University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Athletics Announces 2026 Hall of Fame Class
8/24/2026 4:41:00 PM | Athletics
Five-member class to be inducted on October 16
LAFAYETTE – The longest-tenured coach in UL Football history, the lone player in women's basketball history to record 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, plus a pair of All-Americans and a record-setting wide receiver are part of the 2026 UL Athletics Hall of Fame Class, the Board of Directors of the Ragin' Cajuns Letterman Club announced on Monday.
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Entering the school's Hall of Fame – the highest honor the university's athletic department can bestow on a former athlete or staff member – are Nelson Stokley (football/administration), Dylan Moore (baseball), Lawrence Willis (men's track and field), Teena Cooper (women's basketball) and Fred Stamps (football).
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The five-member class will be formally inducted into the UL Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday, October 16, in a ceremony in the McElligott Club of the new Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium. Tickets for the event will officially go on sale at a later date.
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The class will also be recognized during Louisiana's football game against Arkansas State on Saturday, October 17 at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium.
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The University's Hall of Fame recognizes men and women who distinguished themselves as student-athletes and have made significant contributions to their professions and their communities. They are nominated and selected through a process that is overseen by the board of directors of the Ragin' Cajuns Lettermen Club, an organization of former student-athletes who have lettered in their sport.
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In 2015, new eligibility criteria for the Hall of Fame were adopted to allow the nomination of coaches and administrators, as well as alumni whose collegiate careers were shortened by the chance to pursue professional sports careers.
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The 2026 inductee class:
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Women's Basketball
Teena Cooper (1984-88)
A 1989 graduate, Cooper remains the UL all-time career rebound leader with 1,082 and ranks seventh in school history in scoring with 1,358 points, remaining the only player in UL history with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds … Second all-time in shooting at 56.1% field goals, and set school record for single-game shooting with 10-for-10 against Rice in 1998 … Led Southland Conference in shooting in 1986-87 (60.9%) while also leading league in rebounding (282), rebound average (10.4) and field goals (195) ... Set school record with 21 rebounds against Nicholls (still second all-time) … Played in 109 games with 105 starts (fifth all-time) and led UL in scoring at 16.6 as a junior … All-SLC first-team as junior in 1987 and All-American South Conference second-team in 1988, and two-time All-Louisiana second-team pick.
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Baseball
Dylan Moore (2015-18)
Unquestionably the top relief pitcher in Cajun history … Career record 38 saves, more than double any other UL player (second place on career list is 16, Matt Hicks, 2011-13) … Also first in career games pitched (106) … Led team in saves three straight years – 13 in 2015, school record 14 in 2016 and 11 in 2017 – which ranks first, second and fourth in UL single-season saves list … Second all-time in games pitched in a season (32 in 2015) … Led team in ERA twice with 1.60 in 2015 and 0.91 in 2016 (school record for a relief pitcher) … National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America (NCBWA) second-team All-American in 2016 and NCBWA, Louisville Slugger and Perfect Game All-Freshman team in 2015 … ABCA All-Region 2nd team in 2015 and 2016 … First-team All-Sun Belt Conference in 2016 and second-team in 2015 … All-Louisiana firs team in 2016 … Three-time CoSIDA Academic All-America selection – first team in 2015, second team in 2016 and 2017 – and three-time District VI All-Academic first team … Three-time Sun Belt All-Academic team … Helped Cajuns to win at NCAA Houston Regional and to Baton Rouge Super Regional in 2015, and to Sun Belt regular-season and tournament championship and to NCAA Lafayette Regional in 2016.
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Men's Track and Field
Lawrence Willis (2002-04)
A three-time All-American and nine-time All-Sun Belt Conference honoree before a noteworthy international track and field career … the Iota, La., native and 2005 UL graduate won both the indoor and outdoor triple jump and long jump titles (all four) in 2004 in his senior year, the only Cajun ever to win two different events in both indoor and outdoor in the same year … A member of the all-time Sun Belt Conference team (picked after the league's first 30 years) and the Sun Belt's Outstanding Performer in the 2002 Indoor Championships … Won a total of eight Sun Belt titles, sweeping the triple jump indoors and outdoors all three years in 2002, 2003 and 2004 and adding the indoor and outdoor long jump titles in 2004 … Ranks second in school history in the triple jump outdoors with a 53-11 ¼ mark (behind only HOF member Ndaba Mdhlongwa) and third in school history indoors a 54-4 (behind HOF'ers Mdhlongwa and Larry Moore) … Also ranks fifth all-time in the long jump indoors at 24-7 ¾ … Earned All-America honors in the outdoor triple jump in 2003 and was both indoor and outdoor All-American in 2004 when he finished third in the NCAA national championship in the triple jump, and later was sixth in the U.S. Outdoor Championship/ Olympic Trials … A member of Team USA in the 2007 World Championships in Rio de Janiero and finished fifth in the triple jump there – one of only three UL athletes ever to place in the top five at the World Championships (Hollis Conway and Mdhlongwa) … Also competed in Pan American Games for Team USA in 2007.
