Former LSU guard and current assistant coach for the Tigers, Seimone Augustus joins Eddie Kennison for the latest edition of the Geaux2Legends Podcast.
Seimone Augustus is without a doubt the most accomplished and recognized female basketball player to come through LSU and the state of Louisiana. Before her freshman year in high school, Augustus was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated for Women, with a headline that asked, "Is She the Next Michael Jordan?" Augustus played for Capitol High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she was named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the 2002 WBCA High School All-America Game where she scored fourteen points, and earned MVP honors
During her collegiate career with the LSU Tigers, the two-time All-American won the Naismith College Player of the Year, Wooden Award and Wade Trophy in 2005 and 2006 while leading the LSU to three straight Final Four appearances. She averaged 19.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2 assists per game in her collegiate career. During her final year, she won the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, recognizing her as the nation's top senior women's basketball player. Augustus graduated from Louisiana State University in 2006. Her uniform number (33) was retired by LSU on January 9, 2010, making her the first female athlete in school history to receive that honor In January 2023, she became the first female athlete in school history to have a statue of her on the school campus; that statue is in front of the school’s basketball training center next to statues of Bob Pettit, Shaquille O'Neal, and Pete Maravich, who also played for LSU.
Augustus also played with future WNBA teammate Sylvia Fowles during her collegiate career at LSU.
Augustus was drafted No. 1 overall in 2006 WNBA draft by the Minnesota Lynx. In 2011, Augustus led the team in scoring and served as the team's lead defender as the Lynx rolled to a league best 27–7 record. Augustus also made her first all-star game since 2007. She finished eighth in MVP voting, and was named Second Team All-WNBA for the third time in her career, and the first since 2007.
Augustus elevated her game in the playoffs. She led the Lynx in scoring in five of their eight games, and scored the second-highest number of points in WNBA Finals history – 36 – in game two of the 2011 WNBA Finals. The Lynx swept the Atlanta Dream in the title round, with Augustus being unanimously named Finals MVP.
The Lynx would return to the finals the next two seasons, losing to the Indiana Fever in 2012, and defeating Atlanta again in 2013. Augustus continued to earn accolades during this time. She was named first-team all-WNBA in 2012, and voted an all-star-game starter in 2013.
During the 2015 season, Augustus was named a WNBA All-Star for the sixth time in her career while averaging 13.8 points per game. The Lynx had remained dominant; making a trade for star center Sylvia Fowles, strengthening their starting lineup as they finished first place in the Western Conference with a 22–12 record. Augustus returned in time for the playoffs and the Lynx returned to the finals for a rematch against the Indiana Fever, this time with the Lynx beating Indiana in a hard-fought series, 3–2, with the newly acquired Sylvia Fowles winning Finals MVP, as the Lynx won their third WNBA championship in five years.
In 2017, the Lynx won their fourth championship in seven seasons by defeating the Sparks in five games, tying the now-defunct Houston Comets for most championships wins.
On May 13, 2021, she announced her retirement from play, and joined the Los Angeles Sparks coaching staff. Augustus was an assistant coach for the Sparks in 2021 and 2022. In 2023, Augustus was taking a break from coaching but expressed interest in returning to it at some level in the future. She served as a facilitator for the 2023 season of Athletes Unlimited Basketball.
On May 20, 2024, Louisiana State University announced that Augustus returned to her alma mater as an assistant coach for women's basketball under coach Kim Mulkey.
In 2024, Seimone Augustus was inducted in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, East Baton Rouge Parish Hall of Fame, and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
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Oct 31 202440 mins