Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball

The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball program represents intercollegiate men's basketball at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. 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.

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

History

The Ragin' Cajuns in action at UT Arlington in 2020

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.

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.

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

Main article: Earl K. Long Gymnasium

Blackham Coliseum

Main article: Blackham Coliseum

Cajundome

Main article: 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.

See also

• List of NCAA Division I men's basketball programs
• 2020–21 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team

External links

• Official website