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Galliano native Josh Badeaux made the most of his golden opportunity.
As a result, he’s a member of the LSU men’s basketball team.
The former South Lafourche standout was one of dozens of people who tried out for the Tigers’ team just before the start of the 2012-13 season.
Thanks to hard work and grit, Badeaux caught the eye of first-year coach Johnny Jones, who invited the Tri-parish native to walk onto the LSU roster – a team overachieving preseason expectations and is currently 5-0 on the young season.
“I made sure that they were going to remember me,” Badeaux said looking back at his try-out. “I definitely was working as hard as I could to leave a good impression. I wanted them to know who I was.”
Who Badeaux is – that’s a question that can easily be answered in two words: basketball lover.
The Tigers’ sophomore grew up in South Lafourche with a ball in his hands – always a member of youth All-Star basketball squads as a child progressing through Biddy.
Once in high school, Badeaux’s reputation for success continued and he was a First-Team All-District selection in hoops and a second-team All-District pick in football as a wide receiver.
Following his time as a Tarpon, Badeaux initially enrolled at BRCC, where he said he endured a two-year roller coaster.
In year one, Badeaux was forced to take a medical redshirt because of plantar fasciitis.
Fully healthy as a redshirt freshman in year two, Badeaux played for the Bears as a reserve and enjoyed limited minutes.
“We had a new coach and he wasn’t really interested in me, so I didn’t even play,” Badeaux said. “I sat down most of that season and I saw them playing and I was just seeing a bunch of things happen and I just said to myself, ‘Man, I’m not done with ball yet. I’ve got to keep playing.’”
From BRCC, Badeaux transferred to LSU. He did exactly what he said he’d do – he kept playing.
Badeaux said he played basketball as often as he could – utilizing the school’s massive recreation facility for pick-up games.
While there this fall, he learned that Jones was looking for able bodies to fill out the team’s roster.
“I had no clue that they were even trying to pick up walk-ons, to be honest with you,” Badeaux said. “I was just playing in the rec (center) and I heard some guys talking about this open try-out that was going to take place in the next week.
“I just said to myself – I’m just going to go ahead and do it. I might as well give it a shot. The worst thing that they can say is no, right?”
Jones and his staff didn’t say no – after the try-out, they welcomed Badeaux onto the team. The Galliano native recalled the feeling he experienced two weeks after try-outs when he received the call that he was officially a Tiger.
“It’s just the best feeling – you get the goose bumps in the back of your neck,” Badeaux said. “The first thing I did was I called my mom – she was super excited. She probably cried. To be honest, I was so excited that I wanted to cry.”
As an LSU walk-on Badeaux’s primary job comes in practice where he and the team’s other reserves are asked to give 100 percent effort to keep the top rotation players crisp for game action.
One of the players Badeaux talked about was Thibodaux High School standout Shavon Coleman, whom the former Tarpon had played against at the prep level.
Badeaux said he admires Coleman’s work ethic and said he is proud of how much he has grown since graduating from Thibodaux.
Coleman currently averages 18 points per game.
“And the most amazing thing about it is that he doesn’t start – he comes of the bench and does his thing,” Badeaux said. “He gives us great minutes and be’s been a great asset to us.”
Badeaux has seen action in two of the team’s five games. Per a long-standing LSU tradition, he is one of the team’s most popular players – solely because he’s a walk-on.
“The first time I got in, Coach told me, ‘Just go in and don’t worry about anything – just play ball,’” Badeaux said. “When I got out there, the fans were screaming and going crazy. You can’t even begin to explain how amazing that felt.”
What feels just as good to Badeaux is LSU’s success.
The Tigers remain unbeaten in pre-conference play and are playing better basketball than most expected.
How the team will fare once the SEC begins remains to be seen.
But Badeaux said he believes the team has the ability to sneak up on opponents.
Regardless, he’s enjoying the ride as a Tiger.
“I’ve learned a lot of new things being on this team,” Badeaux said. “Coach Jones is great. He treats everybody with respect. He doesn’t really blow up too much, but he’s one of those coaches that when he talks, you know to listen to what he has to say.
“Everything is going great. We’re winning and I’m surely having a blast.”
LSU men’s basketball player and Tri-parish native Josh Badeaux boxes out for a rebound during a game this season. Badeaux earned his way onto the team after competing in an open try-out.
