Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball

Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball
	2024–25 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team
University	University of Louisiana at Lafayette
First season	1911–12
Head coach	Derrick Zimmerman (interim)
Conference	Sun Belt
Location	Lafayette, Louisiana
Arena	Cajundome ; (capacity: 12,362)
Nickname	Ragin' Cajuns
Colors	Vermilion and white;
Uniforms
Home	Away ;
NCAA tournament Final Four
	1971†*
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
	1971†*
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
	1971†, 1972, 1973*
NCAA tournament round of 32
	1971†, 1972, 1973*, 1992
NCAA tournament appearances
	1971†, 1972, 1973, 1982, 1983, 1992, 1994, 2000, 2004, 2005*, 2014, 2023; †at Division II level;
NAIA quarterfinals
	1967
NAIA tournament second round
	1965, 1967
Conference tournament champions
	Southland: 1982; Sun Belt: 1992, 1994, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2014, 2023
Conference regular season champions
	Gulf States: 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969; Southland: 1972, 1973, 1977, 1982; Sun Belt: 1992, 2000, 2018
Conference division season champions
	Sun Belt West: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2011;
	* - vacated by NCAA

The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball program represents intercollegiate men's basketball at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.^[3] The school competes in the Sun Belt Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and play home games at the Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana. Derrick Zimmerman is the interim head coach after the firing of Bob Marlin in December 2024. Louisiana has appeared in the NCAA tournament eleven times, most recently in 2023. The Ragin' Cajuns have won the Sun Belt Conference tournament title seven times.

History

Conference affiliations

1914–15 to 1924–25: Louisiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association
1925–26 to 1940–41: Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
1941–42 to 1946–47: Louisiana Intercollegiate Conference
1947–48 to 1970–71: Gulf States Conference
1971–72 to 1972–73; 1975–76 to 1981–82: Southland Conference
1982–83 to 1986–87: NCAA Division I Independent
1987–88 to 1990–91: American South Conference
1991–92 to present: Sun Belt Conference

NCAA sanctions

1968 infractions

In 1968, Southwestern Louisiana was placed on two years' probation and barred from postseason play during that time for recruiting violations and for student-athletes receiving financial assistance from an outside organization.^[4]

2007 major violations

In 2007, The Ragin Cajuns were found guilty of major violations in its men's basketball program. An NCAA investigation found that now-former player Orien Greene had relied on 15 hours of correspondence courses taken through another institution in order to remain eligible for the 2004 spring semester and the entire 2004–05 academic year. NCAA rules do not allow student-athletes to use correspondence courses taken from another institution to remain eligible. According to the NCAA, this was an "obvious error" that should have been caught right away, but the school's then-compliance coordinator, director of academic services and registrar all failed to catch it. When school officials learned about the violations, they vacated every game in which Greene participated—43 games in all, including NCAA tournament appearances in 2004 and 2005—and scrubbed Greene's records from the books. The NCAA accepted Louisiana's penalties and also imposed two years' probation.^[5]^[6]

Award Winners

Lou Henson Award

Jordan Brown – 2023

Lefty Driesell Award

Elfrid Payton – 2014

Postseason

NCAA Division I Tournament results

The Ragin Cajuns have unofficially appeared in 10 NCAA Division I Tournaments. However, they have officially only appeared in six; the other four appearances have been vacated. In 1972, they became the first school to make the tournament in their first year of eligibility, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen. They repeated this feat in 1973. However, both of these appearances were vacated as a result of the 1973 infractions case. The Ragin Cajuns participated in the 2004 and 2005 NCAA tournaments, but both appearances were vacated due to major violations involving Orien Greene. Their official combined record is 1–6. All appearances prior to 2000 were when the school was still named Southwestern Louisiana.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1972*	N/A	First round Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd-place game	Marshall Louisville Texas	W 112–101 L 57–61 W 100–70
1973*	N/A	First round Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd-place game	Houston Kansas State South Carolina	W 102–89 L 63–66 L 85–90
1982	No. 8	First round	No. 9 Tennessee	L 57–61
1983	No. 8	First round	No. 9 Rutgers	L 53–60
1992	No. 13	First round Second Round	No. 4 Oklahoma No. 12 New Mexico State	W 87–83 L 73–81
1994	No. 11	First round	No. 6 Marquette	L 59–81
2000	No. 13	First round	No. 4 Tennessee	L 58–63
2004*	No. 14	First round	No. 3 NC State	L 52–61
2005*	No. 13	First round	No. 4 Louisville	L 62–68
2014	No. 14	First round	No. 3 Creighton	L 66–76
2023	No. 13	First round	No. 4 Tennessee	L 55-58

* appearance and records vacated

NCAA Division II Tournament results

The Ragin Cajuns appeared in the 1971 NCAA Division II Tournament. However, that appearance was later vacated due to the same rules violations that stripped them of their 1972 and 1973 Division I Tournament results.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1971*	Regional semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight Final Four National 3rd-place game	New Orleans Tennessee State Assumption Evansville Kentucky Wesleyan	W 113–107 W 86–82 W 110–99 L 74–93 W 105–83