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Football
Fred Stamps (2000-03)
Record-setting wide receiver in four-year Cajun career before a decade as one of the top receivers in the Canadian Football League … Second all-time at UL in both career receptions (180) and receiving yards (2,789), both behind only HOFer Brandon Stokley … Still holds school record for consecutive games with a reception (44) … One of three players in school history with a 1,000-yard receiving season with 1,002 yards as junior in 2002, which is fifth highest total all-time … Eight TD's that year is tied for seventh among receivers, and he led team in scoring that year – something that no wide receiver has done since (23 years) … Averaged 18.6 yards per catch in that 2002 season, which is the highest average in school history with a minimum of 40 catches … Led team in receiving each of last two years … 13 catches vs. Middle Tennessee in 2003 is second-most all-time as is his 201 yards in that game, and also has third-highest single-game yardage total with 198 vs. ULM in 2003 … Three TD's vs. MT is tied for most in a game by a receiver … First team All-Sun Belt Conference as junior and senior in 2002 and 2003 … Numbers would likely be higher but never played on a winning team or in bowl or postseason game … Was not drafted by NFL and was on practice rosters with San Francisco 49ers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens for three years before joining the CFL …Played nine years in CFL, eight with the Edmonton Eskimos and a final year with the Montreal Alouettes and earned All-CFL honors four times (writers vote) and five times (CFL players vote along with five-time West Division All-Star … Had 536 catches for 8,411 yards in CFL career, both in league's all-time top 50 (CFL records go back more than a century) … Second all-time for Eskimos in career reception yardage (7,932 yards) and third in career receptions (496) and led team in receiving five straight years … Three-time Eskimos MVP (2009, 2010, 2013) … Led CFL in receiving twice, in third year in 2009 (85 catches, 1,402 yards, 8 TD) and in 2013 (1,259 yards) and ranked fourth in league in 2011 (1,153 yards) and second in 2012 (1,310 yards) … Career high 14 catches in one game against Hamilton in 2011 is two off CFL all-time record … Played in 133 CFL games and started 130, and had receptions in 111 straight games, 13th-best in CFL history.
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Coach/Administrator
Nelson Stokley (1986-98)
The longest-tenured coach in UL football history (143 games), Nelson Stokley guided the Ragin' Cajun football team through a decade of independent status and helped set the stage for a return to conference affiliation … Finished his 13-year career with a 62-80-1 record, but most of those seasons came when his team was forced to schedule against power conference squads and strong teams in the Southern independent rankings, while also playing major-college teams in road games … Had all-time 38-26-1 record at Cajun Field … Played 20 games against SEC teams and eight against Big 12 teams including three SEC foes in 1987 alone, and played 38 games against teams now in Power 4 conferences during his career … Coached in biggest upset in UL football history, a 29-22 win over nationally ranked Texas A&M … In the three years his teams played a conference schedule in the Big West Conference in 1993-95, Stokley's clubs went 20-13 overall and 14-4 against Big West teams, tying for the conference title twice – losing out on their first-ever Division I bowl bid on tiebreakers both times -- and tying for second in the third year … 1993 team compiled 8-3 record, winning eight of its last nine with the only loss at Florida, but was shut out of a bowl game since Big West had only one bowl tie-in … Named Coach of the Year in Big West and in Louisiana that year, which was his first year out of the dual AD-head coach role that he filled for six years … In last year in Big West and first year after that league folded (his final year), UL played eight preseason top-25 teams and eight teams that wound up in bowl games … Former standout quarterback at LSU with two bowl wins during career, and came to UL from position as offensive coordinator at Clemson for six years, helping Tigers to three conference titles and 1981 national championship … 12-letter winner at Crowley High.
