Initially, it didn't register but it should have.
A couple of months ago, I had a phone conversation with former Lady Demon basketball great Judy Clark and she told me that she was in her first year of coaching girls basketball at DeQuincy High School.
Well, as I sat in the Merryville High School gymnasium this past Friday evening rooting on my daughter, Catherine, and her St. Mary's Lady Tiger teammates, it suddenly occurred to me that the opposing coach was none other than the former #34 Lady Demon great herself....Judy Clark.
While her team came out on the short end to the Lady Tigers, they played an intense, full-court game reminiscent of the Lady Demon teams that were so successful with Judy running the point guard position. I talked with Judy briefly after the game and she said it will take time to get the program where she wants it to be - every coach at some point in their career can truly relate to that statement - but she was upbeat and still had that warm smile and gracious personality.
And, no, unlike her coaching mentor James Smith, she did not take off a sports jacket when the game got intense and did not engage in a small side wager with St. Mary's coach Stan Humphries by having each of them put a quarter on the scorer's table prior to the game (as Coach Smith used to do with former SFA counterpart Gary Blair)!
Although, as a postscript to this blog, I will add that after the game, Stan - who became good friends with Coach Smith while living in Natchitoches during his days with the San Diego Chargers - placed a call to James to give him a quick Judy Clark update.
Greg Burke, Athletic Director
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