The wait is finally over
Lincoln Prep will hold an official court unveiling for its new basketball courts Monday, giving the Panthers’ high school teams their own home gym for the first time in three years. The event is part of the school’s open house. Photo courtesy of Lincoln Preparatory School
GRAMBLING – Lincoln Prep continues to make major upgrades to its athletic facilities.
After completion of a new football field became official, the charter school is set to unveil its new basketball court Monday at 10 a.m. as part of an open house at Lincoln Prep’s campus at 1453 West Martin Luther King Jr Ave in Grambling.
State Treasurer John Schroder and Louisiana House Speaker Clay Schexnayder will be the dual keynote speakers for the event.
In addition to the keynote remarks, guests in attendance will be welcomed by City of Grambling Mayor Alvin Bradley, Grambling State University President Richard J. Gallot, Jr., and District 11 State Representative Patrick O. Jefferson.
Over the last three seasons, Lincoln Prep boys and girls basketball teams have played listed ‘home’ games at New Living Word School or the Ruston Sports Complex due to the school having no athletic facilities to play on.
Gordan Ford, executive director at Lincoln Prep, said Monday’s open house reveal of the court and campus will remind Lincoln Parish residents the Panthers are still here.
And if anything, they’re becoming more stable by the day.
“It’s been tough,” Ford said. “I tell people we had to borrow a gym to play a playoff game to get to the state championship. The kids have been on the road for three years, and when no one would help us here in the parish we went off and found other help. We had to go through a lot just to play.”
According to Ford, the new court will seat 930 fans and feature a main court for regulation games but can also split laterally into two courts with a drop-down curtain in between to separate the space. It may seem commonplace in most high school basketball setups, but Ford said even the idea of the girls and boys teams practicing at the same time was unheard of in Grambling.
Until now. “That’s never happened in the history of Grambling or Lincoln Prep,” Ford said. “We’ve never had that at Grambling.”
The school got fire marshal approval of the new locker rooms Thursshe day, but the lockers themselves won’t arrive until backorders of needed materials can be filled.
No sweat, says Ford. “If you can work around not having a school or a gym or football field for three years, you can work around locker rooms or bleachers being delayed. That’s easy.”
Despite the lack of a true home court, the Panthers’ win-loss record has shown little sign of feeling the turmoil in recent seasons. Lincoln Prep has made the state semifinals in three of the last four seasons, including a 24-5 finish as Division IV select state runner-up in the 2022-23 season.
The school was founded in 1901 as Grambling Laboratory School on Grambling State’s campus, but the school would be caught up in a decadeslong federal desegregation lawsuit that in 2016 prompted them to become an independent charter school and in 2020 forced them to leave the GSU campus and athletic facilities altogether.
“Our boys have made it to state the last couple years and even our girls; they were four points away from winning the quarterfinals and going to state ( in 2021). The kids have fought through the adversity and I’m so proud of what we’ve done, but we do think about what it could have been if we put them in a better position?” Ford said.
The gym completion and school building will complete Phase One of the $30 million bond project, according to Ford.
“It’s really our first chance to show the world we’re here,” Ford said. “We have a building and we’ve got a school, and now we’ve got a court. There’s more work to do. We’ve been here 120 years and, God-willing, we’ll be here another 120.”
The Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony will mark the end of Phase 1 of the construction project. Phase 2 has already begun with the football field being completed and the track currently under construction. Work will begin soon on the stadium grandstands, press box and support facilities, including restrooms, concession area, and a new, state-of-the-art field house.
The new Lincoln Preparatory School campus features an 85,000 square- foot classroom building, with a library; science, computer, and robotics labs; a schoolbased health clinic; a 930-seat gymnasium with locker rooms, workout and training spaces and a FEMA-certified storm shelter.
The general contractor for the school project is Lincoln Builders of Ruston.
