LSU Greats
INTRO
ABOUT LSU RETIRED JERSEYS
The retirement of the jerseys of Casanova, McDonald, Macklin and Augustus comes under a new provision of the LSU jersey retirement bylaws that says the retirement of an athlete’s jersey in a particular sport does not preclude a current student-athlete in that sport from wearing the jersey number in that or any other sport, subject to the discretion of the head coach. This provision applies only to jerseys retired after January 1, 2007, so the numbers worn by Maravich, Pettit, O’Neal, Cannon and Bertman may never again be worn by future student-athletes in their respective sports. To have a jersey retired at LSU, an athlete must have completed intercollegiate competition for LSU a minimum of five years prior to nomination. Athletes must have demonstrated truly unusual and outstanding accomplishments, exceeding and in addition to all criteria used for Hall of Fame selection. Nominees must have a unanimous vote of support from the Hall of Fame committee.
37 Tommy Casanova
Tommy Casanova is the only three-time All-American in the history of LSU football and is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. During his Tiger career from 1969-71, Casanova personified versatility for his myriad of talents as he played offense, defense, returned punts and kickoffs. One of just two three-time All-SEC performers at LSU, he played six seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL while earning his medical degree.
19 Ben McDonald
Ben McDonald won the prestigious Golden Spikes Award, given annually to the nation’s most outstanding player, in 1989 and is a member of the College Baseball Hall of Fame. He led LSU to two College World Series appearances. In 1989, McDonald was named National Player of the Year by Baseball America, The Sporting News and Collegiate Baseball. He was selected by the Baltimore Orioles as the No. 1 pick in the major league draft in 1989 and went on to enjoy a 10-year major league career with the Orioles and the Milwaukee Brewers.
33 Seimone Augustus
Seimone Augustus is the only women’s basketball player in school history to earn State Farm Coaches Association All-America honors three times: 2004, 2005 and 2006. Augustus became LSU’s first NCAA National Player of the Year, and she claimed the honor twice in 2005 and 2006. A 2006 graduate of LSU, Augustus was the 2012 WNBA Finals MVP after winning a world title. She also led the United States to Olympic gold medals at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Games.
36 Eddy Furniss
Eddy Furniss enjoyed one of the best four-season stretches (1995-98) in college baseball history. Furniss is still the Southeastern Conference alltime leader in hits (352), home runs (80), RBI (308), doubles (87) and total bases (689). He was selected in the fourth round of the 1998 Major League Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates and played five seasons in the minor leagues before retiring to concentrate on a career in medicine.
Ben McDonald (top) and Skip Bertman (bottom) were both honored with jersey retirement ceremonies in Alex Box Stadium. The jersey of Eddy Furniss was retired in 2016.
2017 BASEBALL OFFICIAL YEARBOOK
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