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LOCATION: Lafayette, LA
CONFERENCE: Sun Belt
LAST SEASON: 13-16 (.448)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 7-7 (t-3rd)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 2/3
NICKNAME: Ragin' Cajuns
COLORS: Vermillion & White
HOMECOURT: Cajundome (12,800)
COACH: Jessie Evans (Eastern Michigan '72)
record at school 31-29 (2 years)
career record 31-29 (2 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Robert Lee (Nicholls State '91)
Bobby Champagne (South Alabama '90)
Paul Johnson (Harding '97)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 7-16-12-18-13
RPI (last 5 years) 252-127-185-130-185
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference quarterfinal.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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The direction has departed Southwestern Louisiana. You can now refer to the school as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The state's second-largest university had been known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana since 1960. The Board of Supervisors for State Colleges and Universities gave its blessing to the name change after the Louisiana Legislature had paved the way in 1995. In addition to USL's name change, Northeast Louisiana University has become the University of Louisiana at Monroe. "It's difficult to convey the tremendous positive effect the new name will have on the university and its future," said Dr. Ray P. Authement, president of what is now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Ragin' Cajuns fans hope it positively affects the basketball program, which coincidentally has been heading in a southerly direction in the Sun Belt Conference standings the last few seasons. That could change, however, as the Ragin' Cajuns return nine of last season's top 10 scorers and three starters. But that good news could also be the bad news, too. While those nine players return, six of them have played one season or less of major college basketball.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C+ BENCH/DEPTH C+
FRONTCOURT C INTANGIBLES C
Southwestern Louisiana was a surprise contender most of the season for the league regular-season title before fading down the stretch. And while a change of name to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette might cause the team to purchase new uniforms, it doesn't mean the program is in for new heights. Even so, the Ragin' Cajuns are always competitive and very athletic, which gives teams fits. It's just that coach Jessie Evans has a lot of bodies who do about the same thing nothing out of the ordinary, but solid nonetheless. "We have a lot of guys that have to do a lot of things for us if we're going to be successful," Evans said. "But I like the challenge that brings." The inside game will suffer without Reginald Poole, who seemingly spent most of the decade playing for USL. It's a proud program that has won 1,097 games since starting play in 1911. But the Ragin' Cajuns will be hard-pressed to make the postseason for the first time since 1995, or even duplicate the 18-victory season of a year ago. If they do, it will be because they finally learned how to win on the road. |
Which all makes predicting where USL er, make that, ULL will finish a haphazard guess at best. Will the Ragin' Cajuns return to the Sun Belt glory days of the early '90s? Or will the 13-16 mark of last season that included a late swoon be an ominous foreboding of another season struggling in the middle of the league pack? "We're still young in a lot of places," said third-year coach Jessie Evans, who watched his team take care of business at home last season (10-2 overall and 6-1 in league play) but stumble away from the friendly confines of the Cajundome (by going 3-14 and 1-6). "We've got a lot of guys back, but a lot of them haven't even played a year of college basketball yet," he said. The one player among that top 10 in scoring and rebounding just happened to be the one the Ragin' Cajuns will miss the most. Departed is all-league forward Reginald Poole, who led the team in scoring (14.7 ppg), rebounding (7.4 ppg), blocked shots (25) and steals (33). This season, it's a scramble among veterans and newcomers as to who will man the starting roles, the returning starters notwithstanding. "We'll be playing a lot of guys, and there is not a single position on this team that's set in stone right now," Evans said. "Every spot is up for grabs." Well, maybe. It would be hard to imagine the Ragin' Cajuns without 6-3 junior combination guard Blane Harmon (12.2 ppg, 3.7 rg, 109 assists, 30 steals), who scored in double figures in 14 of the last 20 games with five 20-point games in his last 10. Harmon is an outside scoring threat from the two-guard