2020–21 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Ragin' Cajuns, led by eleventh-year head coach Bob Marlin, played their home games at the Cajundome as members of the Sun Belt Conference. With the creation of divisions to cut down on travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they played in the West Division.

2020–21 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Division	West Division
Record	17–9 (10–7 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Bob Marlin (11th season)
Assistant coaches	Neil Hardin Brock Morris Josten Crow
Home arena	Cajundome
Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
Georgia State	8	–	4		.667			16	–	6		.727
Coastal Carolina	9	–	5		.643			18	–	8		.692
South Alabama	10	–	7		.588			17	–	11		.607
Appalachian State †	7	–	8		.467			17	–	12		.586
Georgia Southern	7	–	9		.438			13	–	13		.500
Troy	4	–	12		.250			11	–	17		.393
West
Texas State	12	–	3		.800			18	–	7		.720
Louisiana	10	–	7		.588			17	–	9		.654
UT Arlington	9	–	8		.529			13	–	13		.500
Arkansas State	7	–	8		.467			11	–	13		.458
Little Rock	7	–	11		.389			11	–	15		.423
Louisiana–Monroe	5	–	13		.278			7	–	19		.269
† 2021 Sun Belt Tournament winner

Previous season

The Ragin' Cajuns finished the 2019–20 season 14–19,^[1] 8–12 in Sun Belt play to finish eighth in the conference.^[2] The Cajuns proceeded to the Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. They ultimately lost to the Georgia Southern Eagles in heartbreaking fashion by the score of 81–82 in the second round. Shortly after their elimination, all sporting events as well as the finale of the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Jalen Johnson	1	F	6'7"	205	Junior	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	Transfer to Mississippi State
Javonne Lowery	5	G	6'3"	175	Freshman	Pearland, Texas	Released/Quit
Tirus Smith	11	F	6'8"	230	Junior	Richton, Mississippi	Released/Quit
P. J. Hardy	15	G	6'1"	170	Senior	Lake Charles, Louisiana	Graduated
Calvin Temple	22	G	6'0"	170	Freshman	Memphis, Tennessee	Released/Quit
Mason Aucoin	31	G	6'4"	205	Senior	Luling, Louisiana	Graduated
Kristian Lafayette	35	F	6'10"	200	Sophomore	Detroit, Michigan	Released/Quit
Jaylon Williams	55	G	6'2"	185	Freshman	Franklin, Louisiana	Released/Quit

Transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Old School
Devin Butts	1	G	6'6"	180	Sophomore	Macon, Georgia	Mississippi State
Jacobi Gordon	5	F	6'7"	220	Junior	Houston, Texas	California
Brayan Au	41	G	6'4"	190	Junior	Nuevo Casas Grande, Mexico	Ranger College
Theo Akwuba	-	F	6'11"	225	Junior	Montgomery, Alabama	Portland

Recruiting

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Michael Thomas Guard	Lake Charles, LA	Hamilton Christian	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Nov 18, 2019
	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Kentrell Garnett Forward	Donaldsonville, LA	Catholic HS	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	165 lb (75 kg)
	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Isaiah Richards Forward	Brooklyn, NY	South Shore HS Commonwealth Academy	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	May 15, 2020
	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Louisiana 2020-21 Basketball Commits". ESPN. Retrieved November 16, 2020. "2020-21 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved November 16, 2020.

Roster

2020–21 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F 0 Cedric Russell 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Alexandria, Louisiana G 1 Devin Butts 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS So Macon, Georgia G 2 Michael Thomas 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Fr Lake Charles, Louisiana G 3 Trajan Wesley 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr Navasota, Texas F 4 Kobe Julien 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Fr Baton Rouge, Louisiana F 5 Jacobi Gordon 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Houston, Texas F 10 Theo Akwuba 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Montgomery, Alabama G 11 Durey Cadwell 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS So Houston, Texas G 13 Mylik Wilson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Rayville, Louisiana G 22 Kentrell Garnett 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr Donaldsonville, Louisiana F 23 Dou Gueye 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Dakar, Senegal F 25 Chris Spenkuch 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS So Pembroke Pines, Florida F 35 Isaiah Richards 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Brooklyn, New York G 41 Brayan Au 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Nuevo Casas Grandes, Mexico G 55 Ty Harper 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Norcross, Georgia	Head coach Bob Marlin (Mississippi State) Assistant coach(es) Neil Hardin (West Florida) Brock Morris (Alabama) Josten Crow (Sam Houston State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: March 27, 2021

