Step onto the court with our hoops-focused January 2026 issue, on stands now

The list of basketball legends who have graced the hardwood in Baton Rouge is long.

At LSU, Bob Pettit and Pete Maravich made magic in the Cow Palace decades before Shaquille O’Neal shattered backboards and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf drained three-pointers in the PMAC. The Lady Tigers stacked up plenty of their own star players, from Seimone Augustus to Sylvia Fowles and Angel Reese. And on the Bluff, dominant players like Bob Love, Bobby Phills and Avery Johnson led the Southern University Jaguars to success before excelling in the NBA.

But this is a list still being written.

In this issue, we’re digging deeper into what drives some of this era’s brightest stars, from LSU women’s basketball guard Flau’jae Johnson to associate head coach Bob Starkey and finally to the Baton Rouge Community College Bears, who are riding high on the heels of back-to-back conference championships of their own.

Our January 2026 edition also brings not one but two new sections to our local readers: Home, a department dedicated to delightfully decorated spaces; and Thrive, a section soon to be brimming with informative pieces about health for mind, body and spirit. And, like all of our first issues of the year, we’re showing off a new group of People to Watch in the Capital Region. Other pages highlight local dance instructors and cozy recipes for chilly weather.

Flip through it all below, and be sure to pick up the print copy on newsstands now around the Capital Region. Let us know what you think at [email protected].