BATON ROUGE - Baton Rouge native Ledell Eackles was among the luminaries honored Saturday with induction into the Louisiana Basketball Hall of Fame by the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches.

Eackles, who played at Broadmoor High and University of New Orleans, was drafted by the Washington Bullets in 1988. He played seven seasons in the NBA, for the Bullets and the Miami Heat.

He was named Louisiana Player of the Year and Louisiana Newcomer of the Year in 1987. He was American South Player of the Year in 1988.

Eackles was twice an honorable mention All-American, once by the Associated Press and once by United Press International.

He was twice named to the All-American South first team, was All-District three times and All-Louisiana twice.

New Orleans Pelicans' point guard Elfrid Payton and Bo McCalebb, who played for UNO before a career mainly in European basketball, were also inducted into the Hall of Fame.