After a record setting crowd for the season opener of the men’s basketball season opener Friday, fans packed the PMAC once again but this time to honor LSU’s own two time WNBA champion Sylvia Fowles as her number 34 jersey was retired.
Fowles was enjoying her day when she received the unexpected phone call about the exciting news of her jersey’s retirement.
“I was in Minnesota actually on the couch taking my daily nap when I kept getting a phone call but I refused to answer it because I don’t answer calls from people I don’t know,” Fowles said. “I kind of played phone tag with these people until they finally left a message, once I talked to the AD and he told me that my jersey was being retired I tried to play it cool.”
Fowles is only the second LSU Women’s Basketball player to have her jersey retired alongside former LSU teammate and now WNBA teammate Seimone Augustus. When asked how it felt to be alongside Augustus Fowles said that it’s awesome.
“Now I can get on her nerves because she swears she’s on a whole different level, so I’ve been getting on her nerves for the past couple of months since I found out my jersey would be getting retired,” Fowles said.
Throughout Fowles’ decorated four year career at LSU she earned multiple awards a few being All-American, All SEC player, All SEC defensive player of the year and in 2015 she was placed in the 2015 LSU Athletics Hall of Fame Class.
Former Lady Tigers Head Basketball Coach Van Chancellor remembers Fowles as a dominant player and great person.
“The first day I got the job she walked up to me and gave me a hug, I said to myself I got a great player that’s a hugger and I’m a hugging coach this is going to be a great combination,” Chancellor said.
The Lady Tigers next home game will be against Nicholls Nov. 21, 2017.