Former Women’s Basketball: Ragin’ Cajuns Athletics To Hold Kim Perrot Celebration Weekend

Louisiana to honor the late point guard

Kim Perrot Celebration Weekend Flyer l Brodhead Letter to Cajun Nation

LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Athletic Department and the Ragin’ Cajuns women’s basketball program will honor former Cajun and two-time Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) champion point guard Kim Perrot with a celebration weekend Friday and Saturday (Jan. 16-17).
 
The weekend’s events will include a Kim Perrot Social at the Petroleum Club (111 Heymann Blvd.) beginning at 7 p.m. Friday with a dinner followed by an unveiling of her banner and a framed jersey presentation to the Perrot family during halftime of Louisiana’s 5 p.m. game against South Alabama on Saturday at the Cajundome.

Tickets for Friday night’s social are $20.09 for athletic staff members and fans that have already purchased a game ticket. Non-staff members can attend the dinner for $25, which also includes a ticket to Saturday’s basketball doubleheader, watching the team’s Saturday morning shootaround and a pregame meal with the Cajuns at Earl K. Long Gym.

Steve Peloquin, the voice of Ragin’ Cajuns women’s basketball, will serve as emcee for the Friday social. The Perrot family and former Ragin’ Cajuns women’s basketball coach Ross Cook (1983-87) will be attendance for this weekend’s events.
 
To purchase tickets, please contact Loretta Perrot at lorettaperrot@yahoo.com. Tickets are also available at the Martin Luther King Center (309 Cora St.) between the hours of 3-7 p.m.
 
"I saw Kim play as a seven, eight, nine-year old," said head coach Garry Brodhead. "I saw her grow up and watched her play in high school, make the commitment to UL and lead the nation in scoring her senior year. When we came to UL, we wanted some kind of identity and I thought she was the person to bring some identity to our program. It was a goal of mine to get her recognized wherever we were going to play, whether it was Blackham (Coliseum), Earl K. Long (Gym) or the Cajundome."
 
Perrot, who played for Louisiana from 1986-90, was a four-time all-conference selection and a Fast Break All-American Freshman Team pick. Following her time in Acadiana, the Lafayette native went on to play overseas for seven years before returning to the United States for the inaugural WNBA season in 1997. Perrot beat out 55 other players for one of just two roster spots on the Houston Comets roster, eventually earning the starting point guard spot to help the squad to titles in 1997 and 1998.
 
Louisiana retired Perrot’s No. 12 jersey at halftime of the Cajuns’ game vs. Louisiana Tech on Feb. 26, 1998.
 
Shortly after winning her second title with the Comets, Perrot was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer, and just six months later passed away from the disease on Aug. 19, 1999 at the young age of 32. The Houston Comets retired Perrot’s No. 10 jersey on July 29, 2000 while the WNBA named two awards in her honor, the Kim Perrot Leadership Award and the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award.
 
In June 2003, the Houston Rockets organization founded "Kim’s Place" at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston as a recreational facility for patients and visitors ages 15-30 battling life-threatening illnesses. Perrot’s No. 10 Comets jersey is displayed at the entrance to the facility.
 
Perrot’s legacy has carried on through the Ragin’ Cajuns women’s basketball program with this season being the 25^th year since Perrot last suited up for the Vermilion and White. She still holds 19 school records, including seven career records after recording 2,157 career points, 654 assists and 421 steals as a Cajun. During her senior campaign in 1989-90, Perrot led the nation with a 30.0 scoring average while adding 5.1 steals per game, marks that still rank in the top 10 in the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball record books. On Feb. 5, 1990, Perrot put together one of the most memorable scoring performances in the history of the sport, scoring 58 points vs. Southeastern Louisiana, which ties for the second-highest single-game point total in NCAA Division I history.
 
 
Kim Perrot’s School Records
Career
Points – 2,157
Steals – 421
Assists – 654
Field Goals Made – 828
Field Goals Attempted – 2,003
Free Throws Made – 299
Free Throws Attempted – 553
 
Single Season
Points – 839 (1989-90)
Scoring Average – 30.0 (1989-90)
Field Goals Made – 309 (1989-90)
Free Throws Made – 128 (1989-90)
Assists – 191 (1986-87)
Assists Per Game – 7.1 (1986-87)
Steals – 143 (1989-90)
Steals Per Game – 5.1 (1989-90)
 
Single Game
Points – 58 (Feb. 5, 1990 vs. Southeastern Louisiana, OT)
Field Goals Made – 20 (Feb. 5, 1990 vs. Southeastern Louisiana, OT)
Field Goals Attempted – 40 (Feb. 5, 1990 vs. Southeastern Louisiana, OT)
Steals – 11, 2 times (Feb. 2, 1989 vs. Arkansas State, Jan. 18, 1990 vs. New Orleans)