UL Announces 2017 Athletics Hall of Fame Class

LAFAYETTE – Five former Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns student-athletes and three legendary administrators will make up the 2017 UL Lafayette Athletics Hall of Fame in an announcement by the Board of Directors of the Ragin’ Cajuns Letterman Club, an organization of former athletes who have lettered in their sport.
 
Entering the University’s Hall of Fame are former student-athletes Lacey Bertucci Sharp (softball), Dion Brown (men’s basketball), JoJo Harris (women’s track and field), Jonathan Lucroy (baseball) and the late Kim Perrot (women’s basketball). Entering the Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement are longtime administrators Danny Cottonham, Sherry LeBas and John Porche.
 
The 2017 class will be inducted into the UL Lafayette Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday, Nov. 17 and will be recognized during halftime of the 2017 Homecoming football game against New Mexico State on Nov. 18 at Cajun Field.
 
The University’s Hall of Fame recognizes men and women who distinguished themselves as student-athletes and have made significant contributions to their professions and their communities. They are nominated and selected through a process that is overseen by the board of directors of Ragin’ Cajuns Lettermen Club, an organization of former athletes who have lettered in their sport.
 
In 2015, new eligibility criteria for the Hall of Fame were adopted to allow the nomination of coaches and administrators, as well as alumni whose collegiate careers were shortened by the chance to pursue professional sports.
 
Bertucci Sharp lettered from 2004-08 for the Ragin’ Cajuns softball team, playing in a school-record 255 games and earning All-Sun Belt Conference honors all four seasons. The native of Folsom, La., slugged 58 home runs in her career for the Ragin’ Cajuns and drove in at least 40 runs all four season, highlighted by a career-best 19 home runs and 57 RBI as a junior in 2007.
 
A 2007 graduate of UL, Bertucci Sharp played in a school-record 68 games as a freshman in 2004, belting nine home runs and driving in 40 runs on the season and help Louisiana to the school’s first undefeated record in SBC play.
 
Brown lettered for the Ragin’ Cajuns from 1980-84 and finished his career as one of the top scorers and rebounders in school history. Brown, a 1984 graduate of UL, earned All-Southland Conference honors in 1982 and was a two-time All-Louisiana selection.
 
He finished his career with 1,412 points and 926 rebounds (then second in school history) and helped then-USL to the championship of the 1982 Great Alaskan Shootout where he was named to the All-Tournament team.
 
Harris, a letterwinner from 1993-96, became the second All-American in Ragin’ Cajuns women’s track and field history after finishing eighth overall in the discus at the 1994 NCAA Track and Field Championships in Boise, Idaho. The native of Orange, Texas, set the current school-record in the discus (180-11) at the Last Chance Meet on May 25, 1994 in Baton Rouge, shattering her previous school record by 16 feet.
 
A two-time Sun Belt Conference champion in the discus, Harris was named to the 30 Year All-Time SBC team and was a two-time NCAA qualifier. She graduated from UL in 1996.
 
Lucroy, a two-time Major League All-Star and current member of the Colorado Rockies, played three seasons for the Ragin’ Cajuns where he earned Freshman All-America honors in 2005. The Umatilla, Fla., native twice was named to the All-Sun Belt Conference team.
 
Lucroy finished his career in 2007 as the Ragin’ Cajuns all-time leader in doubles (54), RBI (184) and total bases (414) while ranking in the top five in school history in hits (241), home runs (35), sacrifice flys (16) and slugging percentage (.612). As a senior in 2007, he set a single-season record with 174 total bases.
 
Perrot, who set 19 school-records in UL women’s basketball history from 1986-90, finished as the Ragin’ Cajuns all-time leader in scoring (2,157 points), assists (654) and steals (421) and scored 30 or more points 14 times in her career.
 
A four-time all-conference selection, the Lafayette native completed the 1989-90 season as the nation’s leading scorer with 30.0 points per game. Perrot scored a school-record 58 points against Southeastern Louisiana in 1990, a performance that ranked as the second-highest, single-game scoring performance in NCAA history.
 
Perrot would go on to play for the Houston Comets of the WNBA, where she helped the team to back-to-back titles (1997 and 1998) while finishing as runner-up in 1998 for the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year.
 
Cottonham, who earned degrees from UL in 1977 and 1987, began his service to the University in July of 1977 as Assistant Dean of Student Personnel before being hired as the first-ever director of the UL Student-Athlete Academic Center in 1982. He would serve as director for 30 years, retiring from the post in 2012. Cottonham was honored by the University in 2009 with the President’s Cup, for dedication and commitment to the excellence of Ragin’ Cajuns student-athletes.
 
LeBas, a 1971 graduate of UL, began her career for the University in 1973 as a member of the faculty before serving as the Ragin’ Cajuns Senior Woman Administrator from 1975-2012. The Opelousas, La., native served as head coach of the Ragin’ Cajuns volleyball team from 1980-85 and was twice head coach of the Ragin’ Cajuns women’s tennis team (1976-1977 and 1978-79). She was the recipient of the 2003 Ragin’ Cajun Spirit Award.
 
Porche, a 1969 graduate of Northwestern State University, served as Director of Athletic Training from 1982-2011 and participated in 424 collegiate football games in a career that spanned four decades, including 325 as the Ragin’ Cajuns head athletic trainer. The Franklin, La., native spent 42 years in the athletic training profession, including 41 years as a head athletic trainer.
 
He was honored by the National Athletic Trainer’s Association in 1995 for 25 years of distinguished service. In June 1996, he received one of his profession’s highest honors when he was inducted into the Louisiana Athletic Trainer’s Association Hall of Fame.
 
The 2017 inductees will be honored by the University and the Ragin’ Cajuns Lettermen Club at a reception on Friday, Nov. 17 at the Stadium Club at Russo Park.
 

2017 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients
Danny Cottonham	Sherry LeBas
John Porche