THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University Department of Athletics announced Friday its six-member 2025 Hall of Fame Class – Stephanie Barnett (women's tennis, 2014-19), James Bergeron (baseball, 1970-73), Kali Clement (softball, 2018-19), Chase Fourcade (football, 2016-19), Sully Laiche (2016-19), and Matt Roan (athletics director, 2016-2020).
The athletic department also revealed the newest members of the Hall of Distinction – Trey Boucvalt, Amelie Talbot, and Stephen Watson.
The Hall of Fame class will be inducted on Oct. 25 before the Colonel football contest against McNeese. The ceremony will take place in the Danos Theater in Talbot Hall at 10 a.m. The group will also be recognized during the football game.
Barnett put together a decorated career for the women's tennis team which was highlighted by a breakout sophomore campaign. In 2015, she was named Southland Conference and LSWA Player of the Year, SLC Student-Athlete of the Year, and was All-Southland First Team in both singles and doubles as she led the Colonels to their first SLC title since 1995. Barnett was also an All-SLC Second Team honoree in her freshman season.
For her career, Barnett posted a 64-20 mark in singles with 72 matches being played on the No. 1 line. She also dominated Southland play with a 32-11 record which included a perfect 11-0 sophomore season. She had her junior year cut short due to an injury and returned in '18, going 26-12 in her final two campaigns.
Bergeron lettered four years as a catcher for the Colonel baseball team from 1970-73 and was a two-time All-Gulf South selection after earning honorable mention in '71. He was also a two-time AACBC Collegiate All-America Team - District Award honoree and was a member of the 1972 squad which competed in the NCAA Division II Regionals.
For his career, Bergeron caught for three Nicholls Hall of Fame Pitchers and posted a .290 career batting average, only striking out 15 times. Along with his .985 career fielding percentage, Bergeron led the team in RBIs in 1972.
Clement excelled in her two seasons with the Colonel softball team, earning All-Southland, All-Louisiana, and Southland All-Academic in both campaigns. In just two years, Clement left Nicholls ranked third all-time in slugging percentage, eighth in batting average, and 12th in home runs.
After transferring from Spring Hill College, Clement was named SLC Newcomer of the Year in 2018 after batting .321 with eight home runs and 21 RBIs. That season, Nicholls won 40 games and earned their first Southland regular season title since 1996. In her senior year, Clement was an NFCA All-Region selection after batting a team-best .369 to go along with six home runs and 22 RBIs.
Fourcade started at quarterback all four of his seasons and left Nicholls as the football program's all-time leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns, completion percentage, total yards and rushing touchdowns. In leading the Colonels to back-to-back Southland titles in 2018 and '19, he was named SLC Player of the Year ('18) and SLC Offensive Player of the Year ('19). Along with being a two-time All-Louisiana selection, Fourcade finished sixth in the voting for the STATS FCS Jerry Rice Award, which is given to the top freshman in the nation.
After helping the Colonels to an at-large playoff berth in 2017, Fourcade had a breakout performance in his junior season. He threw for nearly 3,000 yards and 21 touchdowns, and rushed for 659 yards and another 13 scores. Then as a senior, Fourcade accounted for 3,589 yards of offense with 34 touchdowns and set the school's single-season record with a 67.8 completion percentage.
Laiche also started his career for the Colonel football team in 2016, helping Nicholls to three playoff appearances and two SLC titles. He finished second all-time in the Southland with 37.5 sacks and 62 tackles for loss. Laiche was named All-Southland all four seasons including three first-team selections, and in his final campaign, garnered Southland Player of the Year while finishing third in the voting for the Buck Buchanan Award, which is given to the top defensive player in the FCS. He earned a combined 10 All-American honors in his final two seasons and as a freshman, finished eighth in the voting for the Jerry Rice Award.
Laiche totaled at least 7.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss in each season. As a senior, he ranked sixth in the FCS in sacks with 12.0, second with 22.5 TFLs, and was fifth with four forced fumbles. For his career, Laiche had 195 tackles, nine forced fumbles and three recoveries.
Roan served as the athletics director at Nicholls from 2016-20 and achieved several accomplishments in his tenure. He led the Colonels to their highest finish in the Director's Cup in 20 years in 2017-18, secured the largest gift in University history, and secured gifts for several facility renovations which included baseball and softball turfs, football video board, weight room, softball lights, bleachers, and dugouts, and Stopher Gym renovations headlined by a new court, hoops, scorers tables, and courtside seating.
Roan increased coach and staff sizes, added a dedicated Senior Woman Administrator to the department, and started three new programs -- beach volleyball, men's indoor track, and men's outdoor track. The Colonels also enjoyed success in competition as the football team won back-to-back Southland championships in 2018 and '19 and Roan brought playoff football to Thibodaux for the first time as Nicholls hosted a first-round game for three consecutive years. In 2018, the men's basketball and softball teams won the Southland Conference regular season title and the women's basketball team claimed the SLC Tournament title and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever. Roan also hired Austin Claunch to oversee the men's basketball program and despite being the youngest head coach in Division I, went on to lead the Colonels to back-to-back SLC titles.
Boucvalt was responsible for the largest gift in Nicholls history, donating $2.52 million to fund the construction of the Boucvalt Athletic Complex, which serves as the football program's operations facility. A former assistant football coach at Nicholls, Boucvalt has also made contributions to the football and baseball programs to help them in the evolving college athletics landscape. In addition, Boucvalt owns the LaTour Golf Club which is the home course of the Colonel golf team.
Talbot spent over 30 years working with the football program as its secretary, touching the lives of generations of football student-athletes, coaches, and fans with her primary goal being to make sure the football program was a family. Her legacy extended far beyond administrative excellence, delivering a model of service built on genuine care, unwavering loyalty, and the understanding that true support means treating others as family.
Watson is the current CEO/President of The National World War II Museum in New Orleans. He has served as a consultant on fundraising for Nicholl Athletics and was a former board member of the Colonel Athletic Association, helping to raise countless funds. A graduate of Nicholls, Watson was a former track and field/cross country student-athlete and worked as a graduate assistant in the athletics department.
