UL Announces 2018 Hall of Fame Class
The Board of Directors of the Ragin' Cajuns Letterman Club announced the newest members of the UL Hall of Fame today.
They include four stellar former student-athletes, a legendary coach and a fund raising administrator.
Former softball star Tiffany Clark Gusman, baseball pitcher Scott Dohmann, football standout Damon Mason and women's basketball's Anna Petrakova are the student-athletes tabbed for induction.
In addition, softball coach Yvette Girouard, who started the nationally renowned women's softball program from scratch, and key administrator Gerald Hebert will also be inducted on Friday October 12 and be recognized during the 2018 Homecoming game against New Mexico State on October 13.
Girouard coached the Cajuns for 20 seasons and had a record of 759-250. In her stellar 31 year coaching career, Girouard had one losing season, the inaugural season in 1980. Girouard led the Cajuns to three trips to the College World Series, including a third place finish in 1993. Girouard was twice voted National Coach of the Year (1990, 1993) and had a record of 112-12 in 1993 and 1994.
Hebert has served as Athletic Development Director for 16 years and has played a major role in the formation of the Ragin' Cajuns Athletic Foundation. He also played a key role in the development of the University Athletic Master Facilities Plan, introduced in 2013. Hebert, a former pitcher for the Cajuns and a 1972 graduate, also was the coordinator of the LHSAA Top 28 state basketball championships at the Cajundome for 15 years. He was named Mr. Louisiana Basketball by the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches in 2011.
Clark-Gusman was a three time NFCA All-American outfielder who was named LSWA Freshman of the Year in 1997 and Player of the Year in 1999. She was named Sun Belt Player of the Year in 2000. She still holds the career record for hits with 288, and also established records for runs, RBI, doubles, average, total bases and walks. She was also named All-Region in 1997, 1999 and 2000.
Dohmann pitched for the Ragin' Cajuns from 1998-2000 and was the winning pitcher in the deciding game of the NCAA Super Regional which enabled the Cajuns to earn a berth in the College World Series. He won 13 games in his final season in 2000, which is second most in school history. He was selected in the sixth round of the MLB draft by the Colorado Rockies and also pitched for Tampa Bay and Kansas City as well as professionally in Japan.
Mason posted 135 tackees as a senior, putting him atop the record books for tackles in a season by a defensive back. He finished with 243 tackles, six interceptions and four sacks in his career. He was named Defensive Player of the Week in the nation after posting two interceptions, including a pick-six, to go along with two forced fumbles a sack and nine tackles in the Cajuns upset of Texas A&M in 1996. Mason had a twelve year professional career in the Arena Football League. He finished as the all time leading tackler in AFL history.
Petrakova is the only player in Cajun women's basketball history to be named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year. She was a first team all Sun Belt selection in 2004 and 2005. She is ninth in school history in scoring, while her 188 blocked shots and 76.6 career free throw percentage are school records.
Petrakova was part of the women's national basketball team that finished fourth in the 2012 Summer Olympics and was named Player of the Year in the Russian Premier League in 2015.
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 opportunity to pursue professional sports.