THE OFFICIAL HOME OF McNEESE ATHLETICS

Louis Bonnette recently retired from McNeese State University after serving 46 years as the school's sports information director.

A native of Pineville and a graduate of Louisiana Tech, Bonnette is a past president (two terms) of the Louisiana Sports Writers Association and has been the recipient of the LSWA's Mac Russo Award. He has received the Distinguished Service Award from the LSWA and was named to the Southland Conference Hall of Honor in 2007.

Bonnette has also been inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, in the sports journalism division, as well as being named to the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) Hall of Fame and being named Mr. Basketball by the Louisiana Basketball Coaches Association. In addition, he is a member of the McNeese Hall of Fame which he founded and served as its chairman, and has football's Cowboy Stadium field named after him.

Five years after his retirement, he continues to hold the CoSIDA record for consecutive football games worked with 527. His streak came to an end in 2012 when the Cowboys played at Middle Tennessee State.

His youngest son, Matthew, replaced him as the SID at McNeese in July of 2012 while oldest son Michael, is the head SID at LSU.  His daughter, Anne, is a registered nurse in Lake Charles.

Bonnette is still active at McNeese, writing various special feature stories for the McNeese athletic website.  He continues to write golf and outdoor columns for the Lake Charles American Press.  Now that he is retired, he spends most mornings on the golf course, does some fishing, and works in his yard as well as traveling and spending time with his grandsons Peyton, Grant, Max and granddaughters Haley and Katelyn.

Bonnette and his wife, Willene, recently celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary this past June (2017).