Benny Burst

The Burst brothers, Benny ('81) and Shawn ('83), played football for Tulane.

• Benny made All-District at RB for Bob Conlin, and set the school record for the 440 m in track. He lettered four years (1981-4) at S for TU. He was co-captain of the Green Wave his senior year. Vince Gibson was the coach the first two years and Wally English the last two. The highlight of his career was blocking two punts in Tulane's 48-7 win over LSU in the Superdome in 1981.
  
• Shawn Burst followed in his brother's footsteps as an All-District performer at BMHS at DB. He also ran the quarter mile and threw the javelin. After walking on at Tulane, he lettered in 1986 for Coach Mack Brown. Shawn also made his mark against LSU by returning a Mickey Guidry pass for a TD in Tiger Stadium.
  

Both Bursts run businesses in the New Orleans area. Their uncle, Nick Lagatutta ('71), is a long-time staff member at Brother Martin.

Shawn Burst

Phillip Brock ('00)

Phillip Brock starred at RB for Coach Mark Songy, making All-District as a senior in 1999.

• That season, Brock rushed for 1,612 yards and accounted for a school record 27 TDs (22 rushing, 4 receiving, 1 passing). He broke nine offensive season records.
• His finest hour came in the 42-35 OT victory over De La Salle. Phillip accounted for 332 of the Crusaders' 334 yd. BM trailed 35-28 late in the game when Brock hit TE Chris Bailey with a 58 yd HB-pass to set up the game-tying TD.
• The next week, Brock led the Saders to a 5-0 record (first time since 1985) in the 24-17 victory over Jesuit. He carried 31 times for 191 yd, including a 37-yd TD.

The 6'0" 205 lb RB lettered four years (2000-3) at Nicholls State. The Colonels' best record during his tenure was 7-4 in 2002.

Since leaving the Bayou, Brock has played for a number of pro teams in various leagues.

• 2006: Receiver for the Centex Barracudas of the Indoor Football League. In eight games, caught 34 passes for 397 yd and 11 TD.
• 2006: Rushed for 916 yd and 12 TD in 8 games for the Tucson Blaze of the Arizona Semi-Pro League.
• 2007: Training camp with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League.
• 2008: WR/RB for the Peoria Pirates of af2, the minor league of the Arena Football League. Scored five TDs to lead Peoria to a 76-32 victory over Tri-Cities and earn Offensive Player of the Game.
• 2009: Pre-season with the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL.

Ron Brocato of the Clarion Herald, the non-pareil historian of New Orleans prep sports, recently published his Elite Football Team of the Decade (2000-9). The only Crusader on either the offensive or defensive elevens was Adam Krause ('03), listed as OL although he played TE at Brother Martin.

• At 6'6" 270, Adam also played basketball for the Crimson and Gold. He anchored the middle on the state finalists in 2003, D. J. Augustin's freshman year.
• Adam lettered four years at Michigan on the O line. He red-shirted his freshman year as a TE. Then he moved to the interior of the front wall, starting both his junior and senior years. He played in the Rose Bowl twice, the Alamo Bowl, and the Capital One Bowl.
• Krause went to training camp in 2008 with the Baltimore Ravens but was released on the final cutdown date before the regular season.

Adam Kraus

From an article in The Aloysian of 11/5/68 on Crusader grads playing college ball that season:

Larry Tillman ('67) passed for 917 yd and rushed for 258 yd in his junior year [at St. Aloysius]. Tillman is now at Murray State College in Murray KY. Last year, he broke nearly every passing record in the Ohio Valley Conference. Rated third in the nation in small college passing, Tillman had 190 completions in 380 attempts for 2,2901 yd and 18 TD. [From Murray State's website: "Larry Tillman (1965-68) ended his career as the Racers' career passing leader with 5,037 yards, a record that stood until Michael Proctor broke it in 1989. Tillman still ranks fourth in passing at MSU." Larry was OVC Player of the Year in 1968.]

Tom Rini, another '67 grad, is now at West Point. He excelled at E while at St. Aloysius. [Tom also played basketball.]

Presently a starting G at Southwestern [Louisiana – now ULL], Joe Caccioppi finished St. Aloysius in '66.

Named most valuable football player in both his junior and senior years in 1965 and '66, FB Kenny Newfield went on to LSU. He is third in rushing this year with 37 carries for 197 yd and a 5.2 yd average.

Dick Brennan

Three St. Aloysius grads of the class of 1951 are listed in the Tulane basketball record book for leading the team in year-by-year categories.

• Hal Cervini (lettered 1952-3-4-5)
  1952-3: FT% (.796)
  1953-4: Scoring (339/14.7); FG (103); FT (133); FTA (171), FT% (.777)
  1954-5: Scoring (329/16.4); FG (98); FT (133 – yes, same # as 53-4); FTA (186)
• Dick Brennan (lettered 1952-3-4-5)
  1954-5: Rebounds (167/8.4);FT% (.785)
• Bobby Delpit (lettered 1954-5)
  1953-4: FG% (.420)

Later, O. J. Lacour ('62) led the 1965-6 Green Wave with 60 assists (a stat that was not kept in the Cervini era). O. J. lettered in 1964-5-6.

