Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns

Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
University University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Conference Sun Belt Conference
NCAA Division I FBS
Athletic director Bryan Maggard
Location Lafayette, Louisiana
Varsity teams 16
Football stadium Cajun Field
Basketball arena Cajundome
Earl K. Long Gymnasium
Baseball stadium M. L. Tigue Moore Field
Softball stadium Lamson Park
Soccer stadium Ragin' Cajuns Soccer/Track Facility
Other arenas Cajun Courts
Oakbourne Country Club
Mascot Cayenne
Nickname Ragin' Cajuns
Fight song Ragin' Cajuns Fight Song
Colors Vermilion and White[1]
         
Website www.ragincajuns.com

The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns are the athletic teams of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The college has been competing athletically since 1901. The Ragin' Cajuns compete in NCAA Division I, fielding 16 varsity teams. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, was once known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana, this was just prior to the adoption of the nickname "Ragin' Cajuns," using it initially in the 1960s to refer to its football team. Prior to the 1960s, the team nickname was the "Bulldogs". In 1963 then–football coach Russ Faulkinberry changed the nickname of the football team from "Bulldogs" to "Ragin' Cajuns," a nod to the school's location in Acadiana. By the 1970s, the athletic department, sports information director Bob Henderson, and the student body picked up on the nickname. As published in the 1974 football guide, the nickname became official that year.

History

Louisiana is a member of the Sun Belt Conference

Founded in 1901 as Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute (SLII), the school is believed to have been known as the Bulldogs then. The Bulldogs nickname persisted when the school was renamed as Southwestern Louisiana Institute (SLI) in 1921. In 1960, the school became University of Southwestern Louisiana (USL) and in 1962 the nickname was changed to the Raging Cajuns, then shortened to Ragin' Cajuns. Briefly in 1984, USL's name became the University of Louisiana, but was reverted to University of Southwestern Louisiana via court challenge. In 1999, it became the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette).[2]

The University states that "Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns" is the nickname of the school's athletic teams.[3]

Mascots
  • Bulldog
  • Mr. Cajun (animated)
  • RC the Bulldog (live)
  • "Gee" the bulldog (live) prior to being the Ragin' Cajuns
  • "The Fabulous Cajun Chicken" (animated) 1982-1999
  • Cayenne (animated)

Sports sponsored

Men's sports Women's sports
BaseballBasketball
BasketballCross country
Cross countrySoccer
FootballSoftball
GolfTennis
TennisTrack and field†
Track and field†Volleyball
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor.

Baseball

  • First Year of Baseball: 1903
  • First Year of Division I: 1972
  • Years of Baseball: 91st season
  • All-Time Division I Record (since 1972): 1,301-885-4 (.595)
  • All-Time Sun Belt Record: 315-181 (.635)
  • NCAA Appearances/Last: Fifteen/2016
  • All-Time NCAA Tournament Record: 20-25
  • Regular Season Conference Championships: 14
    • Gulf States Conference (1950)
    • Southland Conference (1972, 1973, 1982)
    • American South Conference (1989–91)
    • Sun Belt Conference (1992, 1994, 1997, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2014)
  • Conference Tournament championships: 4
    • Sun Belt Conference (1998, 2014, 2015, 2016)
  • Last time in postseason: Lafayette Regional (2016)
  • Finished tied for 3rd at 2000 College World Series after knocking off overall #1 South Carolina in Super Regional. Defeated Clemson and San Jose State, lost to Stanford twice.

Men's basketball

Came to prominence under the leadership of head coach Beryl Shipley, who was responsible for breaking the color barrier in the South and won just under 70% of all games from 1957 to 1973.[4]

Notable Players include NCAA 2nd All time leading scorer Dwight "Bo" Lamar, Dean Church, Andrew Toney, Marv Winkler, Dwayne Mitchell, and Elfrid Payton.

In 1973, the university became one of only five schools to ever receive the NCAA's Death Penalty, when their basketball program was barred from competing in the NCAA for the 1973-74 and 1974-75 seasons.

The current head coach is Bob Marlin.

