Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns

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.

"Ragin' Cajun" redirects here. For other uses, see Ragin' Cajun (disambiguation).
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
UniversityUniversity of Louisiana at Lafayette
ConferenceSun Belt Conference
NCAADivision I FBS
Athletic directorBryan Maggard
LocationLafayette, Louisiana
Varsity teams16
Football stadiumCajun Field
Basketball arenaCajundome
Earl K. Long Gymnasium
Baseball stadiumM. L. Tigue Moore Field at Russo Park
Softball stadiumYvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park
Soccer stadiumRagin' Cajuns Soccer/Track Facility
Other arenasCajun Courts
Oakbourne Country Club
MascotCayenne
NicknameRagin' Cajuns
Fight songRagin' Cajuns Fight Song
ColorsVermilion and White[1]
         
Websitewww.ragincajuns.com

Nickname
Louisiana is a member of the Sun Belt Conference

The University states that "Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns" is the nickname of the school's athletic teams.[2]

Founded in 1901 as Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute (SLII), the school is believed to have then been known as the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs nickname persisted when the school was renamed Southwestern Louisiana Institute (SLI) in 1921. In 1960, the school became University of Southwestern Louisiana (USL) and in 1963 then–football coach Russ Faulkinberry changed the nickname of the football team from "Bulldogs" to "Raging 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. Raging Cajuns was later 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) and maintained the Ragin' Cajuns nickname.[3]

Facilities

The area where the majority of the school's athletic facilities are located is formally known as the "Edgar G. "Sonny" Mouton, Jr. Sports and Entertainment Plaza." It is located apart from the main campus, and is bounded by West Congress Street to the north, Bertrand Drive to the west, Reinhardt Drive and Souvenir Gate to the south, and the coulee feeding into Coulee Mine to the east.[4] It is more informally known as the Athletic Complex. Located in this area are:

The Cajundome is a 13,500-seat multi-purpose arena. It is home to the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Men's and Women's basketball programs in addition to hosting various University events and commencement ceremonies including high school graduations. It also hosts many regional concerts (seating for concerts 8,481 to 13,500) and special events
Nicknamed The Swamp, Cajun Field is the home field of Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team. Cajun Field has an official capacity of 41,426 with 2,577 chairback seats.
Lamson Park is the home of the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns softball program.
More commonly known as "the Tigue," is the home stadium of the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball team. Built in 1979 it currently has a capacity of 6,033.
  • Track and Field Complex
  • Donald and Janice Mosing Student-Athlete Performance Center
The SAPC is a 100,000-square foot facility that houses the Ragin' Cajuns football offices, strength and conditioning, athletic training and the equipment room. Opened in September 2015, is the largest in the Sun Belt Conference and is one of the largest among Division I schools across the South. It includes a 12,000-square foot weight room, the state-of-the-art athletic training room and hydrotherapy area, nutrition station and the 150-seat auditorium.[5]
  • Leon Moncla Indoor Practice Facility
Completed in August, 2007, at a cost of approximately $4.5 million, the facility houses a full 120-yard football field covered by a turf surface. It also contains a basketball practice facility which includes a full court with six goals, locker room, video room, players lounge and meeting room. The facility also contains drop-down batting cages which are utilized by the basketball, softball and golf teams. The baseball and softball teams also use the facility as needed.[6]

Additionally, while just outside the sports complex, Bourgeois Hall (Health & PE) is located immediately next to Lamson Park. Also, Earl K. Long Gym (Women's basketball and volleyball) is located on the main campus

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
Main article: Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball
  • First Year of Baseball: 1903
  • First Year of Division I: 1972
  • Years of Baseball: 101st 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: 16
    • Gulf States Conference (1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953)
    • Southland Conference (1972 and 1973)
    • American South Conference (1989, 1990, 1991)
    • Sun Belt Conference (1997, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2014, 2016)
  • Conference Tournament championships: 7
    • American South Conference (1988, 1990, 1991)
    • 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
Main article: Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns 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.[7]

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.

