# 2022–23 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team

The 2022–23 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette during the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Ragin' Cajuns, led by 13th-year head coach Bob Marlin, played their home games at the Cajundome as members of the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 26–8, 13–5 in Sun Belt play to finish in a tie for second place. As the No. 2 seed in the Sun Belt tournament, they defeated Georgia Southern, Texas State, and South Alabama to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 13 seed in the East region. Then they lost to Tennessee in the first round.

## Previous season

The Ragin' Cajuns finished the 2021–22 season 16–15, 8–9 in Sun Belt play to finish in eighth place. They defeated UT Arlington, Texas State, and Troy to advance to the Sun Belt tournament championship where they lost to Georgia State.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Trajan Wesley | 3 | G | 5'9" | 165 | Junior | Navasota, TX | Transferred to Prairie View A&M |
| Theo Akwuba | 10 | F | 6'11" | 225 | Junior | Montgomery, AL | Transferred to Ole Miss |
| Durey Cadwell | 11 | G | 6'5" | 185 | Sophomore | Houston, TX | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Dou Gueye | 23 | F | 6'9" | 220 | Senior | Dakar, Senegal | Graduated |
| Antwann Jones | 25 | G | 6'6" | 220 | RS Sophomore | Orlando, FL | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Carter Domingue | 40 | G | 6'2" | 205 | Freshman | Lafayette, LA | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Brayan Au | 41 | G | 6'4" | 190 | Junior | Nuevo Casas Grandes, Mexico | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Ty Harper | 55 | G | 6'3" | 175 | Freshman | Norcross, GA | Transferred to Eastern Washington |

### Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Themus Fulks | 0 | G | 6'1" | 175 | RS Sophomore | Winston-Salem, NC | Dodge City CC |
| Terence Lewis II | 34 | G | 6'6" | 205 | Senior | Upper Marlboro, MD | Jackson State |

### Recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Chancellor White SG | Richmond, TX | Foster High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Sep 16, 2021 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Vincent Sigona PG | Plano, TX | Prestonwood Christian Academy | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Kyran Ratliff PF | New Orleans, LA | Booker T. Washington High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Louisiana 2022-23 Basketball Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 26, 2022. "2022-23 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 26, 2022. ||||||

