Boudreaux earns Dave Dixon Award

Dan McDonald • Special to The Advertiser • June 26, 2010

For 25 years, after each of almost 1,100 Division I college basketball games, Gerald Boudreaux would return to his office in Lafayette’s Girard Park area and write each game’s details down in a ledger book.

That book remains close at hand, even though it hasn’t been amended since 2006, when his selfless act of giving up something he loved — officiating basketball games — spoke volumes about the man himself.

Boudreaux could have continued as one of the nation’s best and most-respected college officials for decades. But SEC commissioner Mike Slive called early in the 2005-06 season to ask for a "favor."

Slive wanted Boudreaux to take over as the league’s coordinator of basketball officiating, after turmoil surrounding the firing of 25-year coordinator John Guthrie and a pyramid investing scheme that forced three officials out of the league.

"He said he was asking for the biggest favor he’d ever asked for," Boudreaux said. "It came down to, do I continue to enjoy my own personal gains, or do I sacrifice for the betterment of the league."

Those who knew Boudreaux already knew the answer to that question. He’s now been the SEC coordinator for four years, while not missing a beat in his quarter-century job as director of Lafayette Parks and Recreation.

Because of those roles, the Louisiana Sports Writers Association honors Boudreaux with the 2010 Dave Dixon Louisiana Sports Leadership Award. Boudreaux will be feted during activities of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Weekend, scheduled June 24-26 in Natchitoches, with the award presentation scheduled during the Induction Dinner on Saturday at the Natchitoches Events Center. More information is available online at www.lasportshall.com.

The Dixon Award is presented annually by the LSWA’s 30-member Hall of Fame selection committee to an individual who has played a decisive role as a sports leader or administrator benefiting Louisiana and/or bringing credit to the state on the national and international level. It is named in honor of Dave Dixon, the driving force in bringing the NFL to Louisiana and considered the "father" of the Louisiana Superdome.

The terms "decisive role" and "credit on the national level" are apt for Boudreaux. No person involved in any sport has to be more decisive than an official, and Boudreaux was universally renowned by coaches — often the official’s toughest critics — for the way he worked his games.

 

"What he is, is competent and fair," said former LSU coach John Brady, now head coach at Arkansas State. "When he was on the floor, I considered him one of the best in the country "» some people think the best. He’s quality."

And as far as national-level events, it doesn’t get any bigger than the Final Four, and he worked five of those including four national championship games in a five-year period. Only three officials have ever worked four Final Fours in a five-year span since the NCAA went to its current basketball tournament format.

Working primarily in the SEC since age 24, following early stints with the Southland and Trans America Athletic Conferences, he also called in 16 straight SEC and NCAA Tournaments including 10 SEC title games. His was a regular face at major, nationally-televised intersectional games.

In 2000, one of those national-title-game seasons, he was honored by the Atlanta Tipoff Club as its Naismith College Men’s Basketball Official of the Year.

Officials don’t get many such perks, and that’s what made Boudreaux’s decision to accept the SEC post — first on an interim and now on a regular basis — so difficult.

"I didn’t know if I was ready to take my whistle, my shirt and my shoes and hang them up," Boudreaux said. "I could have been selfish and gone a few more years, because everyone who gets to the level I got to in officiating enjoys it."

As they say in the science-fiction movies, the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the one. So now, the former Northside High football and basketball captain watches dozens of SEC games annually from the scorer’s table.

"Gerald has a passion for college basketball," Slive said, "and his leadership qualities made him an obvious choice. He was the first person I thought of. He demonstrated natural leadership, commitment, loyalty "» all of the qualities you look for in a position of responsibility."

"At the start, I was still officiating games from my chair," Boudreaux said. "I some games I watched, I would have made adjustments that some of our officials didn’t make. But toward the end of that first season, I was getting comfortable with giving input.

"Mostly, I told guys to just manage the game, evaluate the teams and what they’re doing and keep the floor balanced."

Balance has always been a big part of Boudreaux’s life, by necessity since he’s served under four different Lafayette mayors/parish presidents. Juggling his roles in overseeing Lafayette Parish’s recreation program and his SEC duties is a nerve-racking process in the best of times, and federal, state and municipal budgetary constraints in a far-reaching Lafayette program have made things even more difficult.

Not that you’d know from watching Boudreaux in a parish council meeting, or in any of the numerous groups and activities to which he devotes his time and energies.

"Gerald’s greatest attribute is that he’s never too high or too low," veteran official John Clougherty told a member of the state media when Boudreaux joined the SEC staff. "I’ve never seen him get out of control"»and I wish I could have said that for myself."