By JONATHON ZENK, Northwestern State Sports Information
Whether it was the family that raised them, or the families they found at Northwestern State, the 13 people honored at the N-Club Hall of Fame ceremony Saturday morning at the Magale Recital Hall shared their success with those closest to them.
“It is a great honor to be inducted,” an emotional Josh Hancock said. “I lost my Dad a few weeks ago. I brought my Mom up to the stage because my parents gave me a lot of support. My parents worked hard and taught us to work hard and never give up.
“The appreciation I have for them is undeniable and I appreciate all the sacrifices they’ve made and that is one of the reasons why I worked as hard as possible so we got where we did at Northwestern.”
Hancock started a string of three brothers – Tramaine, then Keithan – who played at NSU.
He also poignantly thanked coach Mike McConathy for “making basketball fun for me again” when McConathy took over the program after Hancock’s sophomore season.
The slender Kountze, Texas, native (“I still have those skinny legs!” he cracked) was one of three Demon hoops stars spotlighted Saturday. All three helped NSU win NCAA Tournament games.
The point guard finished with 307 career assists, which was sixth in program history at the end of his career. Hancock also sealed the Demons’ first NCAA Tournament victory by draining a triple in the final minute to put away Winthrop in 2001.
On a day filled with reminiscing about tremendous moments in their careers, it was fitting that the man who made the biggest play in NSU Athletics history was honored.
Jermaine Wallace, who drilled a 3-pointer in the corner to defeat third-seeded Iowa in the 2006 NCAA Tournament, earned his spot in the Hall with much more than a moment that still lives indelibly in March Madness history.
A two-time All-Southland Conference selection, Wallace ranks 13th on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,427 points and helped McConathy’s teams win two straight Southland titles. A member of the Demons’ All-Century Team, Wallace’s 200 career 3-pointers stood as a school record for nearly a decade.
“Without my brothers on the team, there would be no me,” said the native of Heflin and product of Sibley High School.
“I remember the shot frame-by-frame. I remember every moment, but any time anybody asks me about that shot, I always revert to the comeback before the shot. I tell people that I just made the shot you remember, but my brothers and I made the (17-point) comeback to make it possible. That is what I remember the most.”
Wallace shared a locker room with Tyrone Mitchell, who has made an impact after his playing career as the head coach for a championship program at Xavier (N.O.).
Being the on-court leader of the “Demons of Destiny” helped Mitchell develop a successful coaching career after he finished playing professionally overseas.
“I was a scorer coming out of high school and six games into my college career, Coach Mike brought me into his office,” Mitchell said. “He said ‘Tyrone, if you lead us in scoring, we’re never going to win a championship.’ He said ‘Trust what I’m telling you. You’re a leader, we need you to lead this group. We need you to make the ultimate sacrifices. Still, those are the things I do today as a head coach, and it sticks with me.”
He wasn’t the only one of the 13 inductees who was born to be a head coach.
As a daughter of a Texas high school head football coach, a career path was almost ordained for former Lady Demons softball coach Gay McNutt.
“I grew up on the sidelines on Friday nights,” McNutt said. “I heard a lot of words I probably should not have heard, words that my mother probably didn’t appreciate. But that is where it started. I knew I wanted to coach all along.”
And coach she did, leading the program to its first two NCAA Tournament appearances (1998, 2000) as part of a three-year run of Southland Conference titles from 1998-2000.
In that stretch, McNutt led NSU to a 112-55 mark, including a 40-18 record in 1998 and 41-19 mark in 2000. Her 161 career victories are third in program history.
A two-way softball standout almost a decade later, Amanda Glenn Peters’ name is scattered all over the record books.
She has two of the top four strikeout seasons in school history, and is second all-time in career strikeouts with 568 and third in innings pitched with 560. A two-time first-team All-Louisiana selection, she slugged 29 career home runs and Glenn’s 125 RBIs remain fourth in program career history.
When it came to who would win in a battle between Glenn as a pitcher and Glenn as a hitter, she was confident in her selection.
“If Amanda Glenn the hitter faced Amanda Glenn the pitcher, the choice was easy who would win,” she said. “It would probably be the hitter because that was where my heart was and we were winning games. But, 100 percent, if Amanda Glenn the pitcher thought Amanda Glenn the hitter was going to beat her, she would hit her.”
Layne Miller has made a giant impact on the softball program and NSU Athletics overall and was honored with the Distinguished Service Award. A former Demon baseball player, he has a daughter, Lauren, who played softball at NSU, and for decades, Layne has been a vital volunteer and avid supporter of Natchitoches and Northwestern.
Like many others being honored, his parents were big inspirations for helping him earn a spot in the N-Club Hall of Fame. It was his love of cooking that has been a cornerstone of his involvement.
“Both my father and mother were good cooks,” he said. “My dad used to cook at large crowds for camp and that is where I picked it up from. The first time I cooked for Northwestern athletics was for Jim Wells and the baseball team (in 1990) and it grew from there.
“Gay McNutt asked me if I had ever been to a Mississippi State baseball game. She told me ‘We need an outfield club like that.’ So, we got it started.”
