Sugar Bowl

D-D Breaux, the head coach of the LSU gymnastics team, was selected as the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s Outstanding Collegiate Coach for the State of Louisiana for 2018-19. The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, selects annual award winners in a variety of categories; it also selects Amateur Athletes of the Month and each year’s Hall of Fame class.

Breaux directed the LSU gymnastics team to second place in the nation, the best NCAA finish in school history.

“I could not have asked this team for a better performance,” she said. “They outperformed themselves from the semifinal. We gave it all we had and there is nothing wrong with finishing second to a great Oklahoma team. I am taking a lot of pride in this second-place finish and great season.”

Breaux earned her 799th and 800th career wins during the NCAA Championships, making her one of two coaches, regardless of sport, in LSU history with 800 wins. Following the regular season, she was recognized by her peers as the SEC Coach of the Year for the ninth time in her career. The dean of all coaches in SEC history led the squad to a record of 18-3 overall and the program’s third-straight SEC championship. Five gymnasts under Breaux’s direction earned WCGA regular season All-America honors. LSU continued to improve in each week of the season and over the final four weeks leading into NCAA postseason the squad averaged a 197.900. The LSU team was the second in NCAA Gymnastics history to average a 197.900 or higher in four meets.

The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee began in 1957 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. 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 Greater New Orleans area each month – the honors enter their 64th year in 2020. To be eligible, an athlete must be a native of the greater New Orleans area or must compete for a team in the metropolitan region.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 28 national champions, 96 Hall of Fame players, 50 Hall of Fame coaches and 18 Heisman Trophy winners in its 86-year history. The 87th Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will double as a College Football Playoff Semifinal, is scheduled to be played on January 1, 2021. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1.6 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors over 100,000 student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.7 billion into the local economy in the last decade.

-www.AllstateSugarBowl.org-