USM Coach Lee Floyd and Nick "The Cat" Revon;
Floyd is the father of former UNO and Hornets coach Tim Floyd, now at USC |
The Southern Mississippi 1,000 Point Club includes three Crusaders. This article will feature the first of them.
Nick Revon, who played in Hattiesburg from 1950 through 1954, is still the all-time leading scorer at USM with 2,136 points, six ahead of Clarence Weatherspoon. "The Cat" holds these records.
- Most Free Throws (Game): 1st (17 vs North Texas State 1/7/54)
- Most Free Throws Attempted (Game): 1st (24 vs North Texas State 1/7/54)
- Points (Season): 1st (737 1953-4) and 3rd (628 1951-2)
- Scoring Average (Season): 2nd (23.8 1953-4)
- Field Goals (Season): 1st (266 1953-4) and 5th (241 1951-2)
- Free Throws (Season): 1st (205 1953-4), 3rd (147 1951-2), 7th (131 1952-3)
- Free Throw Percentage (Season): 7th (80.8 1951-2)
- Points (Career): 1st (2,136)
- Scoring Average (Career): 5th (17.5)
- Field Goals (Career): 2nd (799)
- Free Throws (Career): 1st (538)
- Free Throws Attempted (Career): 2nd (706)
- Free Throw Percentage (Career): 11th (76.2)
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The Southern Mississippi 1,000 Point Club includes three Crusaders. The previous article discussed Nick Revon, USM's all-time leading scorer. Now we move to the second Crusader in the club.
#27 on the USM list is G John Vitrano (1967-70) with 1,117 points. Johnny was co-captain his senior year on a 15-11 club. He ranks as follows on the Golden Eagles lists.
- Free Throws (Game) 3rd (14 vs West Florida 12/28/68)
- Field Goal Percentage (season): 5th (57.9 1967-8) and 10th (54.6 1969-70)
- Free Throws (Season): 10th (128 1969-70)
- Field Goal Percentage (Career): 4th (56.6)
- Free Throws (Career): 6th (339)
- Free Throws Attempted (Career): 10th (462)
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Johnny Vitrano (SA '66)
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Glenn Masson (BM '71) |
The Southern Mississippi 1,000 Point Club includes three Crusaders. The previous articles discussed Nick Revon, USM's all-time leading scorer, and Johnny Vitrano. Now we move to the third Crusader in the club.
F Glenn Masson (1972-4) scored 1,026 points to rank #29 on the list. Glenn led the Golden Eagles with 14.5 ppg in 1972-3. Masson is also listed in the USM record book as follows.
- Free Throw Percentage (Season): 2nd (86.7 1973-4)
- Free Throw Percentage (Career): 2nd (78.8)
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College World Series Participant
Eric Berthelot was the star southpaw on Crusader teams that made the playoffs in 1991 and 1992.
- Eric was selected by the Montreal Expos in the 36th Round (995th overall) of the 1992 draft. However, he chose instead to attend the University of Miami on a baseball scholarship. He also had scholarship offeres from LSU, UNO, and Ole Miss.
- After a year in Florida, he transferred to LSU where he played from 1994-7, graduating with a degree in kinesiology.
- Berthelot was a member of the 1994, 1996, and 1997 Tiger teams that participated in the College World Series, winning the championship in both '96 and '97.
- In 1997, he was the winner in relief over Stanford in the game that propelled LSU into the finals against Alabama.
Eric played one year of class A ball at Pittsfield NY in 1998. He is currently a pharmaceutical sales manager in the Jackson MS area.
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Eric Berthelot (BM '92) |
M. L. Lagarde ('45)
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M. L. (Mel) Lagarde graduated from St. Aloysius in 1945.
- A nationally-ranked tennis player and member of the Junior Davis Cup team, he played some fierce matches against his childhood friend, Jesuit's Winston Riehl, future doctor for Crusader football teams and longtime tennis coach at SA and BM.
- Lagarde also played other sports, including basketball in which he started for Brother Ralph's state semifinalists his senior year.
- After graduation from Aloysius, Mel attended Tulane, where he lettered in tennis and played on the Junior Davis Cup team.
Mel began his coaching career in 1949 at Aloysius.
- He assisted Eddie Toribio in football and Johnny Altobello in basketball and baseball.
- His 6-1-4 defense helped Toribio's Knights win their first prep football championship in 1952.
- When Altobello left for De La Salle after the 1951-2 school year, Lagarde took over the basketball and baseball teams.
- His '52-3 cagers won the state championship, and the baseball team reached the semifinals.
- In 1953-4, those results were reversed, basketball advancing to the final four while baseball won it all, as they did again in 1955.
After several years at Jesuit, Mel retired from coaching in 1959.
- He opened Lakewood School on Canal Blvd., where he served as headmaster for 15 years.
- During this time, he also covered Tulane athletics and high school sports for The Times-Picayune.
- He joined the Green Wave staff in 1974 as sports information director until he was named assistant AD ten years later. He was promoted to associate AD in 1992.
- Lagarde received the Mac Russo Award from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association in 1984 and earned the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame's Distinguished Service Award in 1993.
- He received the Scoop Hudgins SID Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999 from the All-America Football Foundation. Lagarde also served as a member of the Final Four Media Committee for 10 years.
- Mel was inducted into the Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.
- Mel went to his eternal reward in January 2011.
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Andy Bourgeois (SA '56) was a member of the original Chinese Bandits, the defensive unit that Paul Dietzel created for the 1958 LSU 11-0 National Championship team. A 5-10 174 lb sophomore, Andy played LE. The following season, Andy stopped Ole Miss QB Bobby Franklin on a rollout inside the 7y line on the last play of the first half to keep the score 3-0 and set the stage for Billy Cannon's famous punt return. Andy was promoted to the White Team for his senior season. LSU compiled an 24-5-1 record in Bourgeois's three years of varsity play.
Andy Bourgeois (#80) and the 1958 Chinese Bandits
Andy was the head football coach and AD at Cor Jesu before continuing both roles the first year of Brother Martin. He then joined Bill Peterson's staff with the Houston Oilers. Andy continues to reside in the Houston area.
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