Long before he earned his way into the Louisiana Tech Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2025, Wayne Smith, who started a school-record 127 games at point guard for the Bulldogs, was a kid with legs so bowed, he wore braces until he was 4.
Before he earned his way into Tech’s Hall of Fame, Gary Stanley was a graduate assistant who had no idea he’d soon take over the program and, for the next 35-plus years, coach 21 conference championship teams and 46 All-Americans.
Before he earned his way into Tech’s Hall of Fame, Billy Ryckman led the nation in receptions in 1976 and was so happy the next year to be a pro ballplayer that, on his first drive from Baton Rouge to his Lafayette hometown as an NFL rookie, he wore his Atlanta Falcons helmet while he drove.
Before he earned his way into Tech’s Hall of Fame, Sam Wilkinson was an All State first sacker for Fair Park and ballplayer at Henderson State who, as an equipment guy with the Houston Astros, answered the dugout phone on mid-summer day only to find out it wasn’t the bullpen: it was his old classmate and Tech football coach Pat Collins asking the guy who all Tech athletes would come to know as “Chief” if he had any interest in being the trainer and equipment guru for the entire athletic program. Since the game was on national TV and Sam didn’t want to be seen yakking it up with an old buddy on the dugout phone, he told Coach Collins he’d call him back. Which he did. And accepted the job. And became a Tech legend over the next 30-plus years.
True story.
And true stories.
You can hear them all (and likely some exaggerations) when that quartet and four other Tech stars — All-American linebacker Ronnie Alexander (1967-70), lineman and four-time Southland Conference champion Randy Crouch (1971-74), former Mr. Basketball in Louisiana and two-time All-American Ray Germany (1959 and ’60), and two-time Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year Cheryl Ford, one of the most dominant players in Lady Techsters history (1999-2003) — are inducted into the University’s Athletics Hall of Fame in a ceremony Saturday evening, Nov. 1, in the Thomas Assembly Center on the Tech campus.
Tickets are available by visiting LATechSports.com/Tickets and selecting Special Events.
Tech will play football against Conference USA foe Sam Houston State Halloween night at 7 in Joe Aillet Stadium, and Homecoming Weekend will continue with the Hall of Fame induction ceremony Saturday. Doors to the TAC will open at 4:30 p.m., and an hour-long reception with a buffet dinner and cash bar starts at 5.
The ceremony begins at 6 and will feature a 10-minute Q&A with each inductee prior to enshrinement. Conclusion of the ceremony before 8 will assure time for friends, family, fans, and the Class of 2025 to enjoy some unrehearsed time together on the TAC floor, which will be decked out for the event.
The Class of 2025 will be introduced on the field of Joe Aillet Stadium the night before at halftime of the Halloween game with Sam Houston State.
They’ll be dressed in costume; they’ll look just like Hall of Famers.
Contact Teddy at teddy@latech.edu
