Donald Newman at BM

Don Newman today

Newman Restraining Gregg Popovich

Donald Newman ('75) is currently an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA. His has been an interesting odyssey to his present position.

Son of a former pitcher in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, Don played on the hardwood for Andy Russo and Tom Kolb at Brother Martin. As a junior in 1974, he started at G on the state championship team that was led by Rick Robey.

After a year at LSU, Don played three seasons at the University of Idaho where he made the All Big Sky Conference team. He was drafted by the Indiana Pacers in the fourth round in 1979 as a junior and by Boston in the third round in 1980. He became the Celtics' final cut that year. He then played three seasons in the Continental Basketball Association for the Montana Golden Nuggets coached by George Karl.

Even though he hadn't played football in either high school or college, Don played seven seasons in the Canadian Football League as a DB for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Edmonton Eskimos and Hamilton Tiger Cats. He also went to training camp with the Seattle Seahawks and New York Jets.

When his playing days ended, Newman completed a bachelor's degree in physical education at Idaho in 1987 and embarked on a career as a basketball coach.

• Don spent five years as an assistant at Washington State where he obtained a master's in education.
• He was head coach at Sacramento State in 1992-7 when the Hornets made the transition to Division I.
• He joined the staff at Arizona State in 1997 and was soon named the interim head coach. That year the Sun Devils finished 18-14 to earn a trip to the NIT.
• After serving as an assistant at Oregon for one year, he moved to the NBA as an assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks under George Karl for four seasons.
• He was an assistant for USA Basketball for the 2002 World Championships, then joined Byron Scott's New Jersey Nets staff in 2003.
• He has been with the Spurs since 2004. One of his duties is to rein in head coach Gregg Popovich when he berates officials.

Don and his wife Simone have five daughters. Read more about Don.

Playing for Loyola, Ryan Brock (BM '05) had an outstanding 2008-9 season on the hardwood.

• Ryan made the 2009 all-Gulf Coast Athletic Conference basketball team and was voted Newcomer of the Year.
• The 6'3" F earned GCAC Player of the Week four times.
• Brock led the Wolfpack with 19.9 ppg. He made 50.7% of his FG attempts.

After sitting out the 2006-7 season, Ryan played in three games for UNO in 2007-8 before a broken wrist ended his season. He has two more years of eligibility at Loyola.

Crusader fans remember Brock for playing an integral role on three straight state finals teams.

• As a sophomore, Ryan made the last second layup to win at Barbre and send the Crusaders to the Top 28, where they defeated Denham Springs and Tasmin Mitchell before losing to undefeated Woodlawn in the finals.
• As a junior, Brock made the three-pointer with half a minute to play to defeat St. Augustine in the state finals.
• Ryan made All-State his senior year as the Crusaders cruised past Thibodaux for their second straight AAAAA championship.

Ryan Brock

Derrick Collins was the leader of the Crusader team that reached the state semifinals in 1983. He then played four years at Xavier University in New Orleans. Derrick holds the career record for assists for the Gold Rush with 789 as well as the single game assists record (19 vs. Spring Hill in 1986). He made the All Gulf Coast Athletic Conference team three years in a row and earned honorable mention NAIA All-American.

After graduating from Xavier with a B.A. in Mass Communications in 1988, Collins embarked on a career as a basketball official that has taken him to the highest level of his profession.

• Derrick officiated Louisiana high school games for seven years.
• He refereed college games for the Big 12, Sun Belt, C-USA, Southland, SEC, TAAC, OVC and SWAC for seven years.
• Collins officiated five years in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA – at the time the "minor league" for the NBA) and three years in the WNBA. He worked two CBA Finals and three WNBA Playoffs and Finals.
• Derrick became a part-time NBA official in 1999-2000 and moved to full-time status for the 2001-2 season.
• Derrick and his family have moved back to their Slidell home after spending time in Texas following Katrina.
• The NBA Officials Media Guide says Derrick "enjoys fishing, horseback riding, pool, weight training, bowling and golf."

