Cajuns Officially Open Practice For 2016-17 Season

LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team officially opened preparations for the 2016-17 season with their first practice of the fall on Monday at the Moncla Indoor Practice Facility.

Led by returning starters Jay Wright, Johnathan Stove and Bryce Washington, the Ragin' Cajuns look to build off a 19-15 season that featured a quarterfinal appearance in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

"It was a good first day, the guys were energetic and moving well," seventh-year head coach Bob Marlin said. "We had a good fall of workouts and being in the weight room. I feel like we're stronger and in better shape. Our basketball workouts were good in September and after a week off, they look fresh today."

The trio of Wright – the team's lone senior – along with the junior duo of Stove and Washington will be a part of group looking to replace four-year All-Sun Belt Conference performer and 2016 AP Honorable Mention All-American Shawn Long, who finished as the all-time leading rebounder in Ragin' Cajuns and Sun Belt Conference history.

"A lot has been made of having just a few guys returning with experience," Marlin said. "When you lose a player the caliber of Shawn Long, that's hard to replace. But, we're going to do it by committee and we've got three guys (Wright, Stove and Washington) that have basically started their whole (collegiate) careers.

Long, along with second-leading scorer Kasey Shepherd, combined to average over 30 points per game for the Ragin' Cajuns in 2015-16, but Stove (8.9 ppg.), Wright (8.9 ppg.) and Washington (8.7 ppg.) form a solid nucleus that will also see the debut of BYU transfer Frank Bartley, returning veteran Scott Plaisance and the redshirt freshman tandem of Jerekius Davis and Kadavion Evans.

"We have some experience coming back with them, along with Scottie Plaisance, who needs to step up for us this season and take advantage of the opportunity," Marlin said. "We have an older guy (Bartley) that practiced with us last year, along with (redshirt freshmen) Jerekius Davis and Kadavion Evans. We have guys who have experience in our system. Now, we're ready to see what they can do on the floor."

Louisiana added three freshmen during the signing period with in-state products P.J. Hardy (Lake Charles) and Roydell Brown (New Orleans) joined by Justin Miller (Owensboro, Ky.)

"I like our freshmen … P.J. Hardy has looked good as well as Roydell Brown, Justin Miller. The competition was good in the summer, it was good today and we're just excited about the season. I think we'll be better in a lot of ways than we were last year. We'll miss not having a guy who can go get 12 rebounds a night, but we'll be able to do it by committee and hopefully, we'll be better defensively."

Louisiana will host West Florida in an exhibition game on Nov. 3 in the first of four games the Ragin' Cajuns will play at Blackham Coliseum. The Ragin' Cajuns will officially tip off the season on Nov. 11 at Minnesota before opening their home schedule on Nov. 17 against Panhandle (Okla.) State at Blackham Coliseum.

The Ragin' Cajuns will also host Delaware State (Nov. 21) and Texas Southern (Nov. 27) at Blackham Coliseum before facing Nicholls State on Dec. 1 in the first game in the newly-renovated Cajundome.

Season tickets are available by calling the Cajundome Box Office at (337) 265-2357.

Cajuns Officially Open Practice For 2016-17 Season

Players Mentioned

Roydell Brown

Jerekius Davis

Kadavion Evans

P.J. Hardy

Shawn Long

Justin Miller

Scott Plaisance

Kasey Shepherd

Johnathan Stove

Bryce Washington

Jay Wright

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