Former SID Ireland Receives Mr. Louisiana Basketball Honors for Significant Contribution to the Sport
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NATCHITOCHES — It may be hard to fathom, but the recipient of the 2022 Mr. Louisiana Basketball Award from the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches not once, but twice during his career as a junior high school player, posted a career-high 9 points.
No one is sure if his goalscoring came in regular games or overtime.
Neither Doug Ireland’s playing career nor the fact that he quit the game to protect the integrity of the sport is clearly why he is being honored. No, he’s being honored for something much, much more…promoting the sport he loved.
What Ireland might have lacked on the court, he more than made up for as basketball’s ambassador to Louisiana like few before him.
“I think the committee did a great job with their selection,” said Mike McConathy, the most successful varsity basketball coach in Louisiana history with 682 wins. “As far as this award goes, he fits the bill perfectly. Doug has always championed basketball. He’s just passionate about this game.”
The Mr. Louisiana Basketball Award is the most prestigious annual award presented by the LABC. It is presented annually to someone who has made a significant, long-term contribution to the game of basketball at all levels in the state of Louisiana. Ireland will accept the award during the LABC’s 48th Annual Awards Banquet this Saturday, May 7 at the Baton Rouge Marriott. The banquet is sponsored by the Baton Rouge Orthopedic Clinic.
Ireland retired three years ago after 30 years as the sports information director at his alma mater, Northwestern State University. He remains chairman of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, a position he has held since 1990, and as such remains heavily involved in the Louisiana sports scene.
“For a Hobbit-like guy like me who barely played in high school to have any recognition in (basketball) is amazing,” said Ireland. “Hearing the news was breathtaking and nothing I ever imagined.”
Ireland grew up in Jonesboro and graduated from Northwestern State in 1982 with a degree in journalism. His career took him from the Natchitoches Times to the Shreveport Times, to Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana-Lafayette and on to the Alexandria Town Talk.
Former LABC Mr. Louisiana Basketball Tynes Hildebrand, who was Northwestern State basketball coach when Ireland arrived as an undergraduate in 1978, was the Demons’ athletic director when he turned Ireland off of the Alexandria Town Talk in 1989. Ireland would remain the demons’ jack-of-all-trades SID for three decades.
When McConathy left Bossier Parish Community College after 16 seasons to take up the job at Northwestern State, Ireland awaited him.
“He’s really done a lot to help us, going from a community college to a Division I program at Northwestern State and making that transition smooth,” said McConathy, who retired from coaching in March.
Ireland’s transition from reporter on the Alexandria Town Talk to Northwestern State SID wasn’t nearly as smooth as he had to publish a basketball program on NCAA parole. Ireland arrived midway through the first season of new basketball coach Dan Bell, who eventually gave way to former Tulsa and VCU coach JD Barnett.
“Dan took over the program when it was at its worst,” Ireland recalled. “Dan and Mike were similar. JD was a throwback coach. A brilliant tactician, not unlike General George Patton. The kids who finished under him adored him.”
Then came McConathy, who led Northwestern State to its greatest stretches of success, highlighted by three NCAA tournament appearances and two NCAA tournament wins.
“These seasons with Mike McConathy are without question one of the great blessings of my life,” Ireland said.
“In the NCAA tournament situations, he knitted everything together and maximized visibility for our program and for the players,” McConathy said. “He was a master at that.”
For Ireland, participation in Northwestern State’s NCAA tournaments in 2001, 2006 and 2013 was reminiscent of what he found in his first college job as an assistant at the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now Louisiana-Lafayette) under sports information director Dan McDonald experienced.
The Ragin’ Cajuns bowled under Louisiana Basketball Hall of Famer Bobby Paschal. A year before Ireland’s arrival, the Cajuns beat a Patrick Ewing-led Georgetown team that would lose in the NCAA tournament championship game. The program would go on to make an NCAA tournament and advance to the 1984 NIT Final Four and another NIT in Ireland’s three years.
“When I think about receiving this honor, it really all started with Bobby Paschal at USL,” he said. “I’m so grateful to have had this opportunity early in my career.”
Ireland also covered the Lady Techsters in their prime under former LABC Mr. Louisiana Basketball Leon Barmore with Teresa Weatherspoon as point guard. Before that, he was on the LHSAA Sweet 16 stats team at Rapides Parish Coliseum and watched Kim Mulkey lead Hammond High School to state championships.
“In a way it’s the most unlikely of recognitions,” said Ireland. “It all goes back to 19 years with Mike McConathy and the opportunity to commemorate basketball history with the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.”
In addition to providing publicity and recognition for Northwestern State’s basketball program, Ireland also supported legendary Louisiana broadcaster Lyn Rollins, who was the radio voice for the Demons for ten seasons through 2003-04.
Rollins recalls Ireland’s many talents stretched far beyond the basketball court.
“It was always an adventure coming back from a street game with Doug late at night,” Rollins said. “He had a phone in one hand, a newspaper in the other, a box of fried chicken in his lap, and a basketball game on the radio somewhere.”
Rollins appreciated Ireland’s ability to improve its broadcasts, something not all analysts can do.
“As a mate, he was very empathetic,” Rollins said. “For a professional with a background in print journalism, he had a keen sense of when to talk and when not to talk and let the atmosphere tell the story.”
“Nowadays it is not uncommon and almost mandatory for a reporter to be a multi-journalist. When he started, Doug was one of the few with the skills to transition from print to broadcast. His print background has served him well.”
Though football is king in Louisiana, and that’s certainly the case at the collegiate level, Ireland said he’s always enjoyed the basketball season for its intimate nature.
“Of all the sports you cover, basketball is perhaps the most personal,” he said. “You are so close to the place. You can almost touch him. As a SID, with the limited number of players and the time you spend traveling with them, it feels tight.”
McConathy appreciated the fact that Ireland always put the players first in everything he did during the basketball season.
“He was tireless,” McConathy said. “He did so many things that no one knows about… he was a Northwestern State institution.”
“I’ve always heard people say they felt humiliated to receive an award,” Ireland said. “I know they are sincere. I had the opportunity to watch them firsthand at the LABC dinner. I know how much respect these people had in the basketball community. To be deemed appropriate by the LABC to be on this list is almost absurd, but so highly valued.”
In addition to honoring Ireland, the May 7 awards banquet will include the induction of former Loyola University national championship-winning coach Jack Orsley into the Louisiana Basketball Hall of Fame. It also recognizes Louisiana’s major college, small college, junior college and high school player and coach of the year, as well as the state’s top professional players. For more information about the LABC, visit www.labball.com.
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