NEW ORLEANS (June 9, 2025) – The Allstate Sugar Bowl has announced the finalists for the 2024-25 James J. Corbett Awards and for the Louisiana Collegiate Coach of the Year. The Corbett Awards, which have been presented since 1967, recognize the top male and female athletes (not in the professional ranks) in the state of Louisiana. The top college coach award has been presented since 1961. Both honors are selected by the New Orleans Sports Awards Committee.
 
The Collegiate Coach winner as selected by the committee will be announced on June 27, while the male Corbett Award honoree will be announced on July 8 and the female winner will be announced on July 9.
 
In addition, fans had the opportunity to visit the Allstate Sugar Bowl website to make their own selections for the best of the best in the state. Voting closed on Friday, June 13. The fan choices will be announced at the same time as the official committee selections.

Louisiana Sports Awards Finalists, 2024-25

Louisiana Collegiate Coach of the Year Finalists:
Bo Browder (Xavier Women's Basketball) – Browder directed XULA to a 29-4 record – setting the school-record for winning percentage and matching the record for wins. The Gold Nuggets became the first XULA women's basketball team, and the second basketball team (men in 1973), to advance to the third round of the NAIA National Tournament. XULA opened the year with a school-record 18 straight victories. In 26 seasons at the helm of the Xavier program, Browder has amassed 563 victories, and the team has recorded 25 winning seasons.
 
Jay Johnson (LSU Baseball) – Johnson, in his fourth season directing the program, has guided LSU to a 48-15 record and its 20th trip to the College World Series. After advancing to the SEC Semifinals, the Tigers earned the No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament and captured the Baton Rouge Regional Championship with a pair of shutout wins and a 10-6 defeat of Little Rock. LSU, which has been ranked as high as No. 1 in the country this year, then swept two games from West Virginia in the Super Regional to secure its latest berth in Omaha. The Tigers will face Arkansas in their opening CWS game on either Friday or Saturday at Charles Schwab Field. The NCAA will announce dates and game times for the CWS on Monday.
 
Jeremy Kennedy (Loyola Baseball) – Kennedy, in his sixth season at the helm of the Wolf Pack, led the team to the NAIA World Series for the first time in program history. Loyola earned the No. 2 seed in the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) tournament and upended top-seed and No. 10-ranked William Carey, 9-7, in the championship game for its first SSAC title. The Wolf Pack, ranked No. 13 in the nation, earned an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship for the second year in a row and the fourth time in the last five years. They were the No. 2 seed in the Waleska (Ga.) Opening Round (one of 10 opening round tourneys) and posted a 3-1 mark with a victory over Ave Maria (Fla.) to advance to the World Series. After losing their first game at the World Series, the Wolf Pack took down British Columbia, 12-9, for its first-ever Series win.
 
Brad Neffendorf (LSU Shreveport Baseball) – LSU Shreveport completed an extraordinary and improbable perfect season as the Pilots won all 59 games to establish a new record for the longest winning streak in collegiate baseball history (all levels) while capturing the NAIA National Championship. LSUS turned in a perfect regular season with a 47-0 record. They then swept through the Red River Athletic Conference Championship with four straight wins to establish the record for the longest winning streak in four-year college baseball history. LSUS hosted a first-round tournament in the NAIA National Championship and continued its dominance, defeating Ottawa (Kan.), 5-2, No. 21 Johnson (Tenn.), 15-4, and No. 19 Mid-America Christian (Okla.), 9-6, to head to the NAIA World Series with a mind-blowing 54-0 record. The Pilots then posted five straight wins at the NAIA World Series capped by a 13-7 come-from-behind victory over Southeastern (Fla.) to win the championship. "It's the most unbelievable thing we may ever see in college baseball," Pilots head coach Brad Neffendorf said. "They deserve to be applauded like there is no tomorrow. They continued to keep their foot on the gas pedal and got better each day."
 
