Blankenship to Receive Jimmy Collins Award from Allstate Sugar Bowl (Update)
Bowl to Present Jimmy Collins Award to Basketball Coach Kyle Blankenship
NEW ORLEANS (June 24, 2024) – Kyle Blankenship the head coach of the LSU Shreveport men's and women's basketball teams, has been selected to receive the Jimmy Collins Award from the Allstate Sugar Bowl's New Orleans Sports Awards Committee.
The Sports Awards Committee selects annual award winners in a variety of categories; it also selects Amateur Athletes of the Month and each year's Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame class. Overall, 31 individuals and two teams will be honored for their achievements at the 2023-24 Awards Banquet on August 3. Honorees are currently being announced, wrapping up with the Corbett Awards for the top male and female amateur athletes in the state on July 8 and 9.
While there are many different categories of awards presented by the New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, some years the Committee finds that there are people deserving of recognition who do not necessarily fit into one specific category. For that reason, the Committee presents the Jimmy Collins Awards to outstanding individuals and organizations.
Collins was a longtime New Orleans sportswriter who is credited with creating the New Orleans Sports Awards and forming the Sports Awards Committee in 1958.
Blankenship impressed the Committee by accomplishing something that may be unprecedented in Louisiana, and perhaps overall college basketball history – he directed both the men's and women's basketball teams at LSU Shreveport to national tournament victories on the same day.
Blankenship, who took over the direction of the men's basketball team in 2012, had directed the Pilots to the NAIA National Tournament in each of his first 11 seasons and was aiming for another strong year in 2023-24. However, director of athletics Lucas Morgan decided to increase Blankenship's level of difficulty.
When the LSU Shreveport women's basketball coach was forced to resign in late October due to a family issue, Morgan was in a challenging position – where can you find a capable basketball coach in a matter of days? Then the director of athletics had an interesting, outside-the-box idea: how about the ultra-successful coach already working down the hall?
"Kyle's the type of person who is willing to take on any challenge you put in front of him, but I wasn't sure how he was going to respond to this," Morgan told Yahoo Sports. "We were asking him to run two practices, to recruit two teams, to coach twice in the same night. It was double the amount of work."
The Pilot men's basketball team continued its impressive performance – it posted a 28-5 record and advanced to the NAIA Sweet 16 before falling to top-seeded Langston. And the women's team notched a 30-3 record, including a school-record 28-game winning streak, and advanced to the Second Round of the NAIA Tournament. While both teams had five all-conference selections, each had only one first-team honoree as they used full teamwork to reach their levels of success.
"I had a lot of people tell me I was crazy when I did this, and I would say they're probably right," Blankenship told Yahoo Sports. "But any challenge that is put in front of me, I want to always try to do my best, have fun while I'm doing it and never quit. That's the mindset I've tried to take."
In the opening round of the NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament on March 15, LSU-S posted a 95-89 overtime win over Kansas Wesleyan in Salina, Kansas. Meanwhile, the women topped Tabor, 69-59, for their first-ever victory in the NAIA National Tournament. Luckily, both teams were assigned to Salina; the women played at 2 p.m. and the men played at 8 p.m.
"Once we finished celebrating the women's first-ever national tournament win, I hopped in the car with my assistant coach to go pick up the men's pregame meal and delivered it back to the hotel," Blankenship said. "We then had to return to the gym to scout the game before us at 6 p.m. It was easily the most chaotic day of the season, but definitely the most rewarding of my 12-year career following the men's first-round victory later that night!"
Despite the tremendous success on the court with both teams, Morgan is in the midst of his search for a full-time women's coach. "I'm not sure that recruiting two teams, coaching two teams, practicing two teams, monitoring the academics of two teams, is something that we would be able to sustain long term," he said.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl will continue announcing its annual awards tomorrow (Tuesday) with the Boys' and Girls' Prep Coaches of the Year from New Orleans.
Jimmy Collins Special Awards: Kyle Blankenship, LSU Shreveport Basketball
Outstanding Boys' Prep Coach of the Year, New Orleans: June 25 (Tuesday)
Outstanding Girls' Prep Coach of the Year, New Orleans: June 25 (Tuesday)
Outstanding Female Amateur Athlete, New Orleans: June 26 (Wednesday)
Outstanding Male Amateur Athlete, New Orleans: June 26 (Wednesday)
Outstanding Boys' Prep Team, New Orleans: June 27 (Thursday)
Outstanding Girls' Prep Team, New Orleans: June 27 (Thursday)
Outstanding Collegiate Coach, Louisiana: June 28 (Friday)
Corbett Award – Female: July 8 (Monday)
Corbett Award – Male: July 9 (Tuesday)
Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024:
Chris Duhon, Basketball, Salmen HS/Duke/NBA, 1997-2013
Jahri Evans, Football, New Orleans Saints, 2006-17
Matt Forté, Football, Slidell HS/Tulane/NFL, 2000-17
Carmen Jones, Basketball, McMain Magnet HS/Tulane, 1982-90
Paul Thompson, Basketball, Tulane/NBA/Europe, 1979-99
The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee came together when James Collins spearheaded a group of sports journalists to form a sports awards committee to immortalize local sports history. For 13 years, the Committee honored local athletes each month and a variety of annual award winners. In 1970, the Sugar Bowl stepped in to sponsor and revitalize the Committee, leading to the creation of the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame in 1971, honoring 10 legends from the Crescent City in its first induction class. While adding the responsibility of selecting Hall of Famers, the Committee has continued to recognize the top amateur athlete in the New Orleans area each month as well as a range of annual awards – the honors enter their 68th year in 2024.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 29 national champions, 107 Hall of Fame players, 52 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 90-year history. The 91st Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will double as a College Football Playoff Quarterfinal, is scheduled to be played on January 1, 2025. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.5 billion into the local economy in the last decade. For more information, visit www.AllstateSugarBowl.org.
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Article Courtesy of John Sudsbury, Sr. Director of Communications Allstate Sugar Bowl