The University of Louisiana has announced its 2022 Athletics Hall of Fame class, and it features Cajun legends Russ Faulkinberry (football), Jace Conrad (baseball), and Christi Orgeron (softball) among others.
Ladarius Green (football), Mike Heinen (golf), Lisa Merritt (women’s basketball), and Lynn Williams (equipment) will be inducted on Friday, September 30.
Williams and Faulkinberry will both receive the Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously, while Lisa Merritt will be inducted posthumously as well.
The University selects members of the Hall of Fame based on significant contributions to their professions and communities. There is a nomination and selection process involving a Board of Directors composed by the Ragin Cajuns Lettermen Club.
In 2015, rules were put into place to allow former coaches, administrators, and alumni who spent less than four years at the university to pursue professional sports.
Russ Faulkinberry (Football)
Faulkinberry coached Louisiana from 1961-1973, winning 66 games in that span, which is still the most wins in school history. He also won three conference championships and brought the SLI Bulldogs to multiple bowl games. He also spent time as a coach for the Jacksonville Sharks in the WFL before becoming an administrator for hospital drug and alcohol programs.
Faulkinberry also did private coaching for both Brandon Stokely and Jake Delhomme, who are also members of the Louisiana Athletics Hall of Fame. Faulkinberry passed away in 2005 at the age of 77 and the press box/suites area has been renamed the Faulkinberry Tower.
Jace Conrad (Baseball)
Conrad led the best team in school history for Louisiana baseball, winning 58 games and being ranked #1 in the country in 2014. The Cajuns didn’t lose back-to-back games in that season until the last two of the season against Ole Miss in the Super Regional.
Conrad finished the season hitting .381 and was named MVP of the NCAA Regional tournament and was the first consensus All-American in school history.
The Lafayette native was a Sun Belt Player of the Year and Louisiana Player of the Year as well as First Team All-SBC. He led the team with 96 hits, 20 doubles, 22 stolen bases and 65 RBIs. He was drafted in the 13th round of the MLB Draft by Tampa Bay.
Christi Orgeron (Softball)
Orgeron was a two-time All American for the Cajuns, making First-Team in 2012 and Second-Team in 2011. She was also named Sun Belt Player of the Year twice in 2011 and 2012 and was the Freshman of the Year in 2009.
The New Orleans native was twice named the SBC Female Athlete of the Year and won the Corbett Award for Louisiana’s top female athlete in 2011-2012. She was also named SBC Player of the Week 10 times during her career.
Orgeron set a NCAA record with six grand slams in a single season and the Cajuns compiled a 194-48 record during her four years, including 77-18 in conference and 10-4 in Regional play. Louisiana also won two regional titles while Orgeron was on the team and holds the program record for extra-base hits in a season and career, doubles in a game, and RBIs in a season and career (288), which ranks eighth in NCAA history.
After UL, Orgeron competed with the USA National Softball Team.
Ladarius Green (Football)
Green was the most productive tight end in school history from 2008-2011, capping off his career with the school’s fist ever bowl win at the 2011 New Orleans Bowl over San Diego State.
The Pensacola, FL native is ranked sixth on the receiving list, fifth in yards, and second in touchdowns. His final home game was the best of his career, catching 13 passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns. He also recovered the onside kick to finish off the 11-point comeback against ULM.
Green had more than 20 catches and more than 250 yards in each of his four years at Louisiana, including 51 catches for 606 yards and eight touchdowns in 2011. His career high in yards was 794 as a junior in 2010. He was twice a semifinalist for the Mackey Award as the nation’s best tight end.
Drfated by the San Diego Chargers in 2012, Green spent five seasons in the NFL with San Diego and Pittsburgh, with his best year coming in 2015, when Green had 37 catches for 429 yards and four touchdowns.
Mike Heinen (Golf)
Heined played for the Cajuns from 1985-1989, leading Louisiana to its first ever NCAA Regional in 1989 and helping the Cajuns to the NCAA National Championships, finishing 15th.
Heinen finished 12th in the Championships, the second-highest finish by a Cajun. He was also a first-team All-American South Conference selection in 1989.
Heined went on to join the PGA Tour, becoming one of two Cajuns to win an event, winning the 1994 Shell Houston Open in his 10th start. In 17 years on the Tour, he made 180 cuts and $2.3 million in earnings.
Lisa Merritt (Women’s Basketball)
Merritt played for the Cajuns from 1980-1984 and still ranks in the top five in multiple categories, including second in points (1,747), fifth in scoring average (16.8), fifth in rebounds (723) and steals (261). She is the only player to rank in the top 10 in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals.
Merritt has the second highest single-season steal total with 114 in 1983-1984, and she led the team in scoring in both 1982 and 1983. She was a integral part of the team that went 18-10 and 22-6 in her last two seasons, the first ever winning seasons for the program.
Merritt player in the WABA before enrolling in the Navy for 20 years. She passed away in 2018 at the age of 55.
Lynn Williams (Equipment)
Williams served as Louisiana’s equipment manager for 35 years and was one of the most loved people at the university.
He joined the staff in 1980 as a student manager, elevated to full-time when he graduated in 1985, and served as head and eventually supervisor of equipment until his death in 2019.
The Lafayette native and Northside High product won the 2009 Glenn Sharp Award for Equipment Manager of the Year and was named the District 4 NAEMA Equipment Manager of the Year three times in 2002, 2005, and 2009. He was also the MVP of the UL Athletic Department in 1991.