Will Wade (McNeese State Men's Basketball) – Wade was selected as the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches Major College Coach of the Year and earned SLC Coach of the Year honors for the second straight season. He was also a finalist for the Hugh Durham Award as the nation's top coach in the mid-major ranks. After McNeese began the season 5-5, Wade rallied his troops to a 23-2 mark to close out the year, ending with an NCAA Tournament second round loss to Purdue. Now the head coach at North Carolina State, Wade ended his McNeese career as the winningest coach in Southland Conference history in terms of winning percentage in league games only, recording a 40-2 record during that span.
 

---

Corbett Award Female Finalists:
My-Anh Holmes (Willow Tennis) – Holmes dominated her competition in the LHSAA Division II state championship bracket. The senior dropped three games in five matches as she blazed her way to her fourth straight state championship. Holmes posted 6-0, 6-0 wins in the first three rounds of the state tournament before dropping a game to Ben Franklin's Mallory Kymes in the semifinals. Her championship match came against a familiar opponent – her younger sister My-Linh, also of Willow. In a rematch of last year's state final, the elder Holmes prevailed, 6-2, 6-0 (last year's result was 6-1, 6-0). Last year, Holmes dropped a total of three games on route to the state title. In her 2023 championship run, she lost just one game and as a freshman in 2022, she lost just two games – in four years of state title appearances, she has posted a game record of 228-9 in 19 matches. Holmes, who is listed by the U.S. Tennis Association as the top-ranked 18-and-under girls tennis player in Louisiana (and top 50 in the country), has signed to continue her career at UC Santa Barbara in the fall.
 
Aneesah Morrow (LSU Basketball) – Morrow, who earned the Katrina McClain Award as the nation's top power forward, finished the season as LSU's leading scorer (18.7 ppg) and the nation's leading rebounder (13.5 rpg). Her 485 rebounds are the fourth most in a season ever by an LSU player. She also led the nation with 30 double-doubles throughout the season, the second most ever by an LSU player. Morrow scored 20-plus points in 17 games and grabbed 15-plus rebounds in 14 games. Morrow had nine 20/15 games and she finished with four 20-rebound games, including two in which she scored 20 points. In two years at LSU, Morrow helped the Tigers reach two Elite Eights, winning 31 games both seasons. The Chicago native scored 1,282 points and secured 854 rebounds across both seasons in Baton Rouge. The total rebounds are the 10th most in LSU history. She secured 52 double-doubles – the third most in program history – in 73 games at LSU. She was a two-time First Team All-SEC player.
 
Luci Schroeder (Xavier Soccer) – Schroeder was selected as the top women's soccer player in Louisiana for the second straight year, just the third person in the 29 years of the award to win it twice. A senior midfielder from Samtens, Germany, Schroeder had 14 goals and 17 assists in 21 games. She led the Red River Athletic Conference in assists and points (45), and she tied for fifth in goals. Her slew of 2024 honors included CSC NAIA Academic All-America first team as well as NAIA All-America Third Team recognition (the first two-time All-American in the RRAC's 27-year soccer history). She keyed the Gold Nuggets' run to the NAIA National Tournament – the only Louisiana school to win a national postseason soccer match. The team finished the year 14-6-2. Including 10-2-1 in the RRAC.
 
Leah Varisco (Sacred Heart Cross Country/Track/Basketball/Soccer) – Varisco keyed four different Sacred Heart teams to at least sixth place finishes in the state this year as a junior. In Basketball, she led the Cardinals to the state championship game for the first time in school history – Sacred Heart had never even reached the state quarterfinals. Varisco was the leading scorer (14 points) in the quarterfinal win over Holy Savior Menard and in the semifinal win (17 points) over Rosepine. She also led the team with 11 points in the title game loss. She was named to the Clarion Herald Elite Basketball Team. In soccer, Varisco was a key player in a run to the state semifinals in Division III (keep in mind soccer and basketball are both winter sports). In the fall, the junior recorded a time of 19:28.4 to earn fourth place at the LHSAA Division II Cross Country Championships to help her team to fourth place as well. She also helped Sacred Heart to sixth place at the Class 3A Outdoor Track Championships with a third-place effort in the 3,200-meter run and a fourth-place finish in the 1,600-meter run, as well as anchoring the school's fourth-place finish in the 4x800 relay.
 

