide board of directors. For information on sponsorship opportunities, contact Foundation President/CEO Lisa Babin at 318-458-0166 or LisaBabin@LaSportsHall.com. Standard and customized sponsorships are available.