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Fans are encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here for iOS/Apple platforms and here for Android platforms.
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Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (@RaginCajuns) to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Louisiana Athletics.
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Entering the school's Hall of Fame – the highest honor the university's athletic department can bestow on a former athlete or staff member – are Nelson Stokley (football/administration), Dylan Moore (baseball), Lawrence Willis (men's track and field), Teena Cooper (women's basketball) and Fred Stamps (football).
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The five-member class will be formally inducted into the UL Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday, October 16, in a ceremony in the McElligott Club of the new Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium. Tickets for the event will officially go on sale at a later date.
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The class will also be recognized during Louisiana's football game against Arkansas State on Saturday, October 17 at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium.
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The University's Hall of Fame recognizes men and women who distinguished themselves as student-athletes and have made significant contributions to their professions and their communities. They are nominated and selected through a process that is overseen by the board of directors of the Ragin' Cajuns Lettermen Club, an organization of former student-athletes who have lettered in their sport.
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In 2015, new eligibility criteria for the Hall of Fame were adopted to allow the nomination of coaches and administrators, as well as alumni whose collegiate careers were shortened by the chance to pursue professional sports careers.
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The 2026 inductee class:
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Women's Basketball
Teena Cooper (1984-88)
A 1989 graduate, Cooper remains the UL all-time career rebound leader with 1,082 and ranks seventh in school history in scoring with 1,358 points, remaining the only player in UL history with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds … Second all-time in shooting at 56.1% field goals, and set school record for single-game shooting with 10-for-10 against Rice in 1998 … Led Southland Conference in shooting in 1986-87 (60.9%) while also leading league in rebounding (282), rebound average (10.4) and field goals (195) ... Set school record with 21 rebounds against Nicholls (still second all-time) … Played in 109 games with 105 starts (fifth all-time) and led UL in scoring at 16.6 as a junior … All-SLC first-team as junior in 1987 and All-American South Conference second-team in 1988, and two-time All-Louisiana second-team pick.
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Baseball
Dylan Moore (2015-18)
Unquestionably the top relief pitcher in Cajun history … Career record 38 saves, more than double any other UL player (second place on career list is 16, Matt Hicks, 2011-13) … Also first in career games pitched (106) … Led team in saves three straight years – 13 in 2015, school record 14 in 2016 and 11 in 2017 – which ranks first, second and fourth in UL single-season saves list … Second all-time in games pitched in a season (32 in 2015) … Led team in ERA twice with 1.60 in 2015 and 0.91 in 2016 (school record for a relief pitcher) … National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America (NCBWA) second-team All-American in 2016 and NCBWA, Louisville Slugger and Perfect Game All-Freshman team in 2015 … ABCA All-Region 2nd team in 2015 and 2016 … First-team All-Sun Belt Conference in 2016 and second-team in 2015 … All-Louisiana firs team in 2016 … Three-time CoSIDA Academic All-America selection – first team in 2015, second team in 2016 and 2017 – and three-time District VI All-Academic first team … Three-time Sun Belt All-Academic team … Helped Cajuns to win at NCAA Houston Regional and to Baton Rouge Super Regional in 2015, and to Sun Belt regular-season and tournament championship and to NCAA Lafayette Regional in 2016.
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Men's Track and Field
Lawrence Willis (2002-04)
A three-time All-American and nine-time All-Sun Belt Conference honoree before a noteworthy international track and field career … the Iota, La., native and 2005 UL graduate won both the indoor and outdoor triple jump and long jump titles (all four) in 2004 in his senior year, the only Cajun ever to win two different events in both indoor and outdoor in the same year … A member of the all-time Sun Belt Conference team (picked after the league's first 30 years) and the Sun Belt's Outstanding Performer in the 2002 Indoor Championships … Won a total of eight Sun Belt titles, sweeping the triple jump indoors and outdoors all three years in 2002, 2003 and 2004 and adding the indoor and outdoor long jump titles in 2004 … Ranks second in school history in the triple jump outdoors with a 53-11 ¼ mark (behind only HOF member Ndaba Mdhlongwa) and third in school history indoors a 54-4 (behind HOF'ers Mdhlongwa and Larry Moore) … Also ranks fifth all-time in the long jump indoors at 24-7 ¾ … Earned All-America honors in the outdoor triple jump in 2003 and was both indoor and outdoor All-American in 2004 when he finished third in the NCAA national championship in the triple jump, and later was sixth in the U.S. Outdoor Championship/ Olympic Trials … A member of Team USA in the 2007 World Championships in Rio de Janiero and finished fifth in the triple jump there – one of only three UL athletes ever to place in the top five at the World Championships (Hollis Conway and Mdhlongwa) … Also competed in Pan American Games for Team USA in 2007.