James Pierre Thibaut (SA '38) was an outstanding RB and kicker for the Crusaders. Ron Brocato lists Thibaut among the "Great Players of the 1930s" in his book The Golden Game: When Prep Football Was King in New Orleans. Brocato calls him an "explosive back." Jimmy also played basketball at 1137 Esplanade.

Thibaut lettered in football for Tulane in 1939-40-41. He was co-captain on Coach Lowell Dawson's 5-4 team his senior year. In addition to serving as RB, Jim also did the place kicking. He kicked the winning PAT in the Green Wave's 14-13 win over North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1940.

Jim was drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 12th round (107th overall) of the 1942 NFL Draft. However, World War II intervened and Jim served in the Navy. On September 23, 1945, he scored the only TD, a one-yard plunge, in the 7-0 victory of the Fleet City (CA) Bluejackets over the 2nd Air Force at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.

After the war, the 27-year-old Thibaut played as a 5'11" 205 FB/LB for the Buffalo Bisons of the new All-America Football Conference in 1946. (The Bisons became the Bills the next few seasons, then ceased to exist until the city joined the American Football League in 1960.) Appearing in three games, Jim ran 10 times for 48y.

Thibaut returned to New Orleans, where he coached and officiated. His son, James P. Thibaut II (SA '69) followed in his father's footsteps as a Crusader gridder.

Jon Heidenreich ('87) played O-line for Bob Conlin on Elysian Fields. He then lettered at Mississippi State in 1988. He subsequently played in the Canadian Football League for the Shreveport Pirates in 1994-5 (when the CFL expanded briefly to the U.S.) and then for the Texas Terror of the Arena Football League in 1996 and the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe in 1997. Though signed by several NFL teams, including the Saints, he never survived training camp.

Born in Los Angeles, Jon began martial arts training at age six and earned his first-degree black belt at 12. So after completing his football career, he signed a World Wrestling Federation (WWF) developmental contract in 2001. He debuted on Raw in 2003 and the following year appeared on SmackDown! He won the World Wrestling Council Heavyweight Championship in 2006 but lost the title in January 2007. He now wrestles for All-American Wrestling out of Lafayette.

Jon lives in Picayune MS with his wife and two children.

Butler Powell ('56) played football and baseball at St. Aloysius.

• Butler was the backstop on the 1955 Coca Cola American Legion team that won the regional championship.
• He was C/LB of the 1955 City Championship gridiron squad. He ran back an INT 30 yds for a TD against Nicholls and repeated the feat for a 32 yd score against Holy Cross.

Powell then played baseball at Loyola from 1957-60 for Coach Louis "Rags" Scheuermann.

• He started behind the plate for the Wolfpack for four years. During that period, LU's record was 46-24.
• He hit .354 in 1959 to win the Maroon's Sports Citation award.
• In Powell's final season in maroon and gold, the 'Pack went 16-2. He was given the key to the city on the day of his final game, which was proclaimed "Butler Powell Day."
• He signed a bonus contract with the Milwaukee Braves after earning both BBA and MBA degrees.

Butler played six seasons of minor league baseball in the Braves chain.

• He joined Boise of the Class C Pioneer league for 23 games in 1960, then played 107 games there the next season, hitting .287 with 7 HR. He played only 8 games for Boise in 1962 because he had to fulfill his military obligation as a member of the reserves.
• In 1963, he played for Yakima (WA) in the Class A Northwest league, hitting .292 with 5 HR.
• He appeared in 115 games in 1964 with AA Austin of the Texas League before a brief call-up to AAA Denver at the end of the season.
• Butler was back in Austin for 1965 to hit .357 and whack 10 HR. During his stint at Austin, he caught every inning of the longest game ever played in the Texas League – 25 innings.
• He finished his career with a .273 average and 30 HR.

Butler later did some coaching at Ecole Classique. He entered the Loyola Hall of Fame in 2002. Today he is retired from the banking business in New Orleans.

