One man’s 30-year obsession with LSU athletics soon will make it possible for every Tiger fan to catch a glimpse of Shaq’s size 23 basketball shoe, the 1958 football championship game ball and Pistol Pete’s 15,000 point autographed basketball.
Each of these items is significant in its own way to LSU athletic history, and each will be on display in the Alumni Association’s new athletic museum.
The $348,000 building, which is under construction near the Lod Cook Alumni Center, should be open before the end of the 2003 football season, said director Robert Carnes.
The collection includes more than 13,000 pieces from the personal collection of Jack Andonie, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Metairie, La., and the entirety of the former Hall of Fame in the Athletic Administration building, Carnes said.
Andonie donated his entire collection, worth more than $1 million, to the Alumni Association for the new museum, said Alumni Association President Charlie Roberts.
Andonie, a long-time Board of Supervisors member and LSU Medical School graduate, has been collecting whatever significant LSU memorabilia he could find for almost 30 years.
His collection ranges from autographed pictures to jerseys to postcards.
Andonie said he became interested and involved in LSU athletics in 1974 when he met former football coach Charlie McClendon.
As he and McClendon became close friends, Andonie’s interest in LSU athletics blossomed. He began to search for collectible LSU items in stores and at auctions.
As his fascination and relationship with the University grew, so did Andonie’s collection.
Soon, Andonie had a collection large enough to fill a room in his house, which he and his wife, Priscillia, dubbed the “purple and gold room.”
When the Andonies moved into a bigger house, the room full of memorabilia traveled with them. They had the new room specially designed to outfit the extensive collection.
      A room full of Tiger spirit cannot go unnoticed in Louisiana, so the Andonies’ house received a lot of attention. The room has been featured in several magazines and newspapers, and hundreds of LSU athletes and coaches have stopped by to see it.
“It was such a special room,” Andonie said. “People were so awestruck when they saw it.”
Andonie said the most valuable piece in his collection is probably a basketball autographed by Pistol Pete after he used it to score his 15,000th point to set an NCAA record. Although he does not recall what he paid for the ball, Andonie knows that it is now worth several times what he paid for it.
Andonie’s favorite piece is a collection of autographed pictures from every single LSU All-American athlete. The collection cannot be repeated because many of the former athletes have been dead for several years.
Andonie obtained the collection by finding a picture of each athlete, hunting them down, writing or calling them and requesting their autograph on the picture. Athletes such as Pete Maravich, Billy Cannon, Shaquille O’Neal, Bob Pettit, Ben McDonald and Jerry Stovall were happy to contribute.
Besides the autographed 1958 championship football, Carnes said his favorite piece in the collection is a fake Ole Miss jersey with the words “Go to Hell Ole Miss” imprinted on it.
McClendon used to wear the jersey around campus the entire week before the LSU-Ole Miss game to get students, fans and athletes excited, Carnes said.
The oldest items in Andonie’s collection are a number of postcards with pictures of LSU football players on them from 1908.
Although the most significant pieces date back several decades, some more recent items stand out in Andonie’s mind.
Wally Pontiff Jr.’s jersey, hat and glove will have a place of honor in the museum. Pontiff, a standout in both baseball and academics, died of heart problems in summer 2002.
Pontiff’s memorabilia are extremely significant to Andonie because he knew Wally all of his life.
“I delivered him, his brother and his sister,” Andonie said.
Pontiff’s death was a multiple loss for Andonie because Wally was “one of his babies,” an aspiring physician and an LSU great.
Pontiff’s memory will live on alongside other LSU standouts’ memorabilia in the new museum.
Andonie offered his entire collection to the Alumni Association last year because he realized LSU was the only school in the SEC not to have an athletic museum.
“I miss it, but I know it’s going to a lot better place than just having it in someone’s home,” Andonie said.
Andonie told his three children, Jackie, Patrick and Jon, that the valuable collection belonged to them, but they told him that it would be put to better use in a new museum.
“The best thing for [the collection] would be to go to the University so every LSU fan will see it,” Andonie said.
Andonie is eager for all students, fans and other visitors to have the chance to admire the collection that he has enjoyed for 30 years.
Outside of the years of interest and involvement with the athletic program, Andonie is involved in many different areas of the University. He said he takes pride in many different aspects of the campus.
“I love my university,” Andonie said. “I love the academics. I love the athletics. LSU has come a long way since I first got involved with it. The student body is just exceptional and getting better every year. It’s really becoming an elite university.”
Despite his contributions to other areas of campus, Andonie’s love for athletics is what will be most reflected and preserved for years to come in the new museum.