Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns

Louisiana–Lafayette 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
Mascot Cayenne
Nickname Ragin' Cajuns
Fight song Ragin' Cajuns Fight Song
Colors Vermilion and White[1]
         
Website www.ragincajuns.com
Louisiana–Lafayette is a member of the Sun Belt Conference

The Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (branded as the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns)[2] 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.

Men's sports

Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns compete in the following NCAA sports
Men's sports Women's sports
Sport Division Conference Sport Division Conference
Baseball I Sun Belt Softball I Sun Belt
Basketball I Sun Belt Basketball I Sun Belt
Cross country I Sun Belt Cross country I Sun Belt
Football I FBS Sun Belt Soccer I Sun Belt
Golf I Sun Belt Volleyball I Sun Belt
Tennis I Sun Belt Tennis I Sun Belt
Track & field (indoor) I Sun Belt Track & field (indoor) I Sun Belt
Track & field (outdoor) I Sun Belt Track & field (outdoor) I Sun Belt

Baseball

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.[3]

Conference Regular Season Championships

Conference Division Regular Season Championships

Conference Tournament Championships

National Tournament Appearances

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.

Football

Louisiana–Lafayette 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.[9]

The current head coach is Mark Hudspeth.

Men's tennis

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

The current head coach is Mark Jeffrey.

Women's sports

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 team is led by Michael Lotief. Until 2012, he was co-head coach with his wife Stefni, who stepped down to devote time to their family.

Other sports

Club 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

History

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 (ULL).[10]

The university states that "Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns® is the nickname of the University’s athletic teams."[11]

Traditions

Mascots

Former

Current

Notable sports alumni

Ragin Cajun Network

Louisiana–Lafayette 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:

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". University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
  3. ↑ "UL Coach (1957-73) Beryl Shipley". RaginPagin.com. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  4. ↑ 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
  5. ↑ "Football 1901-02". RaginPagin.com. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  6. ↑ "Lafayette Ragin Cajuns Football History". Collegefootballhistory.com. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  7. ↑ "New Orleans Bowl: Home". Neworleansbowl.org. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "New Orleans Bowl: Home". Neworleansbowl.org. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  9. ↑ "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.
  10. ↑ "What is the Name?". RaginCajuns.com. Louisiana–Lafayette Athletics. October 28, 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Proper Use of the University's Name". louisiana.edu. University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
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