John Lauris “Lawman” Lafleur was a legendary Bobcat basketball player and a 1972 EHS graduate.
Lafleur set the school record in 1972 when he scored 59 points against Washington High of Lake Charles.
He scored 783 points in 32 games for a 24.4 scoring average his senior season.
He also averaged 11.8 rebounds per game.
His junior season, Lafleur scored 42 points in 28 games for a 15-point average and was also the team’s best rebounder.
Aurdie Bellard, Lawman’s cousin, has fond memories of watching Lafleur display his skills on the basketball court.
Bellard recounted a game they all attended when EHS faced Deridder. In that game, Lafleur scored 42 points and Eunice High was crowned district champs.
Lafleur grabbed the interest of several college teams, including LSU, Stanford, North Carolina, and Alabama.
“According to my uncle Frankie’s story, the LSU coaches met with them twice and talked about him being the next Pistol Pete Maravich.
After attending LSUA for a year LSU wanted him to join them that August, but Lawman returned to Eunice and never played college basketball.
“What could have been, we will never know, but I do know he could have been as good or better than any player to play basketball at LSU.”
After high school, Lafleur worked in the oil field and then became a carpenter.”
“He was very humble,” Bellard said of Lafleur. “He never bragged about himself – he wasn’t a showboat guy.”
“On the basketball court he would pass the ballot his teammates because he wanted them to score too.”
Lawman passed away on April 25, 2006.