It’s been since last September’s announcement of the 2026 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame induction class that this month shaped up as a special one for Central Louisiana and in particular, Rapides Parish.
It got even better at Christmas.
Now, it’s your chance to get involved in the celebration.
The LSHOF 2026 Induction Celebration is June 25-27. One event is smack dab in the middle of Cenla, at Four Seasons Bowling Center in Alexandria, the Friday midday, June 26 Celebrity Bowling Bash presented by BOM.
The other six events are not far away, in Natchitoches – including a free Friday night riverbank concert with a fireworks show, the Rockin’ River Fest presented by Alexandria’s Rapides Regional Medical Center.
Why all the fuss? It happens every summer.
Well, it happens once a year. And it celebrates the greatest figures in Louisiana sports history.
And this year, three are from Rapides Parish, and another is right next door. Warren Morris. Lifelong resident of Alexandria. Bolton High School alumnus.
Kathy Holloway. Lifelong resident of Rapides Parish. Graduate of Poland High School, retired teacher and coach at Brame Junior High, Tioga and Bolton, now director of the Upward Basketball program for kids in Pineville at First Baptist Church. That’s where in the Christmas Eve service this winter, she got the news about going into the Hall of Fame.
Dewain Strother. Raised in Rapides Parish, played for Plainview High School’s 1965 boys basketball state champions. Has spent his adult life teaching and coaching just to the west at Florien High School. Is still coaching.
Mike McConathy. Lives in Natchitoches, where he was the men’s basketball coach at Northwestern for 23 seasons, and now, he is working providing a connection between high school students in Rapides and other parishes and opportunities at NSU. Had quite a few Cenla recruits on his Demon basketball teams, including superstar Clifton Lee of Northwood-Lena, Marcellus Ross from Glenmora, Gary Stewart of Vidalia, Damon Jones from Winnfield, and the list goes on.
That’s a fabulous foursome among the 12 members of the Class of 2026. It’s the largest Cenla contingent in one induction class ever, since the Hall of Fame was created 69 years ago.
They were all in the spotlight last month at the LSHOF Foundation’s spring Celebrity Golf Pro-Am Tournament at Links on the Bayou, and the Tee Party on Monday evening, May 11, at Spirits in Alexandria.
Other 2026 inductees on hand were former LSU basketball coach John Brady, and two-time MLB All-Star catcher Jonathan Lucroy. Among the previous inductees taking part were two-time Super Bowl champion Gary Reasons and national champion LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri.
Menard graduate Ronnie Rantz, the CEO/president of the LSHOF Foundation since September 2016, was the master of ceremonies that Monday night. He interviewed all of the Hall of Famers, incoming and already inducted.
“I’ve been to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. It’s an awesome experience to go through and see the history. We’re not a very big state, but there are so many great athletes that have come through here,” said Morris. “You go from Shaq to Phil Robertson, to the Manning brothers, to Pete Maravich and Billy Cannon, and guys I played with at LSU like Eddy Furniss and Todd Walker. To get that phone call, it’s a special, special thing.”
Morris is going into the Hall as the Louisiana Sports Ambassador Award recipient, an honor that is not awarded annually. It recognizes remarkable lifelong impact on the state’s sports identity. On June 8, it will be 30 years to the day that Morris lined the greatest home run in LSU and college baseball history, to give the Tigers the 1996 College World Series title in walk-off style. He’s being inducted because of how he has represented his hometown, his home state, LSU and college baseball in the three decades since.
“If everybody who has told me in the 30 years since, that they were in Rosenblatt Stadium that day, that stadium holds 850,000 people,” Morris cracked. “It’s probably not every day, but a week doesn’t go by that somebody shares a story of where they were. That’s the most special part of it to me, the joy that it has brought so many others.”
Holloway is getting inducted as the Dave Dixon Louisiana Sports Leadership Award winner. Her impact as an athletic administrator statewide and nationally is profound. She was the first woman president of the Louisiana High School Coaches Association, a role previously accessible just to football coaches, and she was involved with the LHSAA for decades. She became part of the National High School Coaches Association board, eventually as president, and made such an impression that an award has been named after her.
She led Poland to the 1965 state championship when girls played 6-on-6, with three offensive players on one half of the court and three defensive players on the other half. She went to LSU not as a basketball player but as a math major. Now she loves going to Baton Rouge to watch Kim Mulkey’s Tigers pack the Maravich Assembly Center.
“I love what’s happened to the game. Girls have the chance now to show their talents, to develop, to represent themselves and their families,” she said. “I would have loved to have had that opportunity, and I am so glad it’s happened.”
Holloway has had more than a little bit of involvement with that progress.
Strother traces his coaching success back to his days growing up outside of Glenmora, and in particular, two men at Plainview High: basketball coach O.D. West, and principal Mike Irving.
“;He (West) basically made sure that we were well-behaved kids, and made the grades, and in the gym, he made sure we were fundamentally sound,” said Strother.
He wasn’t planning on going to college until Irving insisted, and got him registered at Northwestern. That led to an education degree, a job as an elementary school P.E. teacher at Florien, and eight years later, being asked to start a girls basketball team at the high school.
Only one person in U.S. history has won more girls games than Strother’s 1,235. He retired in 2023, but this past winter, came back as an assistant coach to one of his former state champion players, Angela Anthony.
“I truly enjoyed it,” Strother said. “My whole demeanor had changed because I felt useful again. It is great to be back.”
It’s going to be great to celebrate these Cenla sports heroes at the end of the month. Don’t miss your chance to come to the party.