## Preseason
### Preseason Sun Belt Conference poll

The Ragin' Cajuns were picked to win the conference in the conference's preseason poll; they received 10 of 14 first-place votes. Junior forward Jordan Brown was named the preseason player of the year. Sophomore forward Kobe Julien was named to the preseason All-SBC Second Team.
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team (1st place Votes) |
| 1 | Louisiana - 190 (10) |
| 2 | Texas State - 162 (1) |
| 3 | South Alabama - 150 (1) |
| 4 | James Madison - 149 (1) |
| 5 | Georgia State - 127 (1) |
| 6 | Marshall - 122 |
| 7 | App State - 120 |
| 8 | Coastal Carolina - 100 |
| 9 | Old Dominion - 93 |
| 10 | Troy - 76 |
| 11 | Georgia Southern - 69 |
| 12 | Arkansas State - 48 |
| 13 | Southern Miss - 34 |
| 14 | ULM - 30 |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 7, 2022* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Centenary | W 106–55 | 1–0 | 26 – Brown | 10 – Charles | 7 – Fulks | Cajundome (2,045) Lafayette, LA |
| November 11, 2022* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | vs. Harvard Asheville Championship semifinals | W 75–61 | 2–0 | 20 – Lewis II | 11 – Lewis II | 3 – Fulks | Harrah's Cherokee Center (565) Asheville, NC |
| November 13, 2022* 3:30 p.m., ESPNU | | vs. East Tennessee State Asheville Championship final | W 81–77 | 3–0 | 14 – Brown | 9 – Lewis II | 5 – Fulks | Harrah's Cherokee Center (1,221) Asheville, NC |
| November 17, 2022* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Louisiana Tech | W 94–88 | 4–0 | 23 – Lewis II | 12 – Lewis II | 7 – Fulks | Cajundome (3,181) Lafayette, LA |
| November 22, 2022* 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at SMU | W 76–72 | 5–0 | 26 – Brown | 9 – Williams Jr. | 6 – Thomas | Moody Coliseum (3,194) University Park, TX |
| November 26, 2022* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Drake | L 64–76 | 5–1 | 16 – Fulks | 7 – Brown | 3 – Fulks | Knapp Center (2,819) Des Moines, IA |
| November 29, 2022* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Loyola (New Orleans) | W 104–70 | 6–1 | 27 – Brown | 17 – Lewis II | 9 – Fulks | Cajundome (2,630) Lafayette, LA |
| December 3, 2022* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at New Orleans | W 78–77 | 7–1 | 27 – Williams Jr. | 13 – Brown | 5 – Fulks | Lakefront Arena (1,243) New Orleans, LA |
| December 10, 2022* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Samford | W 75–58 | 8–1 | 19 – Lewis II | 10 – Lewis II | 7 – Fulks | Cajundome (2,643) Lafayette, LA |
| December 12, 2022* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Louisiana Christian | W 98–63 | 9–1 | 37 – Brown | 6 – Tied | 11 – Fulks | Cajundome (2,475) Lafayette, LA |
| December 15, 2022* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at McNeese State | W 78–70 | 10–1 | 20 – Brown | 8 – Lewis II | 6 – Fulks | The Legacy Center (2,101) Lake Charles, LA |
| December 21, 2022* 7:00 p.m., LHN | | at No. 7 Texas | L 72–100 | 10–2 | 20 – Brown | 6 – Brown | 5 – Fulks | Moody Center (10,763) Austin, TX |
| Sun Belt Conference regular season |||||||||
| December 29, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Coastal Carolina | L 76–77 | 10–3 (0–1) | 25 – Brown | 10 – Lewis II | 9 – Fulks | HTC Center (1,372) Conway, SC |
| December 31, 2022 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Old Dominion | L 66–70 | 10–4 (0–2) | 16 – Tied | 11 – Brown | 12 – Fulks | Chartway Arena (5,094) Norfolk, VA |
| January 5, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Southern Miss | W 75–61 | 11–4 (1–2) | 20 – Garnett | 9 – Lewis II | 5 – Fulks | Cajundome (3,007) Lafayette, LA |
| January 7, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Georgia State | W 78–70 | 12–4 (2–2) | 16 – Brown | 10 – Brown | 5 – Fulks | Cajundome (3,306) Lafayette, LA |
| January 12, 2023 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Louisiana–Monroe | W 86–73 | 13–4 (3–2) | 21 – Brown | 8 – Lewis II | 8 – Fulks | Fant–Ewing Coliseum (3,568) Monroe, LA |
| January 14, 2023 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at South Alabama | W 79–76 | 14–4 (4–2) | 23 – Brown | 8 – Brown | 6 – Brown | Mitchell Center (2,246) Mobile, AL |
| January 19, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Arkansas State | W 80–71 | 15–4 (5–2) | 31 – Brown | 13 – Brown | 11 – Fulks | First National Bank Arena (1,132) Jonesboro, AR |
| January 21, 2023 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Texas State | W 60–51 | 16–4 (6–2) | 22 – Williams | 9 – Brown | 4 – Fulks | Strahan Coliseum (3,397) San Marcos, TX |
| January 26, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Troy | W 72–57 | 17–4 (7–2) | 21 – Williams | 11 – Lewis II | 7 – Fulks | Cajundome (3,148) Lafayette, LA |
| January 28, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Georgia Southern | W 94–87 | 18–4 (8–2) | 21 – Williams | 11 – Lewis II | 6 – Fulks | Cajundome (3,504) Lafayette, LA |
| February 2, 2023 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Texas State | W 82–63 | 19–4 (9–2) | 23 – Williams Jr. | 7 – Brown | 9 – Fulks | Cajundome (3,256) Lafayette, LA |
| February 4, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Marshall | W 77–67 | 20–4 (10–2) | 26 – Brown | 20 – Brown | 7 – Fulks | Cajundome (5,351) Lafayette, LA |
| February 9, 2023 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Southern Miss | L 71–82 | 20–5 (10–3) | 25 – Brown | 8 – Tied | 4 – Fulks | Reed Green Coliseum (8,097) Hattiesburg, MS |
| February 11, 2023 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Troy | L 60–85 | 20–6 (10–4) | 15 – Williams Jr. | 8 – Richards | 6 – Fulks | Trojan Arena (3,772) Troy, AL |
| February 16, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Louisiana–Monroe | W 84–67 | 21–6 (11–4) | 17 – Fulks | 7 – Brown | 4 – Thomas | Cajundome (2,948) Lafayette, IN |
| February 18, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at James Madison | L 68–74 | 21–7 (11–5) | 17 – Brown | 10 – Brown | 7 – Fulks | Atlantic Union Bank Center (5,668) Harrisonburg, VA |
| February 22, 2023 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Arkansas State | W 85–74 | 22–7 (12–5) | 24 – Brown | 12 – Brown | 3 – Tied | Cajundome (2,615) Lafayette, LA |
| February 24, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | South Alabama | W 74–64 | 23–7 (13–5) | 28 – Brown | 11 – Brown | 5 – Fulks | Cajundome Lafayette, LA |
| Sun Belt tournament |||||||||
| March 4, 2023 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (2) | vs. (7) Georgia Southern Quarterfinals | W 67–49 | 24–7 | 16 – Brown | 13 – Brown | 3 – Lewis II | Pensacola Bay Center Pensacola, FL |
| March 5, 2023 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (2) | vs. (11) Texas State Semifinals | W 64–58 | 25–7 | 18 – Brown | 7 – Tied | 5 – Fulks | Pensacola Bay Center (2,050) Pensacola, FL |
| March 6, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (2) | vs. (8) South Alabama Championship | W 71–66 | 26–7 | 23 – Fulks | 16 – Brown | 3 – Fulks | Pensacola Bay Center Pensacola, FL |
| NCAA Tournament |||||||||
| March 16, 2023* 8:40 pm, CBS | (13 E) | vs. (4 E) No. 20 Tennessee First Round | L 55–58 | 26–8 | 16 – Brown | 7 – Brown | 11 – Fulks | Amway Center (18,018) Orlando, FL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||
Source