  • 2018 Sun Belt Conference champions

Women's basketball

Football

  • Football was the first team organized at the then Institute (SLII) in 1901, although an advertisement promoting women's gymnastics was placed in 1900.
  • Ron Gomez did the radio play-by-play for Cajuns football and basketball from 1961–1979, when he was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives. In that capacity, he worked with the David C. Treen administration to construct the Cajundome. Gomez had begun advocacy of the stadium while he served as president of the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce in 1978.[5]
  • Participates in NCAA Division I FBS in the Sun Belt Conference. First played in 1901 under the school's previous name SLII.[6]
  • Charter member of NCAA Division I-A football.[7]
  • 2005 Sun Belt Conference co-champions
  • 1993 and 1994 Big West Conference co-champions
  • 2012 New Orleans Bowl champions[8]
  • 2014 New Orleans Bowl champions[9]

Louisiana vacated 22 wins from 2011 to 2014 including the 2011 and 2013 New Orleans Bowls and also vacated the 2013 Sun Belt Conference co-championship as the result of NCAA violations of ACT exam fraud, payments to recruits, and not cooperating with the NCAA investigation.[10]

On December 15th, 2017, Billy Napier was named head football coach of the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns[11].

Softball

The Softball team is among the most successful of all Ragin' Cajun teams, having won nine regular season championships, nine conference tournament championships, and six appearances in the Women's College World Series (1993, 1995, 1996, 2003, 2008, and 2014). During the 2008 WCWS appearance the Ragin' Cajuns defeated #1 ranked Florida and eventually finished fifth. The Ragin' Cajun softball team has seen post-season play in 24 of the past 25 seasons. The Ragin' Cajuns have been Sun Belt Conference champions in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2014 along with 15 NCAA Regionals, 33 All-Americans, 24 consecutive winning seasons.

The current head coach is Gerry Glasco. He replaced former head coach Michael Lotief, who was fired on November 19, 2017.

Men's tennis

1992, 1998, 2006, and 2014 Sun Belt Conference Champions, highest national ranking #15 (1988).

The current head coach is Mark Jeffrey.

Non–varsity sports

Men's Lacrosse as part of the MCLA, Badminton, Bowling, Cheerleading, Cricket, Ice Hockey as part of the ACHA, Inline Hockey as part of the NCRHA, Judo, Powerlifting, Rugby, Men's Soccer, Sport Shooting, Tae Kwon Do, Water Skiing.

  • Water Skiing - First year of competition: 1989. Has finished no worse than third in the annual NCWSA National Collegiate Water Ski Association championships since 1993. National champions: 1995, 1997, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2015.

Notable sports alumni

Ragin Cajun Network

Louisiana launched the Ragin' Cajun Network in August 2011. The Network is a series of radio and television networks that provide access to sporting events throughout the state of Louisiana. Two Lafayette radio stations, KPEL-AM and KHXT-FM, provide play by play radio commentary called by broadcasters Jay Walker, and Steve Peloquin. The full list of participating stations are:

  • KPEL 1420 AM/KHXT 107.9 FM in Lafayette
  • KANE 1240 AM in New Iberia
  • WGSO 990 AM in New Orleans
  • KTUX 98.9 FM in Shreveport
  • KLCL 1470 AM/KJEF 1290 AM in Lake Charles

Television coverage is provided by Cox Communications as part of their Cox 4 and Cox Sports Television networks. Cox Sports Television now has over 2 million subscriptions in the states of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Virginia. Additionally, all games aired by the channels will also be available online at ESPN3.com provided nationwide coverage to the Ragin' Cajuns.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "ULL Brand Guide and Graphic Standards Manual" (PDF). Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  2. ↑ "What is the Name?". RaginCajuns.com. Louisiana–Lafayette Athletics. October 28, 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Proper Use of the University's Name". louisiana.edu. University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  4. ↑ "UL Coach (1957-73) Beryl Shipley". RaginPagin.com. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  5. ↑ Ron Gomez, My Name Is Ron And I'm a Recovering Legislator: Memoirs of a Louisiana State Representative, Lafayette, Louisiana: Zemog Publishing, 2000, pp. 9, 111-112; ISBN 0-9700156-0-7
  6. ↑ "Football 1901-02". RaginPagin.com. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  7. ↑ "Lafayette Ragin Cajuns Football History". Collegefootballhistory.com. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "New Orleans Bowl: Home". Neworleansbowl.org. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  9. ↑ "New Orleans Bowl: Home". Neworleansbowl.org. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  10. ↑ "Exam fraud, recruit payments among NCAA accusations against UL-Lafayette, ex-assistant coach David Saunders". The Baton Rouge Advocate. October 11, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  11. ↑ "UL hires Billy Napier as head football coach". www.RaginCajuns.com. December 15, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
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