Back in my playing days at Doyline, if you saw the Grambling Lab Kittens on a tournament bracket or your schedule, there might be some gnashing of teeth occur. Although the Kittens might not sound mascot might not sound menacing, you can believe some damage was possibly going to happen to your record. If you happened to pull out “W’, you were sure after the game you to earn it. Now if you looked on a tournament bracket or schedule, you won’t see the Grambling Lab Kittens but you would see the Lincoln Prep Panthers. A different name; same great basketball.
After a battle with budget cuts from Grambling State which help subsidize some funding, Grambling Lab was faced with the reality of having the doors closed in 2016. The Louisiana Department of Education allowed the three Grambling Laboratory Schools to merge into a single K-12 school. Alma J. Brown Elementary, Grambling Middle Magnet School and Grambling Middle School merged to form the charter school Lincoln Preparatory School. In 2017, the former Grambling Lab Kittens became the Lincoln Prep Panthers.
If you walk in the gym, you still see the specter of the Kittens. A huge mural of the Kitten mascot painted on the wall next to the stage. All the placards of past state championships and state runner-ups are around the building. It’s to remind the newly named Panthers of the legacy that they are to follow. “This school is still the same,” Lincoln Prep Coach Antonio Hudson. “It’s here for our kids. It’s here for our community. It’s here to make a difference and give them the chances that they may not get at other places and that was the same at Grambling when I was here when my Mom was here when my aunts and uncles were here. Playing under Coach Michael Lyons and seeing all that history. That’s some big shoes to live up to.”
Coach Antonio Hudson was a hometown star for the Grambling Kittens including taking them to the state finals in 2000. Hudson was a High School All-American. He took his talents to the LSU Tigers where he scored over 1,000 points during his career and was All-SEC Tournament in 2002 and 2005. Hudson played in the UK with the London Towers and Poland’s Legia Warzawa until an ACL injury ended his basketball career. Hudson came back to his roots and was ready to coach but his former coach said to give it some time. “I didn’t understand it at the time,” Hudson said. “But I trusted the process and went back to school and got my master’s and came back. I got the opportunity presented itself. The tradition had continued to me. To come back and coach at the place that made me, it’s just a wonderful feeling.”
Hudson is now in his sixth year as the Panther’s head coach and has already taken a part of this to the team to experience Marsh Madness. In 2017, the Panthers under their new name reached Lake Charles and fell in the semi-finals. Seniors Chanse Robinson, Tristen Gatson, Isaiah Gray, and Deandre Thompson all got a taste of what the LHSAA basketball finale has to offer. The Panther fell in the 2nd round in 2018 and was one-point short against Delhi in 2019 of making a return trip to Lake Charles again.
This year’s Panthers has a chance to not only make it back to Lake Charles but have a chance to put a placard on the board that says Lincoln Prep Panthers – State Champs. State Champ has not been a moniker in the town of Grambling since 1992. “This team is full of talent,” Hudson says. “A lot of people recognize Chanse (Robinson) and Frederick Payne. A lot of them recognize what they can do but we can go eight or nine deep and not miss a beat. Those seniors have been with me for a few years and they understand. They’ve been through the battles and grind. It’s a very special team.”
This team shows what this program can produce in the highly recruited and current University of Buffalo signee Chanse Robinson. It also shows that it’s grooming its next great team with freshman Fred Payne. The remaining core of the Panthers will either pounce on their competition and if you do happen to get them down they will hit you and run over you for the win. “We’ve got some senior leadership and they are tough. One of my kids, I came in and chewed him out about techs and how that’s undisciplined. That’s not what we do. But they are like Coach we are going hard. I would rather have to turn them down then turn them up. For 32 minutes, we’re getting up underneath your skin and irritating you. We’re just trying to get you out of your game. We’re a small team but we have a lot of fight and a lot of heart.” You hear a common thread between coach and players “Just trust the process. Come to practice and compete for every day. Take it one game at a time. Be coachable and listen to your team. Keep pushing and playing for the team.” The team’s so confident they think they can even take their form LSU star coach. “Yeah, we’ll clamp him up. We’ll pressure him up.” which Hudson denies they can do.
This team can definitely clamp down on the competition and they might sneak up on you. The Panthers were down a game in the district standings with two-game remaining and snuck into outright claim District 1-A boys title. This will be a team that will pounce on you in the playoffs. A dangerous team that has their eye on the state title prize.
A championship for this team will be a title for the community. “It would mean the world for this community. When we went to the Top 28 last time, the mayor of Grambling said he was going to give us a day and have a parade.” Better prep the band which plays during the game because they might be walking through the town in line of a parade for the Panthers.
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