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference Regular season
11/28/2020* 7:00 p.m., FloHoops		No. 2 Baylor Men's Vegas Bubble	L 82–112	0–1	26 – Russell	8 – Akwuba	3 – Gueye	T-Mobile Arena  Paradise, NV
12/02/2020* 7:00 p.m.		at New Orleans	W 66–63	1–1	21 – Wilson	15 – Akwuba	6 – Au	Lakefront Arena (500) New Orleans, LA
12/05/2020* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		LSU–Shreveport	W 84–73	2–1	17 – Tied	11 – Tied	7 – Wilson	Cajundome (272) Lafayette, LA
12/08/2020* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		LSU–Alexandria	W 90–75	3–1	19 – Russell	17 – Gueye	6 – Wilson	Cajundome (349) Lafayette, LA
12/12/2020* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Louisiana Tech	W 61–56	4–1	25 – Russell	10 – Akwuba	2 – Butts	Cajundome (1,459) Lafayette, LA
12/15/2020* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		New Orleans	W 73–63	5–1	20 – Russell	14 – Akwuba	7 – Au	Cajundome (366) Lafayette, LA
12/18/2020* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at VCU	Cancelled due to NCAA scheduling limitations.[4]					Siegel Center  Richmond, VA
12/19/2020* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		McNeese State	W 75–65	6–1	23 – Russell	13 – Gueye	7 – Au	Cajundome (314) Lafayette, LA
Conference Regular season
01/01/2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Texas State	W 83–77 OT	7–1 (1–0)	22 – Butts	11 – Wilson	4 – Au	Cajundome (1,312) Lafayette, LA
01/02/2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Texas State	L 59–71	7–2 (1–1)	14 – Wilson	9 – Akwuba	3 – Wilson	Cajundome (416) Lafayette, LA
01/08/2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Little Rock	W 66–64	8–2 (2–1)	12 – Tied	13 – Akwuba	4 – Au	Cajundome (457) Lafayette, LA
01/09/2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Little Rock	L 76–78 OT	8–3 (2–2)	17 – Tied	10 – Akwuba	3 – 3 tied	Cajundome (405) Lafayette, LA
01/15/2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at UT Arlington	L 86–91	8–4 (2–3)	17 – Russell	10 – Akwuba	6 – Au	College Park Center (624) Arlington, TX
01/16/2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at UT Arlington	W 68–51	9–4 (3–3)	25 – Wilson	16 – Wilson	3 – 3 tied	College Park Center (624) Arlington, TX
01/22/2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Arkansas State	W 81–68	10–4 (4–3)	26 – Russell	10 – Akwuba	4 – Au	Cajundome (669) Lafayette, LA
01/23/2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Arkansas State	W 77–74	11–4 (5–3)	14 – Tied	9 – Akwuba	6 – Au	Cajundome (464) Lafayette, LA
01/29/2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Texas State	W 62–60	12–4 (6–3)	21 – Russell	10 – Gueye	2 – 3 tied	Strahan Arena (853) San Marcos, TX
01/30/2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Texas State	W 74–73	13–4 (7–3)	24 – Russell	5 – Au	6 – Au	Strahan Arena (935) San Marcos, TX
02/05/2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Arkansas State	L 87–95	13–5 (7–4)	23 – Gueye	14 – Gueye	4 – Au	First National Bank Arena (605) Jonesboro, AR
02/06/2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Arkansas State	L 77–83	13–6 (7–5)	30 – Russell	8 – Gueye	2 – Butts	First National Bank Arena (734) Jonesboro, AR
02/11/2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Louisiana–Monroe	L 66–72	13–7 (7–6)	13 – Russell	12 – Akwuba	3 – Wilson	Cajundome (452) Lafayette, LA
02/13/2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Louisiana–Monroe	W 88–72	14–7 (8–6)	20 – Wilson	7 – Akwuba	7 – Wilson	Fant–Ewing Coliseum (1,750) Monroe, LA
02/19/2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		UT Arlington	Cancelled due to weather concerns.[5]					Cajundome  Lafayette, LA
02/22/2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		UT Arlington	W 76–74	15–7 (9–6)	26 – Russell	8 – Wilson	5 – Wilson	Cajundome (389) Lafayette, LA
02/26/2021 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		at Little Rock	W 66–61	16–7 (10–6)	13 – Akwuba	9 – Gueye	4 – Gueye	Jack Stephens Center (410) Little Rock, AR
02/27/2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Little Rock	L 59–69	16–8 (10–7)	13 – Russell	16 – Akwuba	4 – Wilson	Jack Stephens Center  Little Rock, AR
Sun Belt tournament
03/06/2021 5:00 pm, ESPN+	(W2)	vs. (E3) South Alabama Quarterfinals	W 79–68	17–8	19 – Akwuba	14 – Akwuba	6 – Wilson	Hartsell Arena  Pensacola, FL
03/07/2021 5:30 pm, ESPN+	(W2)	vs. (E1) Georgia State Semifinals	L 73–84	17–9	20 – Russell	9 – Gueye	6 – Wilson	Pensacola Bay Center  Pensacola, FL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

^[6]

See also

• 2020–21 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team