By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur
LAPLACE – When St. James hired Dwain Jenkins earlier this year, most focused on the impact the school’s new head football coach would have on rebuilding a Wildcats team that had been winless for consecutive seasons on the gridiron.
But Jenkins was also tabbed as the school’s new Athletic Director, a job he takes very seriously and a capacity in which he has already made his presence felt.
The school officially announced the hiring of seven new coaches across a variety of sports this week, highlighted by new head girls basketball coach Curtis Lawrence and new defensive coordinator and powerlifting coach Christopher Daigle.
Lawrence, who led Xavier Prep to the postseason in six of his eight years at the helm, is joined as a newcomer by Shonese Evans, the Wildcats’ new head volleyball coach; Aaron Meyer, new head track and field coach and the football team’s offensive line coach; Richard Williams as softball assistant and middle school football coach; Shaun Smith, football and track and field assistant coach and Andrew Robbins, the new head tennis coach.
The St. James girls won the Class 3A state basketball championship in 2011 under coach Justin Adams and returned to the Top 28 tournament in 2012 under coach Greg Wood. The Wildcats entered last year’s postseason as the No. 25 seed and fell in the first round to Loyola Prep, 54-41. Wood retired at the end of last season, opening the position.
Lawrence went 120-87 over his tenure at Xavier Prep, leading his team to district championships in 2011 and 2012. Xavier Prep was ranked as highly as sixth in Class 3A in the 2012 LSWA poll. Last season, it went 16-14.
Lawrence, 51, was released from his contract by Xavier Prep after last season due to budget restraints—the school was scheduled to close at the end of last school year before being purchased by an alumni group and renamed St. Katherine of Drexel.
“We feel extremely fortunate and excited to bring in someone with coach Lawrence’s credentials, both in terms of basketball and in the classroom,” said Jenkins. “What happened with Xavier Prep, the turnover there, it presented us with a great opportunity. We looked at a few different candidates, but mostly ones that didn’t fill the teaching needs like he does.”
Jenkins said that the pressure was mounting late in the process when Lawrence reached out.
“We asked if we still had anything open. It was a fortunate break,” said Jenkins. “We feel like the girls program here has done some really great things, but it had a chance to be more in the future. We wanted someone that could develop those players in the seventh and eighth grade … we had a tremendous class that went to the Top 28 and has since cycled out … We want to build a program that can sustain success and withstand those losses.”
Daigle most recently was the defensive coordinator at Dutchtown, a position he held for nine years. He also coached two seasons as defensive coordinator at Thibodaux and two years at Central Lafourche as defensive line coach.
He was tabbed for the job shortly after Jenkins accepted the head job at St. James earlier this year.
“To be able to bring in a guy who has had the track record of success that he’s had, it’s huge for us,” said Jenkins. “It’s going to make a tremendous impact on the football program.”
Daigle will head up the school’s new powerlifting team, which is set for its first year of competition in the coming school year.
Evans will head the volleyball program while making her debut as a head coach. She was an All-State performer in volleyball, basketball and track while at H.L. Bourgeois and went on to compete at Mississippi Valley State in volleyball and track.
Meyer, an alumni of UCLA, enters his fourth year of football coaching. He’ll be the Wildcats’ offensive line coach while taking over the boys track and field program.
Smith will be an assistant on both the football and track teams, after serving in the same capacity at John McDonogh.
Robbins will take over a tennis program that just completed its first season back at St. James after a hiatus.
All of the coaches, Jenkins said, were hired with their teaching credentials in mind. He said that the ability for coaches to work as teachers full-time was something he placed value on.
“We wanted coaches working with our kids throughout the day, building relationships with them, not just on the field or on the court,” he said.
“When I became athletic director, that was one of the things I stressed. We’ve got a principal in Mr. (Michael) Kennedy who wants to build a stronger school, and he realizes that there’s a lot we can teach these kids through athletics that can go beyond the four walls of the classroom.”