Lloyd Wills, LSU’s first African-American athlete in any sport, and Lora Hinton, the Tigers’ first Black football player, are headed to the LSU Athletics Hall of Fame.
Wills, a New Orleans native who joined LSU’s track and field team in 1969, and Hinton, who signed with LSU 50 years ago, headline a nine-person class that also includes Dr. Bill Bankhead (administrator and coach), Peta-Gaye Dowdie (track and field), Yvette Girouard (softball coach), Bruce Reid (track and field) Ashleigh Clare-Kearney Thigpen (gymnastics), Billy Truax (football) and Armando Vega (men’s gymnastics coach).
The enshrinement ceremony is scheduled for Nov. 12.
A New Orleans native, Wills was a four-time All-American in the 440-yard dash and mile relay, leading LSU to a then Southeastern Conference record time in the latter event in the 1972 Drake Relays. Wills was a five-time SEC champion and earned 10 first-team All-SEC honors.
A native of Chesapeake, Virginia, Hinton arrived at LSU in 1971 as a running back. Though a knee injury hampered his playing career, Hinton lettered from 1973-75 and served as a mentor to incoming Black student-athletes at LSU during a time of desegregation in football programs across the south.
Bankhead, born in Bay City, Texas, started LSU’s men’s gymnastics program in 1960, serving as coach for eight years, and revived the swimming program, which was discontinued during World War II. He became the first director of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center when it opened in 1971 and was the driving force behind attracting the 1983 Special Olympics, the 1985 U.S. National Sports Festival and the 2001 National Olympic Senior Games to Baton Rouge.
Dowdie was a 19-time All-American and a three-time NCAA individual champion as a sprinter, leading the LSU women’s track and field program to three NCAA team titles during her career from 1997-2000. Born in Jamaica, Dowdie was a 12-time SEC champion, the most individual league titles in LSU history. She competed in the 1999 World Championships and in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Girouard coached at LSU from 2001-11, leading the Tigers to Women’s College World Series appearances in 2001 and 2004, three SEC regular-season titles and four SEC tournament championships. A three-time SEC coach of the year, Girouard retired as the fourth-winningest coach in NCAA history with 1,285 wins at LSU and UL (1981-2000).
Reid, a native of Annapolis, Maryland, was three-time SEC pentathlon champion (1988-90), setting an American record in the event in 1990. He helped lead LSU to back-to-back NCAA outdoor titles in 1989-90.
Clare-Kearney Thigpen won a record 114 individual event titles in gymanstics, including 2009 NCAA individual titles in vault and on floor. A five-time first-team All-American, the Connecticut native was the 2008 SEC gymnast of the year. She recently became LSU’s associate athletic director for diversity, equity and inclusion.
Truax, also from New Orleans, was a 1963 All-American tight end for the Tigers. A three-year starter from 1961-63, he helped LSU win the 1961 SEC title. He played 10 seasons in the NFL and won Super Bowl VI in 1972 at old Tulane Stadium with the Dallas Cowboys.
Born in Hurley, New Mexico, Vega was on the U.S. gymnastics team in the 1956 Melbourne and 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He coached LSU men’s gymnastics from 1972-84, leading the Tigers to nine NCAA top-10 finishes, 12 straight Southern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League championships and produced 58 All-Americans.
LSU Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2021
• Dr. Bill Bankhead, administrator and coach
• Peta-Gaye Dowdie, track and field
• Yvette Girouard, softball coach
• Lora Hinton, football
• Bruce Reid, track and field
• Ashleigh Clare-Kearney Thigpen, gymnastics
• Billy Truax, football
• Armando Vega, men’s gymnastics coach
• Lloyd Wills, track and field
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