Billy Deris

Billy Deris (SA '62) lettered in both basketball and baseball on Esplanade Avenue.

• He was a starting F/C in both his junior and senior years. The 1961-2 team reached the state AAA final in Shreveport, where they lost to De La Salle 38-35.
• Deris pitched for the varsity for three years (1960-2).

Deris then moved across town to Loyola University.

• Aloysian (1/25/63): "Bill Deris, star F of last year's basketball team who received a baseball scholarship to Loyola, is now on the Wolfpack freshman basketball team. He joined the team at the request of Loyola mentor Bill Gardiner.") Billy lettered that year on the hardwood.
• Aloysian (spring '64): "Loyola's '64 team features three starters from SA: P Billy Deris, SS Bobby Schroeder, RF Arnaud France. Bobby Burns had started at 2B until lost for the year with an injury. Also on the injury list is P Don Delatte. Freshman Anthony Bianca is a reserve."
• Deris earned both a bachelor's degree and an M.B.A. from Loyola.

Coach Jimmy Tillette

Crusader Tillette

Jimmy Tillette (SA '68), head basketball coach at Samford University in Birmingham, suffered a seizure Saturday, January 23, 2010, on the sideline next to the bench during the second half of the Bulldogs' game at UNC Greensboro.

• Caught by an assistant coach as he collapsed, Jimmy was treated first in the UNCG locker room, then taken to a local hospital where he spent the night.
• "Coach Tillette is awake and responsive," said Samford Assistant Sports Information Director Zac Schrieber. "He was obviously a bit groggy but was talking and sitting up in the ambulance on his way to the hospital."
• The team held on to win the game 70-67 to improve to 9-10 for the season.

Doctors determined that the seizure was caused by bleeding from a blood vessel above his right ear.

• After extensive tests, the doctors decided it was an isolated incident and that the physically-fit coach could return to his team after a week's rest.
• Of the many callers and well-wishers, the one who touched Tillette the most was Marge Griffin. Her son, Jim, a senior leader on the Bulldogs, had died from a heart attack while sleeping in his dorm room the previous September.
• Jimmy showed his New Orleans roots when plans were made to airlift him the next day from Greensboro to UAB Hospital in Birmingham. After weather delayed the flight five hours, Tillette told medical personnel he didn't want to miss watching the Saints in the NFC Championship game. So the trip was postponed until Monday.

Released from the hospital Tuesday, January 26, Tillette missed three games before returning to practice February 1. He prowled the sidelines again February 4 at The Citadel.

Keith Reboul (12) and Jimmy Thibaut (41)

UNO first had a club football team in the 1960s. The 1969 squad, the fifth in school history, included the following Brothers of the Sacred Heart alumni.

• WB Keith Reboul (SA '69)
• WB Robert Masson (CJ '63).
• RB Jimmy Thibaut (SA '69)

The Privateers, ranked #4 nationally to start the season, were coached by Dale Hoffpauir assisted by a staff of five. The schedule included the following.

• Nicholls State @ East Jefferson Stadium.
• @ Livingston State
• @ Fordham (ranked #1 preseason)
• Spring Hill @ East Jefferson
• @ St. Louis (#3 preseason)
• Loyola @ Tad Gormley

Ryan Donegan (2000) has excelled in a sport that doesn't get as much publicity as many others – squash.

• Ryan began playing squash when he was 12 years old. He learned the game from his step-father, who was a racquetball player. "I mainly played as a hobby to my other more serious sports at the time, which were basketball, golf, and baseball." As he became better in squash, he decided to concentrate on that sport.
• In his senior year at Brother Martin, Donegan finished fifth at the National Closed Junior Squash Championships held at Yale.
• As a freshman at Dartmouth, Ryan played #1 on the squash team, which finished 5th in the nation. He was recognized as Ivy League Rookie of the Year ? the first Big Green player to win that award, First Team All-Ivy, and Second Team All-American.
• The next year, he again made first team All-Ivy but moved up to first team All-America as voted by the College Squash Association.
• As a junior, Ryan became the first Dartmouth squash player to be selected All-American each year for his first three years. He finished the season #10 in collegiate rankings and #6 in U.S. rankings.
• His senior year was more of the same, All-Ivy and All-America. He became the first squash player inducted into the Wearers of the Green, which is the Dartmouth Athletic Hall of Fame.

Ryan has continued to play squash since graduating from Dartmouth in 2005.

• He competes in squash tournaments around the nation.
• In 2008, he was a member of the U.S. team that earned the Gold medal at the Pan American Squash Federation Cup held in Cuenca, Ecuador. Ryan won the Bronze medal in the individual competition.

As of 3/2010, Donegan is a Senior Business Analyst at Growthink, an investment banking firm in Los Angeles.