# 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.

## 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.

#### 1973 death penalty

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.

## 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 |

## 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.