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BREC in Baton Rouge has announced plans for a one-of-a-kind basketball camp for young people. The camp is expected to be staffed by current and former NBA players, former LSU greats, and high school and college coaches. The list of staffers includes Dale Brown, Garret Temple, Ricky Blanton, Ronnie Henderson, Jermaine Williams, Ronald Dupree, Tazim Mitchell, coach John Brady, Darnell Lazare, Collis Temple Jr., Collis Temple III, Tyrus Thomas, Howard Carter, and more.
Bob Pettit: I only played 11 years. I only played 11 years because I had an opportunity at the end of my 11th year for a wonderful job with a bank in Baton Rouge. The chairman of the board brought me in two years in advance. He told me he wanted me for this job. He said I could play two more years of basketball. I immediately said I would do it. I called Ben Kerner, who owned the St. Louis Hawks, and I said: ‘Ben, I’m playing two more years. Then I’m getting out.’ But I only got out because I had an opportunity. All of us realized, in those days, we had to have a job after basketball. I had one I wanted and I grabbed it and I retired.
Jim Eichenhofer: Baton Rouge native/LSU product Garrett Temple on coming home to play in Louisiana: "The response has been amazing, from old teammates, to guys I work out with at LSU now. Obviously my immediate family is very excited...I’m still getting text messages from people I grew up with.”
Thomas, the Bulls’ first-round acquisition in 2006, has known Temple since they were three years old. Along with Glen Davis, the three natives of Baton Rouge, La. grew up playing bitty basketball together -- “We won three titles in a row from (ages) nine to 11,” Thomas said -- and teamed up to lead LSU’s surprising run to the 2006 NCAA Final Four. “We’ve been playing together our whole lives,” Thomas said.
Tragedy struck on Saturday when a small, twin-prop plane bound for Atlanta crashed in Lafayette, Louisiana, killing five people on board. One of the five fatalities Saturday morning was New Orleans area sports reporter Carley McCord. McCord, a Baton Rouge native, was married to Steve Ensminger, Jr. in January 2018. The Northwestern State graduate worked for Cox Sports Television, ESPN3, WDSU New Orleans and more as a reporter while also serving as the in-game host for the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans and NFL's New Orleans Saints.
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LSU guard Javonte Smart withdrew from the NBA draft and will return to Baton Rouge for his sophomore season in 2019-20. Smart announced his decision Saturday night on social media. He started 18 of his 34 games with the Tigers last season, averaging 11.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals for the SEC regular-season champions.
A hardwood dream for many at an early age, Langston Galloway will now see his uniform hanging from the rafters at Christian Life Academy in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Galloway’s high school recently welcomed the versatile guard back to retire his No. 11 jersey.
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The Rockets bus ride from Baton Rouge to New Orleans delayed the start for several things for several players. "Everything had to be pushed back," Ryan Anderson said ."Every warmup was completely different today. I went to chapel today instead of doing a little bit of warmup before chapel, all this stuff. It's an excuse, it's something we should have played a whole lot better tonight, but it was a factor."
The Baton Rouge-born Sacre, a Saints supporter since childhood, describes his tattoo as a “no-brainer,” given how well it ties together so many aspects of his background. “It was such a weird coincidence based on my parents’ names,” said the 7-footer, whose father Greg played football at LSU and was an NFL tight end from 1981-86. “It represents my heritage, my upbringing and Louisiana. It’s very funny how it just worked out that way. I thought it was perfect.” As a result of signing with New Orleans, the 27-year-old has spent September at the Pelicans’ practice facility, mere feet from where his favorite NFL team works.
Thomas is hoping his phone rings again, as he is gladly willing to talk about Baton Rouge being submerged in water by a recent tragic flood. But the ex-Louisiana State University basketball star says the phone calls he is getting now are more of the plea-for-help nature than how can we help get the word out. “Ain’t nobody talking about it. You got 110,000 people homeless, but ain’t nobody talking about it because it ain’t no god damn controversy,” Thomas told The Undefeated. “This isn’t a black and white thing. ‘Why help them? We don’t want no attention on that. That ain’t enough controversy. They are bringing themselves together. We’re not going to help you come together.’
This past week, Galloway, who will be playing in New Orleans this upcoming season, returned to Baton Rouge for the first time since the flooding started. “It was definitely eye-opening just to see all the devastation, and so many places that you remember that were just fine a day ago, now everything’s been affected,” he told the NBPA in Los Angeles this past week, after his workout with trainer Drew Hanlen. “It’s definitely hard to look at Baton Rouge, just trying to bounce back from all the things that have been occurring with Alton Sterling and also the floods. I just want to help out as much as possible.”
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