Former Basketball: Flake joins Cajunhoop immortals – photo gallery included

Chad Washington, Daily Advertiser, Dec. 15, 2013

Former UL basketball player Jerry Flake, third from left, stands with his wife Sandra, UL Athletic Director Scott Farmer, left, and UL President Joseph Savoie during his jersey retirement ceremony Saturday at the Cajundome. / Leslie Westbrook/The Advertiser

Athletic Network Footnote:
Click here for UL vs. Houston Men’s Basketball game  photo gallery. Jersey retirement ceremony is # 22 – 27 of the 1-27 photos.

The last time Jerry Flake last met Elvin Hayes, Flake held the Hall-of-Famer in check in a game over 46 years ago. On Saturday, the two met again. Hayes, whose jersey is already retired at Houston and does the radio analysis for Houston, shook Flake’s hand after his jersey met the same fate.

Flake, a two-time All-American, had his number lifted to the Cajundome rafters on Saturday during halftime of the UL-Houston game. One of only five other Ragin’ Cajuns to score over 2,000 in his career, Flake took the moment in stride with his cool and calm demeanor.

“Everything went great,” Flake said. “It’s been a great experience.”

Flake played for the Cajuns from 1965 to 1969 and is fifth in the program’s history with 2,058 points. His No. 20 jersey will hang among four other UL basketball greats, including Dwight “Bo” Lamar (No. 10), Dean Church (No. 12), Marvin Winkler (No. 14) and Andrew Toney (No. 24).

Flake, a 6-foot-6 forward, played on some good UL teams, but those teams played while the state and the country were going through a tumultuous time. Under head coach Beryl Shipley, the Cajuns started to put African-Americans on their team, and some of their opposing schools that they played were not happy with playing against black players.

“Along with Dean Church and the other players that came in like Marvin Winkler and Allen Ivory, I think we set things up for future teams,” Flake said. “It was tough during those years with the integration and so forth. We had some tough games. Northwestern (State), Louisiana Tech, (UL-)Monroe (then known as Northeast Louisiana). All those schools, we needed a police escort to go into the gym.

“And when you’re 19 or 20 years old, you don’t see the full picture. Now that I’ve gotten way older – pushing 67 years old – I can look back and really appreciate Marvin Winkler and Elvin Ivory and Leslie Scott, the three black players that came here. I appreciate what they went through – I say appreciate because I never know what they been through, I wasn’t in their skin – but I appreciate them more now for the courage that they showed in actually just coming here.”

Flake led UL – then known as the USL Bulldogs – to four Gulf States Conference titles and an appearance in the 1967 NAIA National Tournament. He also was named to three All-Gulf States Conference first teams, a first-team NABC All-District selection in 1967, and a member of the Louisiana Basketball Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the UL Athletics Hall of Fame back in 1982.

Flake was a dead-eye shooter, averaging 17.6 points per game as a freshman and 20.7 points in his junior year in 1968-69. He had a 51.4 shooting percentage that year and 84 percent from the free-throw line. He owns the Cajuns’ single-season record for free-throw percentage (90 percent in 1967-68 after going 90-for-100) and a career average of 85.4 percent.

Although his hometown is Washington, Ind., Flake often spends time once a year to visit Lafayette as he drive back and forth from Houston (where his wife is from) and Indiana (where he spent most of his time as a high school basketball coach).

“It’s always good to come back. Me and my wife get back to Lafayette once a year or year and a half,” Flake said. “We come through here and go to Houston to visit her sisters in the area. But it’s amazing how this has changed and grown. Too much traffic. Couldn’t believe how much traffic there is here, oh my. Johnston Street doesn’t look the same from the 1960’s.”

On Friday, Flake dropped by a UL practice session, and immediately showed that he still has the touch.

“(Jerry) came by practice on Friday and got out and shot a few, and he was stroking it,” head coach Bob Marlin said. “The guys got to see his touch: And he was shooting it well, he make five or six in a row on jumpers. So he can definately shoot the basketball.

“He said he played against Elvin Hayes, and he said he had him beat. He said he should have won that basketball game. So we’re excited to represent our program’s tradition.”

Saturday was the first time he’s seen UL in person, although he does follow some games on TV and on the internet. He like what he sees from this year’s Cajuns and thinks that the future is bright for the program.

“I think (Bob Marlin) is a good coach,” Flake said. “I think he’s got some talent out there. They’re a little bit young, but they will get better. I think next year from what I see from the freshman and sophomores and juniors, they’ll be pretty tough.”

Athletic Network Footnote:
Click here to view Jerry Flake’s page.