* appearance and records vacated

NAIA Tournament results

The Ragin Cajuns appeared in two NAIA Tournaments. Their combined record is 3–2.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1965	First round Second Round	Colorado State-Pueblo Oklahoma Baptist	W 66–59 L 82–95
1967	First round Second Round Quarterfinals	Findlay Central Michigan Oklahoma Baptist	W 110–73 W 70–62 L 65–66

NIT results

The Ragin Cajuns appeared in six National Invitation Tournaments. Their combined record is 6–7. All appearances prior to 2002 were when the school was still named Southwestern Louisiana.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1980	First round Second Round Quarterfinals	UAB Texas Minnesota	W 74–72 W 77–76 L 73–94
1984	First round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Third-place game	Utah State Weber State Santa Clara Notre Dame Virginia Tech	W 94–92 W 74–72 W 97–76 L 59–65 L 70–71
1985	First round Second Round	Florida Tennessee	W 65–64 L 72–73
2002	Opening Round	Louisiana Tech	L 63–83
2003	First round	UAB	L 80–82
2018	First round	LSU	L 76–84

CIT results

The Ragin Cajuns appeared in three CollegeInsider.com Tournaments (CIT). Their combined record is 4–3.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2012	First round	Rice	L 63–68
2015	First round Second Round Quarterfinals	Incarnate Word Sam Houston State Evansville	W 83–68 W 71–70 L 82–89
2016	First round Second Round Quarterfinals	Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Furman UC Irvine	W 96–72 W 80–72 L 66–67

Home venues

Earl K. Long Gymnasium

Blackham Coliseum

Cajundome

Notable players

Frank Bartley (born 1994), player for Ironi Ness Ziona of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
JaKeenan Gant (born 1996), player for Hapoel Be'er Sheva of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
Dwight "Bo" Lamar, former player for San Diego Conquistadors, Indiana Pacers, and Los Angeles Lakers. NCAA Scoring Title in 1972, Two Time All-American (1972, 1973)
Elfrid Payton, former player of the Phoenix Suns, Lefty Driesell Award winner in 2014
Johnathan Stove (born 1995), player for Hapoel Galil Elyon of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
Andrew Toney, former player for the Philadelphia 76ers and two-time NBA All-Star
Bryce Washington (born 1996), player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
Jordan Brown, winner of the 2023 Lou Henson Award.

References

^ "ULL Brand Guide and Graphic Standards Manual" (PDF). Retrieved March 27, 2016.
^ "Sun Belt All-Time Standings" (PDF). 2011–12 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Media Guide. Sun Belt Conference. pp. 93–95. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 16, 2012. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
^ "Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns School History". sports-reference.com. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
^ "Legislative Services Database – LSDBi". web1.ncaa.org.
^ "Legislative Services Database – LSDBi". web1.ncaa.org.
^ "Forfeits and Vacated Games - College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.

External links

Official website

[1] "ULL Brand Guide and Graphic Standards Manual" (PDF). Retrieved March 27, 2016.

[2] "Sun Belt All-Time Standings" (PDF). 2011–12 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Media Guide. Sun Belt Conference. pp. 93–95. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 16, 2012. Retrieved March 6, 2012.

[3] "Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns School History". sports-reference.com. Retrieved February 16, 2020.

[4] "Legislative Services Database – LSDBi". web1.ncaa.org.

[5] "Legislative Services Database – LSDBi". web1.ncaa.org.

[6] "Forfeits and Vacated Games - College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.

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v t e Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball
Venues	Earl K. Long Gymnasium (1939–1950) Blackham Coliseum (1950–1985) Cajundome (1985–present)
Culture & lore	Cayenne "Ragin' Cajuns Fight Song" NCAA sanctions
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

v t e University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Located in: Lafayette, Louisiana
Academics	College of the Arts B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration College of Education College of Engineering College of Liberal Arts College of Nursing & Allied Health Professions Ray P. Authement College of Sciences
Athletics	Sports: Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Football Softball Water skiing Sun Belt Conference Venues: Cajundome Cajun Field Earl K. Long Gymnasium M. L. Tigue Moore Field at Russo Park Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park Rivalries: Battle on the Bayou Traditions: Cayenne Pride of Acadiana
Campus	Cypress Lake Museum on the Move Hilliard Art Museum
Media	KRVS
Research	Cecil J. Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning Center for Louisiana Studies Community Design Workshop Energy Institute of Louisiana Ernest Gaines Center Informatics Research Institute Louisiana Accelerator Center Louisiana Watershed Flood Center National Wetlands Research Center Regional Application Center
Student life	CAPE-1
People	Notable alumni and faculty University presidents
Founded: 1898 Students: 19,188 Endowment: 185.8 million

v t e Sun Belt Conference men's basketball
Teams	Appalachian State Mountaineers Arkansas State Red Wolves Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Georgia Southern Eagles Georgia State Panthers James Madison Dukes Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks Marshall Thundering Herd Old Dominion Monarchs South Alabama Jaguars Southern Miss Golden Eagles Texas State Bobcats Troy Trojans
Championships and awards	Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament Player of the Year
Seasons	1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25