By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – Jay Carlin entered the high school basketball coaching profession with one basic goal—“I wanted to make a difference.”
As he looked back at his 39-year coaching career, the majority at Salmen High School, it is fair to assume that even Carlin would never have imagined the difference he made for hundreds of high school boys, nor the level of success he would personally achieve.
Carlin received yet another rare honor in a special ceremony at the Salmen gymnasium last Thursday night as former players, coaches and well-wishers joined together for the unveiling of a large sign on one end of the gym.
It renamed the Spartan athletic facility as the “Jesse ‘Jay’ Carlin III Gymnasium.”
Calling the night an “overwhelming experience,” it was one of the most deserving things to happen to a prep basketball coach, who now ranks among the greatest in Louisiana high school coaching history with 906 wins.
Carlin led his teams at South Lafourche and Salmen to 33 state playoff appearances, 27 district championships, eight appearances in the state final four, one state runner-up position in 2015, and a state championship at Salmen in 2009.
He also coached 46 players to a level that helped them play college basketball, including several who played professionally. The most notable of those in pro ball, and the only one in the history of Slidell to ever make it to the National Basketball Association, was Chris Duhon, who flew in from his home in North Carolina to be part of the ceremony.
“Coach Carlin was the man who helped lay the foundation for the success I achieved,” Duhon told The Independent. “I wouldn’t have gotten to where I did without him.”
Carlin, never one who sought the spotlight, found himself standing before a gymnasium full of people seeming uncomfortable to garner such attention. But he did so with much thanks for many people, players and colleagues who supported him and believed in him from the beginning.
“I remember coming to Salmen 39 years ago and meeting with Billy Heckel (Salmen principal) and Joe Ponson (Salmen athletic director). They gave me a chance, as a very young coach, and I will always have special thanks for the opportunity they gave me,” he said.
“None of us knew that my first year would be the start of something special here at Salmen,” he said.
That was certainly a true statement because Carlin inherited a program that was down on its luck and hardly garnering the respect it would quickly find.
Carlin coached the first team in 1984-85 to set his own foundation, and the Spartans struggled to finish 9-21. But it would be the last time he would see a team with a losing record, following with a run of district titles and playoff appearances that began to stack up year-after-year.
By the time he retired after the 2019 season he would pass the elite 900-win level for Louisiana basketball coaches that had him ranked as high as fourth all-time. It was rightlfully followed by his induction in 2021 to the Louisiana Coaches Hall of Fame.
“If I could do this all over, I wouldn’t change a thing,” he told the crowd. “But I also couldn’t have done it without my players, coaches and family. I will always share this honor with you.”
Former St. Tammany Schools Superintendent Trey Folse began his teaching career at Salmen when Carlin was there and then watched him for nearly 40 years create one of the most successful programs in any sport for the Slidell public school system.
“To this day there are things I learned watching how Jay dealt with kids and coached,” Folse said. “He is a tremendous role model, but as great of a coach that he is, he is a better person.”
The effort to get the gymnasium named for Carlin was started by Slidell City Attorney Reggie Laurant and Carlin’s daughter, Jennifer Carlin Babin.
Carlin and his wife Ramona also have two sons, Joshua and Jesse IV, who both played ball at the school, then graduated at Salmen. Joshua served as his father’s assistant coach for 10 years.
Carlin was also named the Louisiana Coach of the Year three different times, with 844 of his 906 victories coming at Salmen after he initially began his career as a head coach at South Lafourche in 1980, spending four years there.
“I am grateful and blessed to have had the opportunity to be surrounded by so many people who supported me throughout my career at Salmen,” Carlin added. “Your support and memories we have created will be cherished forever.”