Seraille’s legacy is one of respect, extends beyond basketball

By: RHETT MANUEL
Sports Editor

VILLE PLATTE – Montavis Seraille, a two-time All-Parish basketball selection and an 18-year-old junior at Ville Platte High School, passed away last Friday night in a gun-related incident on the 600 block of East Huey P. Long Street.
The investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
A well-built six-foot-five center, Seraille was the centerpiece of head coach Launey Coward’s program. But more than that, every person spoken to speaks highly of the person “Montae” was.
Montae was well-respected, well-regarded and well-liked by both faculty and classmates alike.
Perhaps no one saw and interacted with him more than Coward. Never one to get too high or low, Coward rarely shows his emotion on the sideline during a basketball game.
However, when speaking of Seraille, it’s clear his respect and emotional attachment towards Seraille was different.
“Montavis was a coach’s dream,” Coward said. “He never had an attitude and was a very humble kid. He was a remarkable student with unbelievable talent that would have taken him beyond the stars.”
Seraille was a basketball prospect in the Class of 2025 with potential to play at the next level. Watching him on the floor he had fluent movement, a decent range of passing skills, the ability to protect the rim and was developing a jump shot that ranged out to the midrange.
But, with a young person with personal potential, the story goes so far beyond the sport they were passionate about.
Coward echoes exactly how easy he was to work with due to Seraille’s personal ethics.
“Ville Platte High was blessed to have him,” he said. “(I’d) never gotten a bad report from any teacher, referee or opposing player about him having a bad attitude. Montavis was a kid that just loved people and saw the best in everyone.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by members of Ville Platte’s teaching faculty including permanent substitute teacher Amanda Thille, considered by many to be a mother-figure on campus.
“Montae was a gentle giant not just in stature but in heart,” Thille said. “In the time I have known him, I have never seen him be confrontational but instead he was always respectful and helpful.”
The respect he showed for faculty extended into the classroom and into basketball as well, according to Thille.
“He was getting ready for this season by watching last season’s film. When I asked him about it, he said ‘we have to be ready.’ We, not I. He knew it took a team and not just one person to be successful.”
That selflessness and the love he extended all through Ville Platte High’s campus, where everyone wore purple to honor him on Tuesday.
“Today the atmosphere at school was very somber, like a cloud of weight covered the campus,” Thille said. “We all feel it in his absence, especially his teammates and coaches.”