LSU Honors ex-athlete with first female statue on campus

By Dorothy J. Gentry Sports Editor

Seimone Augustus is the first; but she doesn’t plan on being the last.

“So many great female athletes have come through LSU that have made statements in their respective sports. I won’t be the last one that will be acknowledged,” she promised.

Last month, the former LSU Tigers women’s basketball player and WNBA champion was honored by a statue that was unveiled outside the program’s arena, the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Augustus, 38, is the first female LSU athlete to have a statue on campus.

“So many people were involved in this journey,” Augustus said. “I’m just thankful it’s happening. It’s awesome to just think about what this moment means”

“I didn’t do this alone,” Augustus continued during a press conference after the unveiling. “A lot of the female athletes here from my time were an inspiration. We were all going on our own race, our own journey, and I do stand here proudly as a representation of all those women.”

At LSU, Augustus led the team to the women’s Final Four three times with the Tigers. She was the consensus 2005 and 2006 national player of the year in women’s basketball and finished her LSU career averaging 19.3 points and 5.2 rebounds.

Augustus, who is also a three-time Olympic gold medalist with the U.S. women’s team, was the No. 1 pick in the 2006 WNBA draft by the Minnesota Lynx. She played for the team for 14 years, winning four championships. She retired from the WNBA in 2020 with the Los Angeles Sparks.

In her 15 WNBA seasons, she averaged 15.4 points and 3.1 rebounds, and was an eight-time All-Star. She was also 2006 WNBA rookie of the year and the 2011 WNBA Finals MVP. Her No. 33 jersey was retired by LSU in 2010 and by the Lynx in 2022.

As she reflected on her history making statue and her career, she took time to share a few words of encouragement for youth.

“You can do anything you put your mind to,” she said. “With the right work ethic, with the right amount of perseverance, and the right mentality and the right amount of sacrifice, many things are possible and I am living proof of that.”