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Football
Fred Stamps (2000-03)
Record-setting wide receiver in four-year Cajun career before a decade as one of the top receivers in the Canadian Football League … Second all-time at UL in both career receptions (180) and receiving yards (2,789), both behind only HOFer Brandon Stokley … Still holds school record for consecutive games with a reception (44) … One of three players in school history with a 1,000-yard receiving season with 1,002 yards as junior in 2002, which is fifth highest total all-time … Eight TD's that year is tied for seventh among receivers, and he led team in scoring that year – something that no wide receiver has done since (23 years) … Averaged 18.6 yards per catch in that 2002 season, which is the highest average in school history with a minimum of 40 catches … Led team in receiving each of last two years … 13 catches vs. Middle Tennessee in 2003 is second-most all-time as is his 201 yards in that game, and also has third-highest single-game yardage total with 198 vs. ULM in 2003 … Three TD's vs. MT is tied for most in a game by a receiver … First team All-Sun Belt Conference as junior and senior in 2002 and 2003 … Numbers would likely be higher but never played on a winning team or in bowl or postseason game … Was not drafted by NFL and was on practice rosters with San Francisco 49ers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens for three years before joining the CFL …Played nine years in CFL, eight with the Edmonton Eskimos and a final year with the Montreal Alouettes and earned All-CFL honors four times (writers vote) and five times (CFL players vote along with five-time West Division All-Star … Had 536 catches for 8,411 yards in CFL career, both in league's all-time top 50 (CFL records go back more than a century) … Second all-time for Eskimos in career reception yardage (7,932 yards) and third in career receptions (496) and led team in receiving five straight years … Three-time Eskimos MVP (2009, 2010, 2013) … Led CFL in receiving twice, in third year in 2009 (85 catches, 1,402 yards, 8 TD) and in 2013 (1,259 yards) and ranked fourth in league in 2011 (1,153 yards) and second in 2012 (1,310 yards) … Career high 14 catches in one game against Hamilton in 2011 is two off CFL all-time record … Played in 133 CFL games and started 130, and had receptions in 111 straight games, 13th-best in CFL history.
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Coach/Administrator
Nelson Stokley (1986-98)
The longest-tenured coach in UL football history (143 games), Nelson Stokley guided the Ragin' Cajun football team through a decade of independent status and helped set the stage for a return to conference affiliation … Finished his 13-year career with a 62-80-1 record, but most of those seasons came when his team was forced to schedule against power conference squads and strong teams in the Southern independent rankings, while also playing major-college teams in road games … Had all-time 38-26-1 record at Cajun Field … Played 20 games against SEC teams and eight against Big 12 teams including three SEC foes in 1987 alone, and played 38 games against teams now in Power 4 conferences during his career … Coached in biggest upset in UL football history, a 29-22 win over nationally ranked Texas A&M … In the three years his teams played a conference schedule in the Big West Conference in 1993-95, Stokley's clubs went 20-13 overall and 14-4 against Big West teams, tying for the conference title twice – losing out on their first-ever Division I bowl bid on tiebreakers both times -- and tying for second in the third year … 1993 team compiled 8-3 record, winning eight of its last nine with the only loss at Florida, but was shut out of a bowl game since Big West had only one bowl tie-in … Named Coach of the Year in Big West and in Louisiana that year, which was his first year out of the dual AD-head coach role that he filled for six years … In last year in Big West and first year after that league folded (his final year), UL played eight preseason top-25 teams and eight teams that wound up in bowl games … Former standout quarterback at LSU with two bowl wins during career, and came to UL from position as offensive coordinator at Clemson for six years, helping Tigers to three conference titles and 1981 national championship … 12-letter winner at Crowley High.
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Fans are encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here for iOS/Apple platforms and here for Android platforms.
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Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (@RaginCajuns) to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Louisiana Athletics.
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