Former Tulane star Jerald Honeycutt was at the Hertz Center today to talk as Tulane prepares to play Florida State on Sunday. Honeycutt won an ESPY for his miraculous, game-winning, buzzer-beating 3-pointer in the Superdome against the Seminoles in 1995 when he caught up to a loose ball near the sideline and baseline in the final seconds, did a 180, squaring up in midair as he spun around and swished the shot.
Honeycutt, the first Parade All-America to sign with Tulane, led the Wave to its last NCAA tournament appearance as a sophomore in 1995 and NIT appearances in his other three years, including a third-place finish when Tulane reached Madison Square Garden in 1996. He holds the school record for points (2,209), free throws made (434), free throws attempted (646) and assists (419) and ranks second in 3-pointers made (193). He was first-team All-Conference selection three times and was inducted into the Louisiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013. He was taken No. 38 overall in the NBA draft in 1997 by the Milwaukee Bucks, playing two seasons.
What brings you back here this week?
"I come down here a lot. My brother lives down here and then when they told me we were playing Florida State, It's obvious you've got to be back for that. That's pretty much it."
That was something memorable you did against Florida State, wasn't it?
"I'll never forget it. It was one of those things I was talking about earlier where as long as it's not constantly on your mind, it's fine, but the minute this video comes on and I see Corey Childs coming up that sideline, it's like a time machine taking you back to that moment in the Superdome. It's definitely special."
What do you remember the most about that shot?
"It's funny because we used to have this thing where we would drag our toes a lot for momentum like if we were running suicides. It was kind of a way to throw your weight while stopping without completely stopping. When I first turned and shot it, it was like, ugh, but as it got medium flight, I was like, oh, you could see on my toes it was close, and when I hit it, it went crazy. I didn't know whether to run off the floor, grab my teammates, grab my coach. My high school coach always had a rule that if you hit a shot at the buzzer, go to the locker room. If you notice, I was saying let's go home, it's time to go. That was an awesome feeling, man, even after 20-something years."
What do you remember about the crowd reaction?
"It was just one of those games that if you watched the entire game, for the last two minutes it was one of those you loved to watch moreso than you liked to play in. Whenever you thought you had a big shot on one side, somebody came and hit a big shot on the other side. One team maybe got a little breathing room, the other team goes on a run, so it was one of those games that had to come down to a buzzer-beating shot."
How many times do you think you've told this story about the shot?
"Really it takes someone to bring it up because that's over two decades ago. It's not good for a 40-plus year old to be walking around talking about something he did 20 years ago, but at the same time when fans on Facebook or somebody affiliated with the team and athletics back then brings it up, it really helps you appreciate that the fans appreciate you also. It's not something that you thin about every day until somebody that was there that you haven't seen in so long, then that's the memory they have of it. It's something special."
Talk about the guys you came in with who stayed together for four years. You made some lifelong friends here.
"Oh my goodness. I can go further than that with Anthony Reed and Antonio Jackson and Kim Lewis. That's the one thing about being four freshmen coming in. Those guys had actually paved the way coming from the (self-imposed) death penalty, so they set the standard. Even though we had some postseason play and some postseason success, we still are known more for what those guys did before us, but as far as the relationship with the four freshmen I came in with or the guys we had to kind of bring along afterward, it's always something special in sports. I tell parents all the time there's nothing like the bond you will have between players and also coaches when it comes to athletics. Coach (Perry) Clark and I talked a lot more before (Clark went to) South Carolina (as an assistant), but coach Smith and I probably talk two to three times a day. If I see coach (Ron) Everhart) or coach Roc (Steve Roccaforte) somewhere, we are going to sit there and talk for hours because it is so easy to go back to that moment in time.
"Those guys know things you probably didn't ever know then. I came here as an 18-year old kid, I had a lot of responsibility. I had two children while I was here. A lot of people that knew Jerald Honeycutt here would be surprised at the Jerald Honeycutt talking now because life happens. But at the time it's tough to tell an 18-year old from Grambling, Louisiana, who was a McDonald's All-American, which never had been done, how things should be done. But when you look back on it as a junior and senior and you lose time thinking your way is the only way and you look back at the special moments. Now all of them weren't (special), but we had moments where we upset top 10 teams and we broke records that will last for a long time. It's just something special."
