Back Where it Belongs: Honeycutt Reacquires Long-Lost Relic

By Clyde Verdin
TulaneGreenWave.com

NEW ORLEANS – To be honest, he didn't know what to expect.

It had been over 20 years since the last time he was able to lay eyes on it, and when he did, all the memories and emotions flooded back to Jerald Honeycutt all at once.

"I was expecting it to be folded up or just having it out, and when I saw it was just like," Jerald Honeycutt said trailing off. "It was just awesome."

On March 1, 1997, the Green Wave were at the end of another incredible season under head coach Perry Clark and were hosting the Louisville Cardinals in the final game of the regular season. Senior night is always a special occasion, but this one for Honeycutt was extra special.

"At the time my mother was sick, so I had my daughter who was two years old at the time to stand in for me, and it was the first time I ever had my daughter at one of my games," he said.

Despite the emotions swirling before the game, where Honeycutt said the loudest ovation was for his daughter, Diamond, walking across the court, Tulane was looking to finish the year as the top-ranked team in the Conference USA's Red Division, and the Cardinals were coming in ranked 17^th nationally the Associated Press.

Honeycutt scored 23 points in the game, second-most among the Green Wave players, in an 83-71 victory for Tulane in a packed Fogelman Arena that night. During a stretch of the second half, the Shreveport native drained a 3-pointer, stole an inbound pass for a dunk, hit a 25-footer and drained another three to hold off the Cardinal comeback.

As Honeycutt puts it, he and the rest of the senior class were determined to put on a good show in the final home game of their career. While they were able to do that, it was bittersweet for the group, as in that game starting point guard Correy Childs went down with a knee injury that would keep him out of the team's final two games of the year in the conference tournament and lone game of the National Invitational Tournament.

So, with his teammate and classmate sidelined with an injury and a two-year-old running around somewhere in the building, Honeycutt already had enough on his mind and his plate.

"It was the furthest thing from my mind," he said.

***

As a kid from Houma, Louisiana, Dr. Scott Picou didn't need to venture far to find his first sports idol because Honeycutt was it.

"I had never seen somebody his size, be able to shoot and handle the ball like he did and pull down boards like he did. So immediately he was my favorite player," he said. "It was Tulane, every season, every game."

It's hard to argue with Picou, as Honeycutt was the first Parade Magazine and McDonalds All-American to ever sign with Green Wave out of high school. The 6-foot-9 sensation would be a three-time first team all-conference selection and still holds the program records for points, free throws and assists at Tulane.

And, of course, there was "that" shot.

In 1995 in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome Honeycutt hit arguably the biggest shot of his career to topple Florida State 78-77, a wild and winding off-balance 3-pointer from the corner at the buzzer that seemed to be one-part luck and another magic. That play won an ESPY and that year Tulane ran all the way to the NIT semifinals where the Green Wave finished third.

"It's crazy, I have the award and everything, but it's only when I see the part of the video where Correy Childs is dribbling up the floor where I start to get goosebumps all over again," Honeycutt said.

You can imagine the delight for Picou one night when his father Ronnie came home with a gift for his son that he wasn't expecting.

"I was really good friends with Perry Clark and the staff, and after the game I walked in and I asked the equipment manager at the time if I could have it," Ronny said. "Next thing you know I'm walking out with it and taking it home with me."

But before the Tulane artifact could finally go up on his bedroom wall, an awards banquet later that year seemed to be the perfect place to get it signed.

"Scott brought it with him and asked Jerald to sign it," Ronnie said. "When he showed it to Jerald, he said 'I've been looking for this for five or six months!'"

Never one to shy away from signing anything because of his own memories of never being able to get Karl Malone's autograph as a kid, Honeycutt promptly put down his signature for young Scott and relished the opportunity to do it.

"I made it as if I was going to sign as many as I could for as long as it was possible because I've been that kid to get to the tape, just right there to get that autograph," Honeycutt said. "As long as I had time and I wasn't in a situation where we were traveling and had to leave, I was going to stay there and sign until the very last one."

Soon, it made its way up on Scott's wall where it would reside for years as Honeycutt went on to get drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round of the 1997 NBA Draft. Honeycutt played for the Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers before playing many years overseas.

"To see him play with Ray Allen when he was drafted by the Bucks and then go on to play with (Allen) Iverson with the Sixers, it was just really cool to really see him be someone that made it from small-school Tulane," Scott said.

***

It couldn't have looked any better.

A tiny piece of 1997, and himself, unfurled in the frame with the name "Honeycutt" on the back and his signature No. 40 in Olive Green. All the photos and VHS-era tapes or DVD's can only show a fraction of the way the white of the fabric glistens off the New Orleans sun.

And for the first time since that fateful night over 20 years ago, Honeycutt was able to put his hands on his jersey that was returned with all the adoration and appreciation that came with it from the Picou family.

"It blew my mind when I saw it in that frame," Honeycutt said. "Now my kids will be able to say that this is the jersey that my dad wore in that photo right there. It's just amazing."

For years the Picous were able to tell the tale of the versatile forward that graced the court at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse, leading to a trio of 20-win seasons and multiple postseason berths. Knowing that Honeycutt was longing for a piece of his history, they knew that it was only right to return the jersey to its rightful owner.

"Once we knew he wanted it, our main concern was to get it back to him," Ronny said. "I think my son was more excited to get it back to him than anybody because of how much he knew it meant to Jerald's kids."

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On Sunday when the Tulane men's basketball team opens its season against Florida State, Honeycutt and his family will be in attendance as he watches the 2018-19 iteration of the Green Wave take the same court that he helped make great once upon a time.

He'll sign autographs, take pictures and even have a shirt with his younger self adorned on the front to the first 500 fans that enter the building, as the ones old enough to remember seeing him play tell stories about the good old days.

"You just do what you can to not take any of this for granted," Honeycutt said. "When you're playing, it's tough because you're in the moment, but when you look back on it, I've always been grateful to have played here at Tulane."

And years from now, more years than have already passed, Honeycutt's children and their children will be able to have a link to the past in their own home just like the Picous did. And the Picous will too, because in turn they have found themselves forever linked thanks to a jersey that was balled up in a locker.

"It's not just dad's telling dad stories, this is legit," Scott said. "Jerald was the man."

Tulane University Athletics

Back Where it Belongs: Honeycutt Reacquires Long-Lost Relic

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