NATCHITOCHES -- A half dozen Louisiana sports stars will be inducted Saturday into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

Honorees include former LSU track All-American and Olympic gold medalist Esther Jones, Southern Lab basketball coach Joel Hawkins, NFL standouts Stan Humphries, Brian Mitchell and Pat Swilling and Tulane basketball and NBA player Warren Perkins.

Two more athletes will be inducted posthumously: Kim Perrot, who played at Louisiana-Lafayette and with the WNBA Houston Comets and Willard Brown, a Negro League player who is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Induction ceremonies take place Saturday night at the Natchitoches Events Center.

Some of the inductees reminisced Thursday at a pre-induction news conference. Jones, for one, discussed why she doesn't complain about the state's muggy weather.

"I came to LSU from Milwaukee where we were only able to compete for a small part of the year," Jones said. "I came here and was able to train for the whole year and my athletic ability began to develop."

Hawkins has won 1,071 games in his coaching career, more than any high school coach in Louisiana history, capturing 12 state championships at G.W. Griffin, Lake Providence and Southern Lab.

"I knew from the time I was in third grade that I wanted to be a basketball coach," Hawkins said. "At that time, other kids wanted to be a fireman or a policeman, but I knew what I wanted to do. No principal or administrator has had to worry about me going after their job."

Mitchell was the first Division I quarterback to pass for 5,000 yards and rush for 3,000 yards at ULL. He made himself into one of the NFL's best kick returners, holding eight career records when he retired in 2004.

"When I played football, it was about winning games," Mitchell said. "I didn't care about stats, but I wanted to make my mother and father happy."

Humphries grew up admiring fellow Shreveport natives Terry Bradshaw and Joe Ferguson, who had successful careers as NFL quarterbacks.

"I looked up to those guys. The Fergusons lived just around the corner, so I had a lot of big dreams," Humphries said. "This is a really big deal for me because you are being honored by the whole state and there have been so many outstanding athletes here."

Even though he played the NFL's most glamorous position and led the San Diego Chargers to their only Super Bowl appearance, Humphries never sought the limelight and spent a lot of time with his offensive linemen.

"I wasn't about getting the endorsements and the glory," he said. "I just wanted to win games. I never was one of the slender guys, so I hung out with the offensive linemen."

Perkins played in the NBA's first game in 1949 when his Tri-City Blackhawks took on the Denver Nuggets. In an era before television, big player contracts were decades away.

"I got $7,000 for that season," Perkins said. "George Mikan was the highest paid player and got $18,000."

After two seasons, Perkins decided to enroll at the Chicago School of Podiatry, later becoming a successful podiatrist in New Orleans.

"I had three years to go on the GI Bill before my benefits were terminated," Perkins said. "So, I had to make a tough decision, but I did and everything turned out well."

At the news conference, it was announced outdoorsman and 1987 Hall of Fame inductee Grits Gresham has donated items including memorabilia, writings, photography, outdoor art and audio and video recordings to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Foundation.

Donated items will be part of the permanent display at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Museum in Natchitoches, which should be complete in 2010.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)