Butler Powell
St. Aloysius 1955

Butler Powell, Loyola Hall of Fame 2002

Rick Robey is one of the few athletes to play on championship teams in high school, college, and the pros. After leading BMHS to the 1974 LHSAA championship, he played on Kentucky's 1978 national champs and on the Boston Celtics NBA championship team in 1981. He also played with the Indiana Pacers and Phoenix Suns. At 6'11 230, Rick amassed 3,723 points and 2,301 RBs in eight pro seasons.

Rick came to Brother Martin as a sophomore. After sitting out a year as required by the transfer rule, he led the Crusaders to the 1973 semifinals against Bastrop his junior year. Boasting another future NBA player, sophomore Calvin Natt, the Rams edged the Saders 54-52 on a last second basket.

Rick's son Sam is a redshirt freshman football player at Florida. The 6-4 291-pounder finished the 2009 spring practice as the starting C. "Nobody worked harder than my dad," says the younger Robey. "He won championships, and now I want to be a part of that."

Sam made first-team all-state three times at Trinity High School in Louisville, helping the Shamrocks to three straight state titles. He also played some D-line. He was a co-winner of the Paul Hornung Award sponsored by the Louisville QB Club, presented to the state's top high school players.

Crusader Blair Barbier

Blair Barbier ('96) started four years at 2B and then 3B for the LSU baseball team. During that time, the Tigers won two national championships (1997 and 2000). Blair had carved a niche in the Tiger record book when he graduated.

• Fourth with 308 career hits (in exactly 1,000 AB).
• Sixth in runs in a season (82 in '97) and second in career runs with 260.
• Fifth in career RBI with 199.
• Tied for ninth for doubles in a season with 23 in 1997 and second in career doubles with 97.
• Sixth in career HRs with 46.
• Fourth in career total bases with 517.
• Fifth in career walks with 157.

Barbier made freshman All-American and all-SEC second team in 1997. He is fondly remembered by LSU fans for hitting a two-run HR to spark the comeback against Stanford in the 2000 championship game.

Blair played QB for Bob Conlin as well as SS for Barry Hebert's 1996 state champions. After graduating from LSU, Blair signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs and played several years in the minor leagues.

Danny Bryan ('02) was born into a tennis family. Both parents, Bill and Glenda, have played and coached the game, including a long stint in charge of the Crusader team.

Bryan fashioned an outstanding career at Brother Martin.

• Two-time 5A State Champion
• Ranked No. 1 in Louisiana for five years and top-10 in the nation for the same span
• Team MVP in 2001 and 2002
• State championships in the 12, 14 and 16 age divisions

Danny continued his outstanding play at LSU, earning four letters.

• 2003-4
  • Finished with a 16-8 singles record, including 5-1 in dual matches
  • 16-3 in the Tigers' doubles lineup
• 2004-5
  • Named first-team All-Louisiana
  • 23-11 in singles competition, including an 18-5 record in dual matches and eight-straight to end the season
  • 35-7 in doubles competition with several partners
  • Named to the SEC Good Works Team
• 2005-6
• Chosen by his teammates as co-captain before the season
• Second-team All-SEC honors and again made the SEC Good Works team
• Named a first-team All-Louisiana selection again
• Continued to excel on the doubles court
• 2006-7
• Again selected as a co-captain
• Named an ITA Doubles All-American with his partner and ranked #6 in nation as a duo
• First-team All SEC
• 2007 ITA National Arthur Ashe Jr. Leadership & Sportsmanship Award Winner
• SEC Community Service Team Honors for the third consecutive year
• Won the SEC Indoor Doubles Championship in January and reached the NCAA Doubles Quarterfinals in the spring
• 2007 LSU Male Volunteer of the Year and SEC Community Service team honors for the third time

Bryan became a student assistant in the LSU tennis program for 2007-8 and then was promoted to assistant coach for the 2008-9 season.

Danny Bryan, Brother Martin

Danny Bryan, LSU

Glenda and Bill Bryan