Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball

{{Short description|American college basketball team}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}

{{Infobox college basketball team

|name = Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball

|current = 2024–25 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team

|logo = Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns wordmark.svg

|logo_size = 250

|university = University of Louisiana at Lafayette

|firstseason = 1911–12

|conference = Sun Belt

|location = Lafayette, Louisiana

|coach = Quannas White

|tenure = 1st

|arena = Cajundome

|capacity = 12,362

|nickname = Ragin' Cajuns

|NCAAchampion =

|NCAAfinalfour = 1971†*

|NCAAeliteeight = 1971†*

|NCAAsweetsixteen = 1971†*, 1972*, 1973*

|NCAAroundof32 = 1971†*, 1972*, 1973*, 1992

|NCAAtourneys = 1971†*, 1972*, 1973*, 1982, 1983, 1992, 1994, 2000, 2004*, 2005*, 2014, 2023
at Division II level

| nit_champion =

| nit_runnerup =

| nit_finalfour = 1984

| nit_quarterfinal = 1980, 1984

| nit_secondround = 1980, 1984, 1985

| nit_appearance = 1980, 1984, 1985, 2002, 2003, 2018

|NAIAquarterfinals = 1967

|NAIAsecondround = 1965, 1967

|NAIAfirstround = 1965, 1967

|conference_tournament = Southland: 1982
Sun Belt: 1992, 1994, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2014, 2023

|conference_season = Gulf States: 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969
Southland: 1972, 1973, 1977, 1982
Sun Belt: 1992, 2000, 2018

|division_season = Sun Belt West: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2011{{cite web|title=Sun Belt All-Time Standings|url=https://admin.xosn.com/pdf8/792503.pdf?&DB_OEM_ID=4100|work=2011–12 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Media Guide|publisher=Sun Belt Conference|access-date=March 6, 2012|pages=93–95|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120816142311/https://admin.xosn.com/pdf8/792503.pdf?&DB_OEM_ID=4100|archive-date=August 16, 2012}}

| below = * - vacated by NCAA

|h_body= CE181E

|h_pattern_b=_thinsidesonwhite

|h_shorts= CE181E

|h_pattern_s=_blanksides2

|a_body= CE181E

|a_pattern_b=_thinwhitesides

|a_shorts= CE181E

|a_pattern_s=_whitesides

}}

The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball program represents intercollegiate men's basketball at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/louisiana-lafayette/|title=Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns School History|publisher=sports-reference.com|access-date=February 16, 2020}} 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. Quannas White is the head coach of the team 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=

=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.{{cite web|url=https://web1.ncaa.org/LSDBi/exec/miSearch?miSearchSubmit=publicReport&key=208&publicTerms=THIS+PHRASE+WILL+NOT+BE+REPEATED|title=Legislative Services Database – LSDBi|website=web1.ncaa.org}}

== 1973 death penalty ==

{{Main|University of Southwestern Louisiana basketball scandal}}

In 1973, the NCAA applied the death penalty to the basketball program, barring them from playing for two seasons. This followed an investigation in which the NCAA found that the basketball program had violated rules regarding recruiting, academic eligibility, and amateurism. Among other things, the NCAA discovered that several players had received payment in exchange for playing and that an assistant coach had doctored a high school transcript in order to allow a student athlete who would have otherwise been academically ineligible to play. The NCAA's punishment is considered one of the most extreme in its history and is only one of five times that the death penalty has been applied to a member institution.

==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.{{cite web|url=https://web1.ncaa.org/LSDBi/exec/miSearch?miSearchSubmit=publicReport&key=633&publicTerms=THIS+PHRASE+WILL+NOT+BE+REPEATED|title=Legislative Services Database – LSDBi|website=web1.ncaa.org}}{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/friv/forfeits.cgi|title=Forfeits and Vacated Games - College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com|website=College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com}}

Award Winners

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.

class="wikitable"

{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns|Year|Seed|Round|Opponent|Result}}

align="center"

| 1972*

N/AFirst round
Sweet Sixteen
Regional 3rd-place game
Marshall
Louisville
Texas
W 112–101
L 57–61
W 100–70
align="center"

| 1973*

N/AFirst round
Sweet Sixteen
Regional 3rd-place game
Houston
Kansas State
South Carolina
W 102–89
L 63–66
L 85–90
align="center"

| 1982

No. 8First roundNo. 9 TennesseeL 57–61
align="center"

| 1983

No. 8First roundNo. 9 RutgersL 53–60
align="center"

| 1992

No. 13First round
Second Round
No. 4 Oklahoma
No. 12 New Mexico State
W 87–83
L 73–81
align="center"

| 1994

No. 11First roundNo. 6 MarquetteL 59–81
align="center"

| 2000

No. 13First roundNo. 4 TennesseeL 58–63
align="center"

| 2004*

No. 14First roundNo. 3 NC StateL 52–61
align="center"

| 2005*

No. 13First roundNo. 4 LouisvilleL 62–68
align="center"

| 2014

No. 14First roundNo. 3 CreightonL 66–76
align="center"

| 2023

No. 13First roundNo. 4 TennesseeL 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.

class="wikitable"

{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns|Year|Round|Opponent|Result}}

align="center"

| 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.

class="wikitable"

{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns|Year|Round|Opponent|Result}}

align="center"

| 1965

First round
Second Round
Colorado State-Pueblo
Oklahoma Baptist
W 66–59
L 82–95
align="center"

| 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.

class="wikitable"

{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns|Year|Round|Opponent|Result}}

align="center"

| 1980

First round
Second Round
Quarterfinals
UAB
Texas
Minnesota
W 74–72
W 77–76
L 73–94
align="center"

| 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
align="center"

| 1985

First round
Second Round
Florida
Tennessee
W 65–64
L 72–73
align="center"

| 2002

Opening RoundLouisiana TechL 63–83
align="center"

| 2003

First roundUABL 80–82
align="center"

| 2018

First roundLSUL 76–84

=CIT results=

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

class="wikitable"

{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns|Year|Round|Opponent|Result}}

align="center"

| 2012

First roundRiceL 63–68
align="center"

| 2015

First round
Second Round
Quarterfinals
Incarnate Word
Sam Houston State
Evansville
W 83–68
W 71–70
L 82–89
align="center"

| 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|Earl K. Long Gymnasium}}

=Blackham Coliseum=

{{main|Blackham Coliseum}}

=Cajundome=

{{main|Cajundome}}

Notable players

See also

References

{{Reflist}}