  • 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, and 1969 Gulf States Conference regular season champions
  • 1977 and 1982 Southland Conference regular season champions
  • 1992, 2000, and 2018 Sun Belt Conference regular season champions
  • 2002, 2003, 2008, and 2011 Sun Belt Conference West division champions
  • 1982 Southland Conference tournament champions
  • 1992, 1994, 2000, 2014 Sun Belt Conference tournament champions
  • 1982, 1983, 1992, 1994, 2000, 2014 NCAA Tournament appearances

Women's basketball
Main article: Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball

The Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team plays their home games at the Cajundome. They are currently coached by Gary Brodhead.

Football
Main article: Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns 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.[8]
  • Participates in NCAA Division I FBS in the Sun Belt Conference. First played in 1901 under the school's previous name SLII.[9]
  • Charter member of NCAA Division I-A football.[10]
  • 1968 and 1970 Gulf States Conference champions, 1952 and 1965 Gulf States co-champions
  • 2005 Sun Belt Conference co-champions
  • 2018 and 2019 Sun Belt Conference divisional champions
  • 1993 and 1994 Big West Conference co-champions
  • 1944 Oil Bowl champion
  • 2012 New Orleans Bowl champions[11]
  • 2014 New Orleans Bowl champions[12]

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.[13]

On December 15, 2017, Billy Napier was named head football coach of the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns.[14]

Softball
Main article: Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns softball

The Softball team is among the most successful of all Ragin' Cajun teams, having won 21 regular season championships, 16 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 19 of the past 20 seasons. The Ragin' Cajuns have been Sun Belt Conference regular season champions in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2019, Sun Belt tournament champions in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2019 along with 27 NCAA Regionals, 33 NFCA All-Americans, and 37 consecutive winning seasons (only having one losing season, 1981, their first year of play in which they would finish 6–14).

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

Men's tennis

1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, and 1982 Southland Conference Champions; 1992, 1998, 2006, and 2014 Sun Belt Conference Champions, highest national ranking #15 (1988).

The current head coach is Mark Jeffrey. They play their home matches at Cajun Courts, an off-campus tennis complex at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette near M. L. Tigue Moore Field at Russo Park, the Athletic Training facility, Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park and Cajun Field.

Women's Tennis

1986 and 1987 Southland Conference Champions and 1990 and 1991 American Southwest Conference Champions, highest national ranking was in 2006 at No. 51.

The current head coach is Stephanie Vallejos. They play their home matches at Cajun Courts, an off-campus tennis complex at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette near M. L. Tigue Moore Field at Russo Park, the Athletic Training facility, Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park and Cajun Field.

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, 2019.

Traditions

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) (2000-2010)

Notable players and coaches
Further information: List of University of Louisiana at Lafayette people § Sports alumni

Ragin Cajun Network

Louisiana launched the Ragin' Cajun Radio 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/KPEL 96.5 FM /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. "Proper Use of the University's Name". louisiana.edu. University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  3. "What is the Name?". RaginCajuns.com. Louisiana–Lafayette Athletics. October 28, 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  4. https://law.justia.com/codes/louisiana/2018/code-revisedstatutes/title-49/rs-49-149.32/
  5. https://ragincajuns.com/facilities/donald-and-janice-mosing-student-athlete-performance-center/22
  6. https://ragincajuns.com/sports/2013/1/3/ATHL_0103134344.aspx?id=532
  7. "UL Coach (1957-73) Beryl Shipley". RaginPagin.com. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  8. 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
  9. "Football 1901-02". RaginPagin.com. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  10. "Lafayette Ragin Cajuns Football History". Collegefootballhistory.com. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  11. "New Orleans Bowl: Home". Neworleansbowl.org. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  12. "New Orleans Bowl: Home". Neworleansbowl.org. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  13. "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.
  14. "UL hires Billy Napier as head football coach". www.RaginCajuns.com. December 15, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
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