LAKE CHARLES – Former McNeese Cowgirls' basketball coach Mike Fountain, the 1986 Southland Conference Coach of the Year, passed away Monday in Houston.
Fountain, 75, coached the Cowgirls from 1984-90 and guided the program to their first-ever Southland Conference championship in 1986, the same year he was named the league's coach of the year. That season, the Cowgirls posted an 18-11 record and the next season, his squad finished 20-8.
He compiled a 78-88 won-loss record during his time at McNeese and coached the program's only women's basketball All-Americans in Donna Barrett, Pam Booker and Valerie Butcher.
Visitation will be from 5-8 p.m. on Wednesday, December 7, 2016 at Dorman Funeral Home in Orange, Texas. Services will be at 11 a.m. on Thursday, December 8, 2016 at First Pentecostal Church of Starks with Pastor Karl Henry Smith officiating. Interment will follow at Fountain Cemetery in Starks, Louisiana.
Coach Robert Michael "Mike" Fountain was born at the US Army Base in Manila Philippine Islands on December 31, 1940 to Freddie Bussell Fountain and Ernest Cecil McGuire Fountain.
He graduated from Starks High School and proudly served his country in the United States Army during Korea. He received his masters degree from McNeese State University and began a career of coaching basketball while also teaching history and government.
Coach Fountain coached basketball at a number of schools in Louisiana and Texas before becoming the women's basketball coach at McNeese State University.
After retirement, he owned and operated the Starks Flea Market. He enjoyed reading, collecting coins and sports memorabilia. He loved spending time with his children and grandchildren.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Ernest Cecil McGuire and Frankie Fountain.
Those left behind to cherish his memory are his wife, Frankie Gore Fountain of Starks, LA. Son Casey Ryan Fountain and his wife Stephanie of Pasadena, Texas. Two daughters; Tracy Marbury and her husband Shawn of Pasadena and Cindy Johnson of Harvey, La.; one brother, Pat Fountain of Little Cypress, Texas and one sister, Faye Sanders and her husband Newell of Cleburne, Texas.
Eight grandchildren who called him PawPaw; Colby, Dylan, Ally, Cailin, Cameron, Christin, Kagen and Karrie.
