For four glorious seasons in the late 1960s and early '70s, Pat \"Watusie\" Deroche Hymel of Gramercy was part of a traveling women's professional basketball team called the All-American Red Heads. In September, the 61-year-old grandmother will rejoin some of her teammates as the franchise is inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside the likes of Reggie Miller and Ralph Samson. <\/p>\n
The Red Heads will become the first women's basketball team to be so enshrined. <\/p>\n
\"The Hall of Fame is just, that's it. The ultimate,\" Hymel said recently. \"You want to shoot for the stars and grab it. When we were nominated, we were excited just to be nominated. But there are a few people who didn't know about the Red Heads.\" <\/p>\n
As a young girl growing up in Gramercy, Hymel loved to play basketball. That love manifested itself in a stellar high school career as a Lutcher Lady Bulldog. <\/p>\n
When she graduated from high school in 1969, that might have been the end of her playing days. Grants and scholarships were virtually unheard of then, and her family had no money for college. But Hymel had a dream, and a father who wanted to see her live it. <\/p>\n
It was Hymel's father, Bobby Deroche, who heard about the All American Red Heads, a professional barnstorming basketball team made up of young, red-haired women from around the U.S. who would travel across the country to play pick-up games against local men's teams. It was Bobby Deroche who made the call and got his daughter a try-out. But it was Hymel who, at the tender age of 17, wowed the coaches enough to earn herself a spot on the traveling team. <\/p>\n
Hymel used her basketball skills as \"Watusie\" Deroche, also known as \"The Cajun Queen,\" to impress the crowd with her famous off-the-elbow shot, her off-the-back shot and her thick Cajun accent as the team's designated comedian. <\/p>\n
The team was formed in 1936 by C.M. \"Ole\" Olson, and allegedly was named by his wife, who owned a string of hair salons. The All-American Red Heads was one of the first professional basketball teams for women. For 50 years, the team would crisscross the country and take on men's teams in whichever community they happened to land. Then, at halftime, to impress the crowd, they would put on shows that included comedy routines and exhibitions of trick shots. <\/p>\n
\"You had to have some sort of personality,\" Hymel said. \"It wasn't just about the basketball.\" <\/p>\n
Longtime Lutcher football coach Tim Detillier remembers Hymel as a player, even though he was in elementary school during her heyday. His sister was one of Hymel's high school teammates. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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All-American Red Heads, the first women's basketball team to make the Hall of Fame<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For four glorious seasons in the late 1960s and early '70s, Pat \"Watusie\" Deroche Hymel of Gramercy was part of a traveling women's professional basketball team called the All-American Red Heads. In September, the 61-year-old grandmother will rejoin some of her teammates as the franchise is inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside the likes of Reggie Miller and Ralph Samson. The Red Heads will become the first women's basketball team to be so enshrined. Continue reading