Honeycutt, the first Parade All-America to sign with Tulane, led the Wave to its last NCAA tournament appearance as a sophomore in 1995 and NIT appearances in his other three years, including a third-place finish when Tulane reached Madison Square Garden in 1996. He holds the school record for points (2,209), free throws made (434), free throws attempted (646) and assists (419) and ranks second in 3-pointers made (193). He was first-team All-Conference selection three times and was inducted into the Louisiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013. He was taken No. 38 overall in the NBA draft in 1997 by the Milwaukee Bucks, playing two seasons.
What brings you back here this week?
"I come down here a lot. My brother lives down here and then when they told me we were playing Florida State, It's obvious you've got to be back for that. That's pretty much it."
That was something memorable you did against Florida State, wasn't it?
"I'll never forget it. It was one of those things I was talking about earlier where as long as it's not constantly on your mind, it's fine, but the minute this video comes on and I see Corey Childs coming up that sideline, it's like a time machine taking you back to that moment in the Superdome. It's definitely special."
What do you remember the most about that shot?
"It's funny because we used to have this thing where we would drag our toes a lot for momentum like if we were running suicides. It was kind of a way to throw your weight while stopping without completely stopping. When I first turned and shot it, it was like, ugh, but as it got medium flight, I was like, oh, you could see on my toes it was close, and when I hit it, it went crazy. I didn't know whether to run off the floor, grab my teammates, grab my coach. My high school coach always had a rule that if you hit a shot at the buzzer, go to the locker room. If you notice, I was saying let's go home, it's time to go. That was an awesome feeling, man, even after 20-something years."
What do you remember about the crowd reaction?
"It was just one of those games that if you watched the entire game, for the last two minutes it was one of those you loved to watch moreso than you liked to play in. Whenever you thought you had a big shot on one side, somebody came and hit a big shot on the other side. One team maybe got a little breathing room, the other team goes on a run, so it was one of those games that had to come down to a buzzer-beating shot."
How many times do you think you've told this story about the shot?
"Really it takes someone to bring it up because that's over two decades ago. It's not good for a 40-plus year old to be walking around talking about something he did 20 years ago, but at the same time when fans on Facebook or somebody affiliated with the team and athletics back then brings it up, it really helps you appreciate that the fans appreciate you also. It's not something that you thin about every day until somebody that was there that you haven't seen in so long, then that's the memory they have of it. It's something special."
Talk about the guys you came in with who stayed together for four years. You made some lifelong friends here.
"Oh my goodness. I can go further than that with Anthony Reed and Antonio Jackson and Kim Lewis. That's the one thing about being four freshmen coming in. Those guys had actually paved the way coming from the (self-imposed) death penalty, so they set the standard. Even though we had some postseason play and some postseason success, we still are known more for what those guys did before us, but as far as the relationship with the four freshmen I came in with or the guys we had to kind of bring along afterward, it's always something special in sports. I tell parents all the time there's nothing like the bond you will have between players and also coaches when it comes to athletics. Coach (Perry) Clark and I talked a lot more before (Clark went to) South Carolina (as an assistant), but coach Smith and I probably talk two to three times a day. If I see coach (Ron) Everhart) or coach Roc (Steve Roccaforte) somewhere, we are going to sit there and talk for hours because it is so easy to go back to that moment in time.
"Those guys know things you probably didn't ever know then. I came here as an 18-year old kid, I had a lot of responsibility. I had two children while I was here. A lot of people that knew Jerald Honeycutt here would be surprised at the Jerald Honeycutt talking now because life happens. But at the time it's tough to tell an 18-year old from Grambling, Louisiana, who was a McDonald's All-American, which never had been done, how things should be done. But when you look back on it as a junior and senior and you lose time thinking your way is the only way and you look back at the special moments. Now all of them weren't (special), but we had moments where we upset top 10 teams and we broke records that will last for a long time. It's just something special."
