NATCHITOCHES – Tommy Mathis' athletic career saw him succeed in multiple sports at both the high school and college levels.
 
One, however, always seemed to draw Mathis back to the game – basketball.
 
Mathis, a 1994 inductee in Northwestern State's N-Club Hall of Fame, died Thursday. A funeral mass is set for 11 a.m. Monday at Holy Cross Catholic Church near the Northwestern campus.
 
An all-state football and basketball player at then-Coushatta High School, Mathis was a two-sport letterman at Northwestern, playing basketball from 1960-64 and competing in track and field for two seasons.
 
He made his mark on the court, earning All-Gulf States Conference honors twice in his career. A two-time team scoring leader, Mathis ranked second in the Gulf States in scoring as a junior, averaging 18.2 points per game.
 
For his career, Mathis shot 47.5 percent from the floor and 75.3 percent from the free throw line en route to 996 career points and a spot on Northwestern's Top 100 as part of the Fantastic 50 from the first half of the first century of Demon basketball.
 
Mathis, a Pleasant Hill native, remained a devoted supporter of Northwestern men's and women's basketball.
 
A 1965 graduate of Northwestern, Mathis began his post-collegiate career as the head basketball coach at Flora High School, earning Coach of the Year honors.
 
He spent nearly three decades in private business before returning to his passion, assisting with both the boys and girls basketball programs at St. Mary's in Natchitoches where he became a revered member of the school community.
 
In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to Holy Cross Catholic Church at Northwestern State at 129 2^nd Street in Natchitoches or online at www.nsucatholic.org.