Inside the I-Bowl Newsletter: March 2024

ON THE DOCKET

JUNIOR TENNIS CLASSIC RETURNS APRIL

For the first time since 2019, the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl Junior Tennis Classic will return to the Shreveport-Bossier area, and the tournament is less than two weeks away from hitting the courts on Saturday, April 6.

Registration for the Junior Tennis Classic is open through Saturday, March 30, and players can register by clicking the button below. Current entrants hail from various states, including Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Kansas.

6-8!

The tournament is a USTA Level 5 Open tournament featuring singles and doubles format for boys and girls 12s, 14s, 16s, and 18s. Matches will be played from Saturday, April 6 through Monday, April 8 primarily at Pierrement Oaks Tennis Club, with matches also at Cockrell Tennis Center on Saturday.

The Junior Tennis Classic is supported by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission, USTA, Louisiana Tennis Association, Carter Credit Union, CB&T, SOBO Promotions, Honeybaked Ham, Raising Cane's, Coca-Cola Bottling United, Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux, Dillas Quesadillas, Steve Craig and On the Geaux Catering.

Every year in late April, Independence Bowl Foundation members enjoy an afternoon of crawfish, music and fun!

The 2024 Annual Member Crawfish Boil is on Saturday, April 20, from 11 AM to 2 PM at Hurricane Alley in the East Bank District in Bossier City!

Foundation members and a guest are invited for all-you-can-eat crawfish and jambalaya from Shaver’s Catering.

Join the Independence Bowl Foundation to secure your tickets for all-you-can-eat crawfish and jambalaya!

IN THE NEWS

CLAIRE

REBOUCHE APPOINTED 2024 CHAIR OF INDEPENDENCE BOWL FOUNDATION

The Independence Bowl Foundation installed the 2024 Executive Committee and Board of Directors, including Claire Rebouche of Willis Knighton Health as 2024 Chair, at its Thursday, March 7 Annual Membership Meeting. The Independence Bowl Foundation Executive Committee and Board of Directors features many of the top leaders in the Shreveport-Bossier area.

Rebouche, a graduate of Vanderbilt University, is the Senior VP of Quality and Clinical Performance for Willis Knighton Health. A Shreveport native, she earned her Master's degree from Northwestern State University School of Nursing. She and her husband of 37 years, Darrell, have two adult children, Christopher and Madeleine.

She has attended more than 30 Independence Bowls and served as division co-chair of Special Events, Hospitality, and Game Management, co-chair of Ladies' Day Out, Media Hospitality, Team Announcement Party and North Hospitality Tents. Rebouche was elected 2nd Vice-Chair of the Bowl in 2021, working her way up to chair the 2024 Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. She has been a member of the Executive Committee for seven years and was selected Independence Bowl Volunteer of the Year in 2013.

Claire has also served on the Executive Board for St. Luke's Mobile Medical Ministry and the Vestry for St. Mark's Cathedral.

Below is 2024's 14-member executive committee for the Independence Bowl Foundation:

• Chair: Claire Rebouche (Willis Knighton Health)

• Vice-Chair: Sarah Giglio (Gilmer & Giglio)

• 1st Vice-Chair: Keith Burton (Caddo Parish Public Schools)

• 2nd Vice-Chair: Greg Lott (Progressive Bank)

• Treasurer: Bert Schmale (Home Federal Bank)

• Secretary: Victor Mainiero (Caddo Parish Public Schools)

• Immediate Past Chair: Bryan Roppolo (Roppolo's Insulation)

• Three-Year Term: Taylor Jamison (NextEra Energy Resources)

Three-Year Term: Lee Holmes (U.S. Air Force Reserve)

• Two-Year Term: Doug Bland (Bland Agency, Inc.)

• Two-Year Term: Cindy Smith (KSM Marketing Agency)

• One-Year Term: John David Person (WIELAND)

• One-Year Term: Michael Melerine (Seabaugh & Sepulvado Attorneys at Law)

• Title Sponsor Ex-Officio: Gen. Jon Ellis (Radiance Technologies)

Sixteen Three-Year Term members of the Board of Directors were voted in at the Annual Membership Meeting, while the Two-Year and One-Year term members rolled into their respective board slots. There are also 32 Life Directors on the board. The Independence Bowl Foundation Board of Directors has 80 active members. The full Board of Directors slate can be found at IndependenceBowl.org/team.

I-BOWL ALUMNI IN THE NFL

I-BOWL ALUMNI AMONG TWO OF LARGEST NFL FREE AGENT CONTRACTS

NFL free agency started on Wednesday, March 13, and former Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl players signed two of the most significant contracts.

Standout defenders Brian Burns (Florida State, 2017) and L'Jarius Sneed (Louisiana Tech, 2019) were franchise-tagged going into free agency, and both players ended up traded to different teams and signing lucrative deals.

Burns was traded from the Carolina Panthers to the New York Giants, and following the trade, he signed a five-year deal worth up to $150 million.

Sneed, a two-time Super Bowl champion with the Kansas City Chiefs, was traded to the Tennessee Titans and subsequently signed a four-year contract worth up to $76.4 million. Between those two Independence Bowl alumni, they received $226.4 million in free agency this offseason.

Both players starred in the Independence Bowl in one of the last six games and helped lead their team to victory.

Burns is one of the 73 first-round picks that have played in the Independence Bowl. He was drafted 16th overall in the 2019 NFL Draft. Burns has 46.0 sacks and eight forced fumbles in his first five seasons. He is a two-time Pro Bowler.

Sneed has been a major part of the secondary on two Super Bowl teams with the Chiefs. The 2020 fourthround pick has 10 interceptions, 40 pass deflections, four forced fumbles and 6.5 sacks in four seasons.

Other free agency signings have pushed the amount of money to Independence Bowl alumni north of $300 million this offseason.

L'Jarius Sneed

Brian Burns

I-BOWL ALUMNI IN THE NFL

NFL COMBINE NEWS & NOTES: ALUMNI EXCEL IN INDIANAPOLIS

The 2024 NFL Scouting Combine featured nine former Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl players trying to impress NFL scouts and executives on the brightest pre-Draft stage.

A few Independence Bowl alumni were among the best testers at the NFL Combine, including a couple of Texas Tech safeties. Red Raiders safety Tyler Owens jumped out of the building in Indianapolis, coming one inch short of the NFL Combine’s all-time broad jump record. Owens bagged the farthest broad jump at the event by 10 inches over his closest competitor, jumping 12 feet, 2 inches. The record is 12 feet, 3 inches – held by Byron Jones at the 2015 Combine. He also had the highest vertical jump amongst safeties at 41 inches, which ranked him 8th overall.

Star Texas Tech safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson was the fastest safety at the combine, recording a blazing 4.41-second 40-yard dash. That ranked him as the 22nd-fastest player at the Combine. Another safety, Jaylen Key, who played for UAB in 2021 before transferring to Alabama, had the third-farthest broad jump in the safety group.

Over 300 college football players were invited to the combine, and nine of those players have played in Shreveport’s annual bowl game over the past three years. The nine players invited to the combine represent the six most recent Independence Bowl teams – Texas Tech, California, Houston, Louisiana, UAB and BYU – and the last three matchups. Texas Tech has three players, Houston has two representatives, and the other teams have one apiece.

Seven of the nine Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl alumni at the Combine participated in at least part of the testing drills. Click the button below to view the final testing numbers for all seven players!