Hall of Fame
William Lalla recalls an era when winning the TCIL State Football Championship had become more-or-less routine for Jesuit, but his squad had not won since 1961. Thus t was his greatest pleasure and greatest disappointment to have led the 1964 team to a perfect 11-0 record until the final game, only to lose the championship to St. Thomas of Houston, 26-12. Bill said “I suppose it's a good lesson in life’s unevenness, where the bad comes with the good, but it sure would have been nice to beat the Eagles that night.”
The 1964-65 basketball season found the Rangers at the State Finals, losing to Central Catholic of San Antonio. Lalla matured that year as a good defensive player, and was Honorable Mention on the TCIL All-State Team.
In college, Lalla was named to the Big-Eight Conference All-Academic Team in 1966 while at Oklahoma University. He was captain of the football squad at Wichita State in 1968 and received the All-Missouri Valley Conference Honorable Mention that same year. Lalla continued his football career in France as a coach and sometimes-player the Marauders of Roullet-St. Estephe.
