While there are many different categories of awards presented by the Greater 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 Greater New Orleans Sports Awards and forming the awards committee in 1958.
This year, the committee has designated two worthy recipients of Collins Awards. Both achieved historic success in the athletic area while representing Tulane University – Green Wave women’s basketball coach Lisa Stockton became the winningest women’s basketball coach in Louisiana history while the
Tulane football team enjoyed one of the greatest seasons in program history in 2022.
Stockton became the winningest coach in the history of women’s college basketball in Louisiana on Feb. 18. Her 65-45 victory that evening in Cincinnati lifted her past former Louisiana Tech coach Leon Barmore, a member of the Naismith Hall of Fame, who led the Techsters to the 1988 NCAA Championship. Stockton, who has averaged 20 wins per year over 29 seasons, has an all-time record of 579-324 at Tulane (Barmore had 576 wins) – she also coached at Greensboro for four years and has 642 overall career wins (69th all-time among college women’s basketball coaches).
“I think it's really special because I think Leon Barmore, with what he's meant to women's basketball, is amazing,” Stockton said. “To be mentioned in the same sentence as him is pretty incredible. I think, for my team, they're so excited. I think they're so much more excited than I am, and I love to see them have these types of moments that they can celebrate.”
Stockton has taken the Green Wave to the postseason 22 times (including 11 trips to the NCAA Tournament) and won five conference tournament titles and four regular-season conference titles. She has earned conference Coach of the Year honors three times (Metro in 1995, C-USA in 2007 and 2010).
