Prince Honored by Louisiana Writers
Keith Prince, a highly-respected
sports information director from 1969-1994 at
Louisiana Tech who also has been a popular writer and
editor for two Monroe newspapers, has been voted the
2004 Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism
by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.
He will be honored during the 2004 Louisiana Sports
Hall of Fame Induction Celebration June 24-26 in
Natchitoches, culminating with the Induction Dinner
and Ceremonies on Saturday evening, June 26, at
Prather Coliseum on the Northwestern State campus.
One of the coaches Prince worked with at Louisiana
Tech, women's basketball's Leon Barmore, is among the
seven 2004 Hall of Fame inductees.
The class includes baseball All-Star Will Clark,
Olympic high jump medalist Hollis Conway, Haynesville
High School football coach Alton "Red" Franklin,
Grambling product and Mansfield native Albert Lewis,
an All-Pro football star with Kansas City; Shreveport
native Tony Sardisco, a Tulane All-American and an
All-Pro in the old AFL with the Boston Patriots; and
New Orleans native Neil Smith, an All-Pro football
great who also played for Kansas City along with the
Denver Broncos.
The Distinguished Service Award is the most
prestigious honor offered to sports media personnel in
Louisiana. It is tantamount to election to the
Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame for athletes and
coaches. The DSA recipients are commemorated in the
Hall of Fame, located in Prather Coliseum, and when
the Hall of Fame museum project is completed, they
will occupy a "writers and broadcasters wing" similar
to the one at the Baseball Hall of Fame.
"Keith Prince has been the consummate pro as a sports
writer and a sports information director for five
decades in our state, and he is an extremely deserving
recipient of this honor," said LSWA president Bill
Bumgarner. "He was sports editor in Monroe while he
was still in college, and after what can only be
described as an amazing career in sports information
at Louisiana Tech, he returned to sports writing and
is one of the best in our business today for the
News-Star."
Prince's tenure at Louisiana Tech was star-studded as
he worked with and publicized eight current Louisiana
Sports Hall of Fame members: football coaches Joe
Aillet and Maxie Lambright, football stars Terry
Bradshaw and Fred Dean, basketball coach Scotty
Robertson, and basketball players Mike Green, Kim
Mulkey and Pam Kelly, along with Barmore, who was
inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame last year.
Current NBA great Karl Malone, undoubtedly destined
for future enshrinement in the state sports hall,
picked up his "Mailman" nickname at Tech under
Prince's guidance. Prince's staff sent pieces of a
backboard shattered by Malone to media members around
the country to promote the budding star, Malone's
memorable nickname and the Bulldogs' program.
Prince worked 283 consecutive football games in 24
seasons, never missing a game while promoting 24
football All-Americans and future pro stars Bradshaw,
Dean, Roger Carr, Pat Tilley, Roland Harper, Mike
Barber and Willie Roaf, among others. In all sports,
Louisiana Tech had 70 All-America athletes during his
tenure.
He was also a mentor to many student assistants who
became successful in sports journalism or athletic
administration, including current Alabama SID Larry
White, current Southland Conference commissioner Tom
Burnett, current Lone Star Conference associate
commissioner Don Graham, current Louisiana Tech SID
Malcolm Butler and Texas Tech associate SID Chris
Cook.