Basketball: Blackham Coliseum Stars

Basketball: Blackham Coliseum Stars

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

From 1950-85, Blackham Coliseum hosted some of the best players ever to play basketball for the University of Louisiana.
Two-time national scoring champion Dwight "Bo" Lamar heads a list that includes seven of the top nine scorers in UL men’s history who enjoyed moments of greatness in Blackham. So did Kim Perrot, the school’s all-time women’s scoring champion.

We take a look at some of the players who made the Blackham Coliseum experience a special one for the last half-century.

RAGIN’ CAJUN MEN
First team

Dwight "Bo" Lamar (1969-73)

The University of Louisiana’s all-time scoring leader with 3,493 points, Lamar twice led the nation in scoring at 36.0 in 1970-71 and 36.3 in 1971-72 and finished with 31.2 points per game for his career – air-mailing long-range shots before the advent of the 3-point field goal. He also ranks fourth in UL career assists with 520. The Cajuns won 90 games in his four years. His No. 10 jersey was retired by UL.

Andrew Toney (1976-80)

Personally revitalized Ragin’ Cajun fortunes after the school’s return from the abyss of NCAA probation, scoring 2,526 points and averaging 23.6 points per game. Toney, who finished his degree in 3 1/2 years and was in graduate school his final semester at UL, led the Cajuns to a Southland Conference title in 1977 and the NIT quarterfinals in 1980. Toney’s No. 24 jersey is among three retired by the men’s program.

Roy Ebron (1970-73)

The best combination scorer and rebounder in Cajun history, the 6-foot-9 Ebron averaged 19.4 points and 12.2 rebounds in his UL career and remains the career rebound leader with 1,064 caroms. The Cajuns were ranked in the nation’s Top 10 and reached NCAA Tournament play behind Ebron and Lamar.

Graylin Warner (1980-84)

The New Orleans product averaged 14.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game for the Cajuns, blocked 138 shots, and was a vital element as the Cajuns reached the NCAA Tournament in 1982 and 1983, won the Great Alaska Shootout in 1981 and reached the NIT Final Four to climax the 1984 season.

Marvin Winkler (1966-70)

Arguably the first superstar in Beryl Shipley’s regime at UL, Winkler scored 2,128 points, averaged 19.7 points per game, dished out 580 assists, helped the Cajuns to a four-year record of 75-31 and had his No. 14 jersey retired by the school.

Second team

Dean Church (1960-65)

Church led the Cajuns in scoring in both 1963-64 (20.1 points per game) and 1964-65 (23.4), hitting 54.8 percent from the field and 77.7 percent at the free throw line in his 1,546-point career.

Jerry Flake (1965-69)

A slender sharpshooter, Flake scored 2,058 points as a Cajun – one of only five two-grand scorers in UL history. He hit an unerring 458-of-536 career free throws, 85.4 percent.

Dion Brown (1980-84)

The epitome of the unselfish team player, Brown cleared 926 rebounds in 118 games with the Cajuns. He also scored 1,412 points and was part of 84 wins.

Dion Rainey (1976-80)

Rainey’s career was overshadowed by teammate Andrew Toney, but he scored 1,421 points and had 749 rebounds as a Cajun. His jumper from deep in the corner beat Alabama-Birmingham in the 1980 NIT.

George Almones (1982-85)

The multi-talented Almones was a Florida prep star in both football and basketball. At UL, he scored 1,436 points, distributed 402 assists and had 145 steals as part of four postseason squads.

Third team

Alonza Allen (1980-84)

His career paralleled that of Graylin Warner and Dion Brown. Allen was renowned for his spectacular slam dunks en route to 1,211 career points and 501 rebounds.

Kevin Figaro (1977-81)

The Lafayette High all-stater was a major recruiting catch for the Cajuns. "Skywalker" tallied 1,474 career points, had 520 rebounds and averaged 22.8 points as a UL senior.

Johnny Collins (1981-83)

Collins had 399 assists and 158 steals as a prototypical point guard who helped the Cajuns to the Great Alaska Shootout title in 1981 and NCAA Tournament berths in 1982 and 1983.

Elvin Ivory (1966-68)

No one in school history recorded more rebounds than the 500 pulled down by Ivory in 1966-67. He had 768 rebounds in just 55 games, a school-record average of 14 per game.

Bill McHorris (1958-61)

McHorris was the scoring leader for Beryl Shipley’s first three Cajun squads, finishing with 1,366 career points and a lofty scoring average of 18.8 per game.

RAGIN’ CAJUN WOMEN

Kim Perrot (1986-90)

Louisiana’s career leader in points scored (2,157), assists (654) and steals (421) – all by a wide margin – as well as field goals (828), field goal attempts (2,003), free throws (299) and free throw attempts (553). Perrot led the nation in scoring in 1989-90, averaging 30.0 points per game, and her No. 12 jersey is retired by the school.

Lisa Merritt (1980-84)

The only other UL women’s player with her jersey number (32) retired, Merritt scored 1,747 points and averaged 16.8 points per game in her Cajun career. She helped the 1983-84 team to 22 wins, a total not matched until 2004-2005.

Teena Cooper (1984-88)

Cooper started 105 games for the Cajuns and holds the career rebounding record of 1,082, the only player above the 1,000 plateau. She hit 56.1 percent of her shots.

Rhonda McCullough (1987-90)

The ultimate long-distance bomber for the Cajun women’s program, coming along at the perfect time to take advantage of the 3-point field goal. McCullough holds school records for 3-pointers made (260), attempted (632) and percentage of treys hit (.411)

Aronji Johnson (1984-86)

The Cajun career leader in scoring average (20.5 points per game) and in field goal percentage (.613). Her 21.2-point average in 1984-85 is topped only by Perrot’s 30-point norm five years later.

Originally published December 2, 2005