NEW ORLEANS — Xavier
University of Louisiana announced Wednesday 10 inductees
to its 2025 class of the XULA Athletic Hall of Fame:
•
Ken Broussard (men's basketball)
•
George "Nick" Connor (men's basketball and track and field)
•
Sister Jean Marie Craig (staff)
•
Vidal Easton (football, basketball, staff)
•
Whitney Gathright (women's basketball)
•
William Loyd (men's basketball)
•
Juan Mercier (men's basketball)
•
Merlin Peters (men's basketball)
•
Taylor Reuther (women's volleyball)
•
Juliana Tomasoni (women's volleyball)
Inductees will be honored
Nov. 6 during a 6 p.m. CST banquet on XULA's campus. Inductees also will be recognized during
XULA's homecoming basketball doubleheader at the Convocation Center against city rival Dillard
the afternoon of Nov. 8.
Inductees or their survivors must contact
Ed Cassiere —
XULA's associate athletics director for strategic communications — at (504) 256-5380
or
ecassier@xula.edu
to confirm their participation in the November events.
A committee selected the inductees based on XULA and post-XULA accomplishments.
Broussard, who played for XULA from 1967-69,
holds school records for points per game in a season (39.4) and career (33.5).
He's the only Gold Rush player to reach 45 points in a game; Broussard did it three times,
including a school-record 49 at Stillman on Jan. 12, 1968.
Connor was a three-time hurdles champion
in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and helped the Gold Rush
win SIAC team championships in 1948 and 1949. He was the first lay faculty member
at New Orleans' St. Augustine High School, and he coached the Purple Knights to
a pair of basketball state championships in the Louisiana Interscholastic and Literary Organization (LIALO).
He served 12 years in the Louisiana State House of Representatives, and the street directly behind
St. Aug, formerly Havana Street, was renamed in his honor as George "Nick" Connor Drive. Connor died in 2000.
Sister Jean Marie taught aerobics and physical education classes
at XULA for 41 years (1941-2023). She was a member of XULA's Athletics Committee. The Louisiana Association
for Health, Physical Education and Dance (LAHPERD) named its diversity award for her.
Easton was a three-starter as a XULA football lineman
during the 1950s, then he spent 52 seasons as the clock operator at basketball home games
before retiring from that position after the 2014-15 season. He played in what the Pittsburgh
Courier newspaper described as the first interracial football game in New Orleans:
XULA's 39-6 home victory against Keesler Air Force Base of Biloxi, Miss., on Oct. 9, 1954. Easton died in 2021.
Gathright played point guard and was a first-team NAIA
All-American her senior year (2015-16). She is one of two Gold Nuggets — the other is 2023
XULA hall inductee Antasha Jones — to reach 1,000 points, 400 rebounds, and 400 assists in
a career. Gathright's 463 made free throws and .782 free-throw percentage are XULA career records.
Now known as Whitney Kelley, 2025-26 will be her sixth season as a coach of XULA
women's basketball. In August 2023 she was promoted to associate head coach.
Loyd as a senior in 2019-20 became the first Gold Rush player in 29 seasons
to reach 500 points and 250 rebounds, and he led the XULA men to their
first conference tournament championship since 1996. That season he was XULA's Male Athlete of the Year
and a second-team All-American in NAIA Division I. Loyd is a nephew of 2022 XULA hall inductee Kenny Loyd;
Kenny and brothers Khris (William's father) and Kraig all played basketball for the Gold Rush.
Mercier as a senior in 1986-87 set a school record for season points with 699.
He is No. 3 at XULA with 1,735 career points. Mercier and Broussard are the only Gold Rush players to average 20
points per game in consecutive seasons. Mercier averaged 20.8 points per game over his final three seasons,
and he was All-Louisiana twice.
Peters, who played from 1989-93, is the Gold Rush career leader with 1,960 points
and No. 2 with 946 rebounds and 394 made free throws. Peters and Mercier are among seven Gold Rush players to earn all-conference or all-district
three times. Peters did not play prep basketball; he spent four years in the U.S. Marines, then joined XULA
on a scholarship after being spotted at a pickup game.
Reuther is XULA's career leader with 1,296 kills, 176 aces and 1,336 digs.
She was all-conference four times and XULA's only volleyball player to earn All-Louisiana three times.
The Gold Nuggets won conference regular-season and tournament championships
and earned automatic bids to NAIA nationals all four years of Reuther's tenure.
She is the program's only CSC (then CoSIDA) Academic All-American — third team as a sophomore in 2012.
Tomasoni played her final two seasons at XULA (2016, 2017)
and led the Gold Nuggets both years to conference regular-season and tournament championships
and automatic bids to NAIA nationals. Her XULA totals included 627 kills, 87 aces and 755 digs,
and as a junior she set a XULA record for kills in a match — since broken —
with 25 against NAIA No. 20 Evangel. Tomasoni also had 28 digs in that match.
Tomasoni was conference tournament MVP twice and AVCA NAIA All-Region first team as a senior.
Connor (Xavier Prep), Easton (Xavier Prep),
Gathright (John Curtis Christian), Mercier (St. John Prep), Peters (St. Augustine) and
Reuther (Dominican) are graduates of New Orleans-area high schools.
Future nominees can be submitted in two ways:
• Online by
clicking here
• A letter of nomination emphasizing a candidate's qualifications
sent to Executive Director of Athletics and Recreation, Xavier University of Louisiana, 1 Drexel Drive, Box 92, New Orleans, LA 70125
XULA honored its first Athletic Hall of Fame class
—
20 inductees, including two teams — in 2022.