---

Corbett Award Male Finalists:
Kade Anderson (LSU Baseball) – Anderson, a St. Paul's School graduate, was named a semifinalist (one of 25) for the Golden Spikes Award, which is presented to the top amateur baseball player in the nation, as well as being selected First-Team All-SEC. He has been critical in LSU's run to the No. 6 national seed for the NCAA Championship. For the year, the southpaw has a 10-1 record with a 3.58 ERA and 163 strikeouts (No. 1 in the nation, as of 6/8) in 103 innings (tops in the SEC). Opponents are hitting just .223 against him and he has walked just 28 batters. Anderson was voted SEC Pitcher of the Week after he fired a complete-game shutout on April 3 in LSU's 2-0 win over No. 9 Oklahoma. He limited the Sooners to five hits in 9.0 innings while recording two walks and a career-best 14 strikeouts. In his NCAA Regional appearance against Dallas Baptist (5/31), he tossed seven innings of four-hit, shutout ball while striking out 11 to key the Tigers' victory. SEASON IN PROGRESS – NEXT GAME IS JUNE 13 or 14
 
Harlem Berry (St. Martin's Episcopal Football) – St. Martin's senior running back Harlem Berry was selected as the Gatorade Louisiana Player of the Year selection after running for 2,178 yards and 41 touchdowns and adding 20 receptions for 340 yards and four more scores to go with an 80-yard kickoff return TD in 2024. The LSU signee added 26 total tackles, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and five pass breakups as an outside linebacker. The 5-foot-11, 188-pounder was selected as the Times-Picayune's small schools' all-metro offensive player of the year. Berry's high school athletic career included winning track and field state championships in the 100 and 200 meters and playing on a state championship winning basketball team.
 
Josh Gibson (LSU Shreveport Baseball) – Gibson, the star third baseman for the national champion Pilots, led LSUS to a perfect 59-0 record, the longest winning streak in collegiate baseball history (all levels). Named the RRAC Player of the Year, the senior from O'Fallon, Ill., led the Pilots in nearly all offensive categories, including a staggering .439 batting average (12th in the nation) with 93 hits, 85 runs scored, 71 RBI, 20 doubles, and 55 stolen bases, to go with a .534 on-base percentage and a .693 slugging percentage across 212 at-bats. Gibson closed the season with a nine-game hitting streak, including all eight games of the NAIA National Championship. In those eight games, he hit .429 (15-for-35) with seven runs scored and seven RBI.
 
Drew Timmons (Archbishop Hannan Basketball) – The 6-foot-6 Timmons led Hannan to its second LHSAA state championship in four years and was the LSWA Mr. Basketball for Louisiana as well as the Times-Picayune All-Metro boys basketball player of the year for the 2024-25 season. He finished his prep basketball career with 2,910 points and 1,491 rebounds as a five-year starter. As a senior, he averaged 21.4 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game and capped his season with 22 points and four rebounds in a 59-55 win over Shaw in the Division II select championship game where he also claimed Most Outstanding Player honors. The Hawks finished with a 26-7 record, including an 11-game winning streak on route to the title. But that road to the championship was challenging as the Hawks knocked off Kennedy, eventual Division I nonselect champion Zachary and Walker before rolling to the District 7-4A title. Timmons took over in the playoffs, posting 25 points, 12 rebounds and three assists in a quarterfinal win over Vandebilt Catholic before recording eight points with 11 rebounds in an intense defensive battle during a 31-29 semifinals win over traditional power and defending champion Peabody.
 
The 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 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 athlete in the Greater New Orleans area each month as well as a range of annual awards – the honors enter their 69th year in 2025.
 
The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 29 national champions, 110 Hall of Fame players, 55 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 91-year history. The 92nd Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will double as a College Football Playoff Quarterfinal, is scheduled to be played on January 1, 2026. 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.