A Culture of Excellence – Star Centenary Athletes Through the Years
On the second floor of Centenary’s Gold Dome, there is a hallway that holds the portraits of the college’s most esteemed athletes. These men and women are honored for their hard work, dedication, and excellence. When each class is composed of majority athletes, it is difficult to stand out amongst your teammates, and harder yet to become the model for all athletes to play under the maroon and white. Some of these individuals have reached beyond Centenary’s borders to earn glory for themselves, their sports, and our college.
Kathleen “Kathy” Johnson joined the Centenary gymnastics team in 1977. An incredible athlete on the beam and all-around, she led her team to a national championship in 1978. At the same time, she was competing internationally and would join the U.S. Olympic team in 1980. Because of the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics, however, she would not get to compete until 1984 when she joined the team again. At these games, Johnson and her teammate Julianne Mcnamara would become the first female American gymnasts to earn an individual medal at the Olympics and World Championships. Johnson would go on to fight for better conditions for female gymnasts and be a central figure in collegiate gymnastics after the sport was added to the NCAA in 1983.
A few years before Johnson signed to Centenary, Robert Parish played for the Centenary Gents basketball team. Parish joined the team in 1972 when the NCAA had various rules in place that would inhibit Parish and four other men from competing on the Centenary team. Centenary, however, refused to remove them from the team and pull their scholarships. As a result, the NCAA put Centenary’s men’s basketball program on probation for six years. While at Centenary, Parish would lead the team to one of their most successful periods in history, all while being completely ignored by the NCAA. Parish played for team USA for the 1975 Pan American team between his junior and senior year. While he received offers to play professionally and for other collegiate teams with substantial financial compensation, Parish would choose to remain at Centenary for his college career, despite being unrecognized by the NCAA. After college, Parish played for four different NBA teams and set the record for the greatest number of NBA games played: 1,622. The NBA elected Parish into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003 for his contributions to the program.
Before the reinstallation of Centenary football in 2022, the college fielded a team from the beginning of the 20th century to 1947. In these few decades, the program produced a number of stellar athletes. In 1922, Cal Hubbard joined the Centenary football team after a chance meeting with the college’s new coach. Hubbard achieved All-American status while playing for Centenary. He would go one to play for the New York Giants, the Green Bay Packers, and the Pittsburg Pirates. Hubbard is credited for the linebacker position in football. A decade after Hubbard played for Centenary, Raymond “Buddy” Parker played for the Gents. In 1932, Parker signed to Centenary and would play for three seasons until he was recruited to the Detroit Lions. He played for both the Lions and the Chicago Cardinal but would spend the greatest part of his career coaching the NFL.
Centenary has made effort after effort to invest in their athletes. In recent history, Centenary has produced several MLB players like James Hoyt, who signed with the Yuma Scorpions in 2011, and Seth Lugo, who signed with the New York Mets in 2011. These extraordinary athletes represent a fraction of the talent that exists within the fields and court of Centenary College, but we at the Congo are incredibly proud to honor them in our 100th year edition.