By Doug Ireland
The names are nationally renowned: recent Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Sylvia Fowles, NFL stars Joe Horn, Todd McClure and Pat Williams, Major League Baseball All-Star Jonathan Lucroy and legendary basketball coaches John Brady, Mike McConathy and Dewain Strother sparkle in a star-studded induction class chosen for 2026 enshrinement in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
And there’s another who has made unforgettable impact on college baseball, known around the country for making the most memorable swing in the history of the game: Alexandria’s own Warren Morris. The former Bolton Bear and longtime local banker is going into the Hall next summer as recipient of the Louisiana Sports Ambassador Award.
Morris is the former Bolton High School Bear whose walk-off home run won the 1996 College World Series for LSU. But after his baseball-playing days ended in Major League Baseball a few years later, Morris didn’t walk off – he stood up and has become a lifelong spokesman for college baseball, the CWS and LSU, and a shining representative of Cenla.
It was Morris’ only home run of the 1996 season due to a hand injury. His story has been chronicled by ESPN as part of the SEC Storied series, “The Walk Off.” Since retirement from professional baseball several years later, Morris has become a roving representative not only of LSU baseball, but of the CWS and college baseball, making countless appearances and lending involvement and support to many civic and charitable causes and organizations.
It is what he’s done since he put away his bats and gloves that earned Morris the Ambassador Award.
“Warren has, indeed, been an ambassador for college baseball at all levels. He has brought, for 30 years, blue-ribbon distinction to LSU, the state of Louisiana, and the CWS,” said Hall of Fame broadcaster Lyn Rollins, a former Pineville resident who broadcast plenty of Morris’ regular-season games at LSU.
“Skip Bertman used to lecture his players to ‘honor the game.’ Warren did that as a player in high school, college and Major League Baseball. And he, more importantly, continues to honor the game through the humble generosity of his time and inspirational words and works,” said Rollins.
“He’s been the equivalent of an Eagle Scout for baseball, its fans and young players. He’s been a quiet, yet joyful, cooperative and grateful, sports hero. He always has done right by people.
“Yes, Warren Morris, unquestionably, is the embodiment of what our Ambassador Award represents. It’s especially appropriate in the 30th year since his historic mark on college baseball that he finally be recognized in our Hall of Fame,” said Rollins.
Morris came to LSU as a walk-on, redshirted and began as an outfielder. He eventually was given the task of replacing three-time All-American Todd Walker at second base. As a sophomore, in his first season starting at second base, Morris earned second-team All-American and All-SEC honors after leading LSU in average (.369), runs (70), hits (93), stolen bases (18) and on-base percentage (.481). He was a first-team Academic All-American.
Morris earned a spot on the 1995 USA national team, finishing third in batting (.361) with 5 homers and 21 RBI from the leadoff position. Entering his junior season as a preseason All-American, Morris broke the hamate bone in his right wrist at some point early in the season and had surgery, missing 39 games.
He returned to the LSU lineup at the SEC Tournament. Adding to his legend, LSU was 22-0 in games Morris started in 1996. Remarkably, Morris was LSU’s leading hitter in the NCAA Tournament at .433 with 3 doubles, 10 RBI and 10 runs scored. Morris finished his LSU career with a .338 average.
He played in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in for Team USA that won bronze, leading the team in hitting (.409, 5 homers, 11 RBI and 10 runs scored).
Morris was selected in the fifth round of the 1996 MLB Amateur Draft by the Texas Rangers, later traded to the Pirates’ organization. He made his MLB debut on Opening Day 1999 and finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting after hitting .288 with 15 homers and 73 RBI. He would go on to play parts of four more seasons in the majors before eventually retiring.
In high school Morris earned letters in baseball, basketball and cross country, graduating in 1992. He was chosen as an inaugural member of the Bolton High School Hall of Fame in 2024.
There’s another Rapides Parish native in the Class of 2026 – Strother, who retired from Florien High School in Sabine Parish as the second-winningest girls high school basketball coach in the country. Strother is a Plainview High School graduate and was a basketball standout there before graduating with bachelor’s and masters degrees from Northwestern.
Strother retired in 2023 with a 1,235-395 (.758) record, a career that includes 21 trips to the state semifinals and 11 championship game appearances, collecting five LHSAA titles for Florien High in southern Sabine Parish.
Another 2026 inductee also has a strong bond with Cenla. McConathy won a state-record 682 games as a college coach in 16 seasons at Bossier Parish Community College and 23 at Northwestern (1999-2022).
The LSHOF Class of 2026 is headed by Fowles, a four-time USA Olympic gold medalist (2008, 2012, 2016, 2020) who helped LSU to four consecutive Final Fours from 2005-08. She was an eight-time WNBA All-Star in a 15-season pro career that included WNBA Finals MVP honors as she led the Minnesota Lynx to league crowns in 2015 and 2017. Fowles was chosen as one of the WNBA’s Top 25 Players of All-Time in 2021 and entered the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame last month and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in June.
Horn was a four-time Pro Bowl receiver (2000-02, 2004) and fan favorite in seven seasons (2000-06) with the New Orleans Saints in a 12-year NFL career. McClure, a Baton Rouge native and two-sport All-Stater at Central High School, was an All-Southeastern Conference and All-America center for LSU before 14 NFL seasons, all in Atlanta, that earned him a place in the Falcons Ring of Honor. Williams, a defensive tackle from Wossman High School in his hometown of Monroe, reached three straight Pro Bowls (2006-08) while with the Minnesota Vikings in a 14-season career that started with the Buffalo Bills.
Lucroy starred for three years at catcher for Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns and was a third-round 2007 MLB Draft pick by Milwaukee, where he earned a pair of National League All-Star Game appearances (2014, 2016) and was fourth in voting for the 2014 NL Most Valuable Player award as pinnacles of a 12-year big league career.
Brady won 402 games in 25 seasons of college basketball coaching at Samford, LSU and Arkansas State, with 190 victories in 10 seasons with the Tigers including three SEC regular-season championships (2000, 2005, 2006) and a run to the 2006 NCAA Final Four. That year’s March Madness was also a career highlight for Bossier City native McConathy, whose 14th seeded Demons stunned No. 3 seed and Big Ten Conference champion Iowa in one of three NCAA tourney trips (two wins) for NSU.
The new class will be enshrined next June 25-27 at the Hall of Fame’s home in Natchitoches to culminate the 67th Induction Celebration. Ticket information for the seven events over three days of festivities – including the BOM Bowling Bash at All-Star Lanes in Alexandria — is available at the LaSportsHall.com website.
The Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame already includes 25 Pro Football Hall of Fame members, 18 Olympic medalists (including 11 gold-medal winners), 16 members of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, seven of the NBA’s 75 Greatest Players, seven National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees, 45 College Football Hall of Fame members, 11 Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame inductees, 10 Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinees, 10 College Baseball Hall of Fame inductees, nine National High School Hall of Fame members, five National Museum of (Thoroughbred) Racing and Hall of Fame inductees. The LSHOF showcases jockeys with a combined 16 Triple Crown victories, six world boxing champions, four NBA Finals MVPs, four winners of major professional golf championships, and five quarterbacks with a combined seven Super Bowl MVP awards.
Online ticketing and event information for the 2026 Induction Celebration is available at this link: LaSportsHall.com/Induction2026