slot. He led the team last season with 65 three-pointers. Harmon was 10th in the Sun Belt in three-point percentage (.320) and third in three-pointers per game (2.24). He can also run an offense. His 109 assists and 3.76 assists-per-game average were both fourth in the conference. Another sure starter appears to be 6-8 junior forward Lonnie Thomas (8.8 rpg, 6.1 rpg), one of the league's premier sixth men last year good enough, in fact, that he made the All-Sun Belt team despite starting only three games. The league newcomer of the year runner-up also elevated his play in conference games, averaging 11.3 points and a league-best 7.9 rebounds. Thomas would have ranked second in the Sun Belt in all games in field-goal percentage (.614), but didn't have enough attempts to qualify. If there is a seasoned veteran on the squad, it's 6-9 junior center Brett Smith (4.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg), who has started 56 games the last two seasons. Smith is a native of Australia by way of Baton Rouge (La.) Walker High School. A former member of the All-Australian squad as a junior in high school, Smith is a rugged banger on the inside with his 250 pounds. He had seven or more rebounds in nine games last season. Again joining Harmon in the backcourt is 6-5 junior guard Billy Jones (9.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg), who sat out the first five games last season after transferring from Pepperdine. He started 19 of the last 21 games and finished as the team's third-leading scorer. Those four players Harmon, Thomas, Smith and Jones are the nucleus of the team. But Evans warned that even those players are not locks for starting slots. "The thing to remember is that all of those guys except for Brett never played a college game before last season," Evans said. "I expect all of them to be much-improved players this year and for us to be a much improved-team because of that." The leading candidate for the small forward slot is 6-6 junior Shea Whiting (8.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg), who battled through elbow injuries the latter part of last season after playing in all 31 games as a freshman. Pushing Whiting for playing time will be 6-6 sophomore Darryl Robins (2.6 ppg, 1.4 rpg). He showed flashes late in the season by scoring 18 points in the last two games. Depth in the backcourt comes from two juniors 6-3 Jarret Evans (4.1 ppg, 1.1 rpg) and 6-2 Orlando Butler (4.0 ppg, 2.2 rpg). Evans has three seniors who have been with Evans for his three seasons on the job. Playing key roles and providing leadership will be 5-10 guard David Patrick (3.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg,37 assistts), 6-7 forward Derrick Warren (1.6 ppg, 1.5 rpg) and 6-9 post Kendall Regis (1.4 ppg, 1.4 rpg). Patrick and Regis have starting experience. "I expect them to lead by example," Evans said of his three seniors. "They've been with me three years now, and they're going to have to be leaders since we don't have that one go-to guy right now." The top signee appears to be 6-0 freshman point guard Kenneth Lawrence (North Little Rock HS/Little Rock, Ark.), who chose the Ragin' Cajuns after being recruited by Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi State as well as fellow league schools Arkansas-Little Rock, Arkansas State and Louisiana Tech. Lawrence is a two-time Class AAAAA all-state selection who earned notoriety last summer as a member of the Team USA 17-and-under squad that won the World Youth Games championship in Moscow. "He's explosive, lightning quick," Evans said of Lawrence, who was ranked the No. 56 prep player in the country by Bluechips Illustrated and among the top 20 point guards by PrepStars Magazine. "The thing I really like is that he's capable of getting to the basket and finishing the play." Lawrence averaged 18.2 points, 8.0 assists and 4.0 steals last season. The other Ragin' Cajuns' other freshman is 6-9 forward/center Demetrius Williams (Martin Luther King High/Chicago, Ill.). He averaged 17.2 points and 9.0 rebounds a year ago. Anthony Johnson, a 6-5 forward, is a redshirt freshman. Like Williams, he played high school ball at Martin Luther King, where he averaged 28.0 points and 12.0 rebounds as a senior. Sophomore Robert Jupiter, a 6-4 guard, sat out last season under Prop 48. He played two seasons ago for Parkview Baptist High in Baton Rouge, La., where he averaged 16.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists. And gaining eligibility after transferring from Wofford is 6-6 junior forward Reggie DeGray. Two seasons ago, DeGray played in 27 games for the Terriers, starting eight times. He averaged 4.8 points and 4.0 rebounds in 17 minutes per game. DeGray shot .461 from the field and blocked 19 shots.
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