Baseball great David Reynolds said he owes a lot to the city of Natchitoches and NSU.
As a position player and ultimately a pitcher, Reynolds spent six years in minor league baseball. At Northwestern, he was an immediate starter at shortstop and an All-Trans America Conference selection and All-Louisiana as a freshman when he batted .274 with six home runs and 34 RBI.
In the minors, he posted a record of 36-28 with a 3.47 ERA and 22 saves in the White Sox organization, appearing in 202 games on the mound and another 37 as an infielder.
“Natchitoches is more than special to me. I married a girl from Natchitoches and with my two kids, we come back here for the holidays. It is special that all my family was able to come here and see this.”
Many top track and field athletes have represented NSU over the years, but none have done what Cody Fillinich did, becoming a four-time All-American in the javelin, becoming the first male javelin thrower in the NCAA to earn All-American status four times. It’s only been matched once since.
The Golden Meadow native finished runner-up at USA Juniors before representing the USA at the Junior Pan-Am Games.
Fillinich always had a strong arm, and came to Natchitoches as a football-track competitor hoping to quarterback Scott Stoker’s Demons, but he credited much of his success to track and field coach Mike Heimerman, who introduced him at the ceremony.
“Coach Mike really taught me how to train,” he said. “He tweaked my technique a little bit and told me, ‘This is what it takes to get on that stage and compete.’ That is what got me to that next level.”
Heather Penico Morain left her mark next door at the Demon Soccer Complex.
She started her career with a bang, being named Southland Conference Freshman of the Year in 2002, helping lead the Demons to their second NCAA Tournament berth. Three years later, she led her team to another NCAA appearance in 2005 as a senior and was named conference Player of the Year.
The two-time All-Louisiana selection is tied for 10th in program history with 21 goals scored. She said her induction was sweeter now than had it come sooner.
“I think it is better that it has been 20 years,” Penico Morain said. “It has been great to reconnect with former teammates I might have lost touch with. My boys are really into soccer and when we were at Prather Coliseum yesterday, they saw my name on the wall and were so excited and got so proud, and it brought me so much joy.”
Lady Demon basketball great Amanda Bennett came out of Simpson having tried only two 3-pointers as a 5-11 post player, but became a great perimeter scorer and a versatile player. She earned a first team All-SLC nod in 2003-04 as a junior when the Lady Demons finished 24-7 and swept the conference regular season and tournament titles on the way to the NCAA Tournament in coach James Smith’s final season.
The sharp-shooter ranks eighth in program history with 177 3-pointers. From a young age, she always had one school she wanted to attend.
“I wanted to be a Lady Demon from the time I was in fifth grade,” she said. “I came every single summer to camp here to try to get Coach Smith to talk to me. Finally, I got the call and came on a (recruiting) visit. Coach Smith said, ‘I don’t even need to recruit Bennett, I know she’s coming.’ He knew my heart was set on coming to NSU.”
Football teammates Derrick Johnese and Toby Zeigler were pivotal in two Southland championships and playoff appearances in 2002 and 2004 under Stoker.
Johnese set the Demons’ career scoring record of 212 points, which is still the best by a non-kicker, as well as the still-standing touchdowns mark of 34, and is fourth all-time in rushing yards.
He was named the SLC Offensive Player of the Year in 2004. Johnese had a specific reason for choosing Northwestern.
“I was being recruited by McNeese and NSU,” he said. “But the mistake McNeese made was they didn’t invite my parents on my visit. NSU invited my parents and my mom looked at the school and before we went into the las meeting, she told me, ‘Derrick, this is where I want you to go.’ So that is why I am here right now.”
A record-setting four-year starter at wide receiver, Zeigler’s most dynamic Demon plays came as a return specialist, capping his career as the Southland, state and school record-holder in career punt return average (1,361 yards, 109 attempts, 12.5 average), ranking second in FCS history at the time. His 99 career receptions were a then-school record and he also set Demons’ career all-purpose yardage record (4,943).
The former quarterback at Neville High in Monroe played in the CFL and he settled in Canada. He said positive peer pressure motivated his success with the Demons.
“With two all-conference running backs (Shelton Sampson shared the primary backfield role with Johnese), I wanted to house every return,” Zeigler said. “I wanted to make an impact on the game to help my guys win. The offense knew I wanted to do something special every time I touched the ball.”
He wasn’t the only player with a big special teams background to be inducted, joined by 1980s punter Mike Crow.
Crow still holds career records for punts (276) and punt yards (11,028) and was first-team All-Gulf Star Conference and All-Louisiana as a junior with a 42.4 average, then second-team All-Louisiana and All-Gulf Star as a senior. He was the primary factor why NSU led the FCS in net punting (40.4) in 1985.
“I wanted to play college football and Coach Sam Goodwin gave me that opportunity,” Crow said.
“There are three phases in football — offense, defense and special teams — and we took a lot of pride in our special teams. Coach Goodwin was the coach of special teams. There is pressure with 10 guys coming at you, but we took a lot of pride in doing it well.”
He was proud to be able to share the moment with former teammates and family.
“It’s great to have my kids and grandkids here today,” he said. “They are old enough to be a part of this and understand what is going on.”
