By Bruce Brown

Written for Athletic Network

After all these years, Rickey Broussard is still on the road, recruiting talent.

His team is different now – State Farm Insurance instead of a college basketball program – but the eye for talent remains intact.

A native of Leroy and a product of Meaux High School, Broussard played infield for then-USL’s Ragin’ Cajun baseball program from 1967-70.

He was a successful high school basketball coach at Meaux, Fatima and St. Thomas More before serving as an assistant coach on Bobby Paschal’s Cajun squad from 1984-86.

Broussard answered the opportunity to run his own program when Nicholls State called in 1990, and his 12-year stay with the Colonels featured heights never before achieved by the Thibodaux school.

NSU appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 1995 – a first – and again in 1998. Three times the Colonels ruled the Southland Conference. The 10 middle years at Nicholls featured five winning seasons, including 1995’s stellar 24-6 mark.

He also spent three years as an assistant at LSU before entering the insurance business, where he has become one of the top recruiters of prospective agents in the nation.

“I recruit agents; it’s something that kind of just fits,” Broussard said. “It’s been awesome for me. For four or five of my seven years with State Farm, I’ve been the top recruiter in the nation.

“I work a lot of referrals and I’m on the road quite a bit. I’m still able to impact people’s lives. I help get them connected and create opportunities.”

It hasn’t been the life once mapped out for him.

Broussard’s father wanted him to be a lawyer, and for brother Brent (3 years younger) to be a doctor. But both became successful coaches, as did younger brother Danny (10 years behind Rickey), who played for Rickey at Meaux, later took over at STM and built a power at that Lafayette school.

“I was in pre-law, and decided I wanted to major in coaching,” Broussard said. “I made the mistake of telling my dad at the beginning of the summer, and he didn’t speak to me all summer. It was rough.”

It was more attractive for Broussard to follow his love of athletics, a passion begun in childhood.

“They would have tournaments at Meaux that would start at 8 on Saturday and last all day,” Broussard said. “Then I would draw up brackets to set up my own tournament and we would play on an outdoor court.

“We only had basketball at Meaux. All the boys at school either played or were (team) managers. We went 38-2 my senior year. We lost in the state playoffs to Roanoke and Leonard Troutman.

“For baseball we’d play Little League in Maurice. Our Babe Ruth team won state. And, we played American Legion. When we played, I always felt I had leadership skill born in me.”

Baseball offered the best athletic outlet once Broussard got to college at USL.

“I played for Dan ‘Sonny’ Roy,” Broussard said. “My first year, I would get in games as a late-inning defensive replacement. Then our starting shortstop left the team, and I started the rest of the year.

“I batted .300 that year. Then, my second or third year, Charlie Bordes came in and they moved me to second base.”

Like other teammates, Broussard was impressed by a wiry young pitcher named Ron Guidry, who would later win a Cy Young Award and two World Series titles with the New York Yankees.

“Ron’s fastball was so fast, and it would rise,” Broussard said. “That made his curveball even better. Opposing batters would always take the first pitch against Guidry, and invariably when they did, they would then look over at the third base coach. We used to enjoy watching their reactions.

“Ron had long arms, he was wiry and he had that whip.”

Playing baseball was enjoyable. When it came time to coach, though, basketball was Broussard’s game.

“I was student-teaching at Comeaux, then went to Lafayette High, where (coach) Billy Montgomery had me scouting,” Broussard said. “I’d come back, and he would have me over to the house and we would talk basketball until 3 or 4 a.m.

“I also got to know Rodney Ledoux while coaching junior high in Breaux Bridge for 3 years. I learned from two of the greats. I learned a lot from Bobby Paschal, too.

“I loved developing players. I remember putting those chairs in the gym at Fatima, and working all summer with the kids. I had a passion for developing young players. I took pride in doing the small things. As I matured, I enjoyed treating games like a chess match.”

The desire to develop talent came in handy at Nicholls State, where Broussard notched a signature road win at Auburn and won conference titles.

“I remember driving to Thibodaux to accept the job, and it was late April,” he said. “I recruited a point guard from Pineville named Ray Washington, who I’d seen dominate Morgan City. I went after him first, and he was a tremendous player for us.

“Gerard King was another one. He was 6-6 when we had him, but grew to be 6-9, 245 and played 6 years in the NBA before an eye injury ended his career.

“Reggie Jackson was 6-6, 240, and had tremendous hands. The only other player I coached with such good hands was Jerome Meaux at Meaux. Reggie was probably my best player. He was successful playing overseas.

“Kendrick Franklin was another good player for us, along with (brothers) Jason and Russell McCutcheon. I saw something in players like that. I’d go to AAU tournaments and be that fly on the wall listening to other coaches. I would hang my hat on a player’s one strength, and develop the rest of him.”

Now there are other competitive fires to be stoked, different talents to uncover. But there is more, too.

“My dream job was always to be the head coach at UL, but God has a plan for us all,” said Broussard, who lost his first wife Delphine in her 40’s and now lives in Thibodaux with wife Paula.

With her son and his three daughters with Delphine, the couple is blessed with eight grandchildren.

“I’m at a point in life where things have changed a lot,” Broussard said. “I’m leading an open, honest life and I want to get involved and to give back.”

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Click here for Rickey Broussard and his 1967 Baseball teammates.