Meet Nick LaGrange, Class of 2007. While at CC, Nick participated in basketball, football, golf, SEARCH and track and was also class president his junior and senior year. After graduating from Central Catholic, Nick got his B.A. in Journalism from Indiana University. While at IU, Nick covered IU sports, including basketball and football, for the student-run IUSTV station on the Bloomington campus. He also interned as both a news and sports intern at WISH-TV 8 in Indianapolis.
Nick graduated from IU in 2011 and took his first job as a TV news reporter at WEHT News 25 in Henderson, KY. Soon after joining WEHT, Nick took a job in the same TV market, at WEHT’s competitor WFIE 14 News in Evansville, IN.
Nick spent nearly three years in the Evansville market, covering news and sports. And while there, he met his would-be wife Shayla. In mid-2014, Nick accepted a job as a TV news personality at KVVU FOX 5 in Las Vegas.
While in Vegas, Nick worked as a news reporter, a fill-in news anchor, and a weekend sports anchor. Nick covered UNLV sports, UFC and boxing championships, Minor League Baseball, the NBA, and the Oakland Raiders’ decision to move to Las Vegas. In June of 2016, Nick and Shayla were married in Los Angeles. A month later, they headed to the east coast after Nick accepted a job as an evening news anchor in Raleigh, NC.
Nick and Shayla currently live in Raleigh. In addition to being a full-time television news anchor, Nick runs a successful video production company with his wife.
How did your education from the Lafayette Catholic Schools prepare you for college and your career?
My story is a bit different from others who have come from LCSS. I came into the Lafayette Catholic Schools System in 8th grade, when I started at Lafayette Central Catholic. I transferred from Benton Central and still lived in Fowler, IN, about a 40-minutes’ drive away.
I think the very fact that I had to travel that far both ways, every day, was integral in forming who I would become. I learned the importance of discipline. I played several sports throughout my time at LCC, and if you were late to practice, your coaches would make sure you knew it and didn’t do it again. So I had to be very aware of my time management to make sure I was getting everything done that needed to be done by its deadline. As a news anchor and reporter, I am hyper-aware of deadlines, every day. I believe my time at LCC gave me impeccable time management skills that have been integral to my success today.
Central Catholic, as a school, inherently demanded discipline as well. I received one or two detentions for walking around with my shirt untucked. My tie had to be on - and clean looking - on Mass days. My hair couldn’t be a certain length. At the time, these were aspects that I rebelled against. But as an adult today, I now understand how important discipline and presentation are and why those rules and philosophies are in place.
Additionally, I think the competition among my classmates drove us to simply be better. I was never going to get an A in physics. But my class was so small (it was actually large compared to average LCC class sizes) that everyone would be very aware if I got a less-than-stellar grade. Maybe the “pressure makes diamonds” philosophy doesn’t work for everyone, but I believe it worked for me. The closeness of my class at LCC gave me that will to be better.
I also have to mention Mrs. Shari Schap. She was my freshman English teacher, and she really put me on a path to becoming a great writer. She also gave me my appreciation for books and reading. She passed away in 2013, and I miss her very much.
What did you like most about your experience at LCSS?
I really liked the sense of success LCC gave me. We won a lot of games in football and basketball, and I felt empowered to do well academically. It just felt like I was often surrounded by winners, past, present, and future at LCC. It took me a while to adopt that kind of winning confidence exuded by many people associated with LCSS. But I eventually did. And I owe LCC no small part of that change of outlook.
I also really loved the friends I made there. I was close with all of the guys I played sports with in my class as well as those in the class ahead or behind mine. It really felt like a brotherhood. I’ve lost touch with many of them now, but I know, as much as they do, that we are forever linked in this unique LCC way.
What is your favorite memory from your years at LCSS?
I love to look back on my very first day at LCC in 8th grade. I felt like a rockstar. Everyone was very curious about me, but I didn’t feel like anyone was trying to tear me down through examination. That was a very welcome feeling.
I’m also very grateful for my time playing football and basketball at LCC. I had some terrific coaches, including Brian Walker, Ryan Gallogly, and Ted Hampton. They imparted some great wisdom about how to handle adversity and how to be a man of dignity and respect. I often think back on my time with those teams.
