BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The LSU Board of Supervisors voted to rename the PMAC basketball court Friday morning.
Soon, the name of former LSU women’s basketball coach, Sue Gunter, will be added to the PMAC court.
“Two hard-working individuals that were a part of the LSU family are now members of – of part partial of the court,” said Collins Temple Jr. LSU Board of Supervisors Member.
The Academic Committee approved the name change earlier with a 6 to 2 vote, the full board approved the name change with one objection.
“I think that LSU will be better for what’s taking place. And that’s to have two people that’s basically legendary type coaches to be on the court,” said Temple.
In January 2022, the court was named after former men’s basketball coach Dale Brown.
Some believe adding a second name would dishonor Brown and his legacy. However, board member Collins Temple Jr. says otherwise.
“I don’t know that it would necessarily dishonor coach Brown. Coach Brown is… one thing you can’t do is erase all of the good things that Coach Brown has done,” said Temple.
One former player LSU women’s basketball player, Delia Taylor, expressed her excitement in favor of the change.
“Today, young women across this nation have better opportunities because of her,” said Taylor.
Others expressed their concerns about the change. Saying this dishonors the legacy of Dale Brown.
“I just think it would be wrong to dilute the lifetime achievement award “Dale Brown Court” you so publicly gave Dale,” said Jeffery Marks, Public Speaker.
“I just think it can be done a different way. Why not name the practice facility – the scoreboard,” said Ben McDonald, Former LSU Athlete.
Last year, when the board approved naming the PMAC basketball court the “Dale Brown Court.” Questions were reportedly raised then about adding Sue Gunter’s name to the court, however, the proposition was opposed.
Some fans, including Board member Jay Blossman who also voted no for the Dale Brown court, now question the ethics of the process. Alleging that the voting process wasn’t fair from the beginning and didn’t follow proper procedures.
“Nothing has become before this board. At least to my knowledge. To lay out all the steps on how things are going to be named… When were we going to be told about this other than last month,” said Jay Blossman, LSU Board of Supervisors Member.
Gunter coached at LSU for 22 years and was the third-winningest head coach in NCAA history with 708 career victories, according to lsusports.net. She was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005.
“Ms. Gunter worked hard. Women deserve opportunities to share the spotlight,” said Temple.
So far, there’s been no information on when this change will take place or how long the process will take.
