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People SearchFind an individual who either played a sport or was a member of a support group. Search by last name by clicking on the first letter of the person's last name.
Mr. Ross Mouton
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Home Phone: 337-233-4336 Former UL men’s basketball player Ross Mouton returned to Lafayette in late May after playing his first professional season in Europe. The 6-foot-7 guard/forward averaged 12 points and six rebounds per game for Nyiregyhaza in Hungary. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Submitted by Edward P. Mouton on March 28, 2007 on behalf of the Bickham/Mouton Family Connections and posted on May 22. Three generations of athletes at SLI, USL and UL Just in case you thought Ross Mouton, UL basketball player 2003-07, fell off the turnip cart, read on… His grandfather (Beth Bickham Mouton’s father), Tom Bickham played on the 1930 Louisiana State football championship team from Homer High School in Homer, LA. He was picked on the All State team that year. Bickham and several of his team mates followed their high school coach T.L. Wilbanks, who became SLI head football coach in 1930. Bickham was voted most valuable player at Homer High for two years and along with his brother T.E. Bickham was picked on Homers All Decade team. Tom Bickham was also an outstanding track athlete at SLI and was a consistent winner in the shot putt, discus and javelin events. He set a record in the discus in the early l930’s (the LIC Conference) that was not broken for 10 years. Bickham also was voted Most Valuable Player on the SLI football team. His great uncle T.E. Bickham played tackle on the Homer High School team that won the state championship in 1937. He was picked opn the All State team and attended SLI on an athletic schlorship. At SLI Bickham lettered in football and track, was inducted into the SLI Athletic Hall of Fame, and was a member of the Blue Key Honor Society. Bickham joined the US Air Force on Pearl Harbor day and was a B-24 bomber pilot in the European Theater during WWII flying 26 combat missions over Germany. His father, Eddie Mouton played basketball and baseball at USL in the early l960’s. He was an All State 5 sport letterman at Cathedral High School and received an athletic schlorship to USL in 1960. He was a first team All Gulf States Conference selection in 1962 and 1963 as an outfielder and utility player under Coaches Pete Wilson and Sonny Roy. Mouton signed to play professional baseball for the American League Washington Senators and reached the Triple A level before having his career cut short by military service. His three other sons Brooks, Alex and Britt were All District basketball players at St. Thomas More and Lafayette High Schools. All are UL graduates. I would have to say that Ross comes by his athletic ability honestly. I am a 2003 graduate of St. Thomas More High School here in Lafayette. Member of 2003 State 4-A runner-up St. Thomas More Cougar basketball team. All District and All Parish, selected to play in 2003 LHSAA All Star game and was honorable mention McDonald’s All American. Signed schlorship to play for UL Ragin Cajuns in 2003. Member of 2003-04 UL Ragin Cajun Sunbelt Conference Championship team. Son of Eddie and Beth Mouton, brother of Brooks, Alex and Britt Mouton, all proud graduates of UL. Men’s Basketball: UL’s Mouton impressive November 13, 2006 – Dan McDonald Two games, two career highs. The former St. Thomas More standout, a role player for the Ragin’ Cajuns until the latter half of his junior season last year, almost single-handedly led UL’s offensive efforts in Friday’s 76-68 season-opening win over Ouachita Baptist. Mouton’s 26 points topped his previous career high of 18 set in last year’s regular-season finale against Arkansas-Little Rock during a hot streak at the end of the season. Still, not a lot of UL basketball fans expected this kind of performance. “He’s my man,” Lee said of the rail-thin 6-foot-7 senior. “We know that if we’re going to be successful, especially against the schedule we’re going to be playing, he’s got to be a guy that puts the ball in the basket.” Mouton hit on 10-of-19 shots from the floor including a pair of three-pointers on Friday, after scoring 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting with four treys in a Monday 65-51 exhibition win over Spring Hill. Those efforts continued a hot streak for Mouton, who averaged 12.5 points in UL’s final six games of the 2005-06 season while shooting 50 percent from the field (24-of-48) and almost 50 percent (20-of-41) outside the arc. The biggest of those treys came in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Tournament in Murfreesboro, Tenn., when his three-pointer with 0.8 seconds left in overtime broke a 59-59 tie and gave UL a 62-59 victory over Troy. But there’s a big difference in last season and this year. Down the stretch last season, Mouton was strictly a three-point threat, spotting up at long range. On Friday, eight of his 10 baskets were inside the arc including a handful of tough driving jumpers. “We know he’s capable of making baskets,” Lee said. “We’re going to live and die with him. He’s got the green light, and for the most part he’s taking quality shots.” “We still have a lot of work to do in our offense,” Mouton said after Friday’s win. “We turned it over way too many times. You can’t turn it over like that against anybody.” The Cajuns hit their last seven shots from the floor in the final 6:48, with Mouton getting two baskets in the final 4:35. After OBU took a 63-60 lead at the five-minute mark, the Tigers didn’t score again until only nine seconds remained and UL had locked down its opening win. OBU’s defensive pressure forced the Cajuns into 31 turnovers, and UL was only 3-of-14 from the field in the second half before the 7-for-7 late streak. “We knew they’d be intense and try to deny the ball,” Mouton said, “but it was probably more than I expected. We know that every game from here on in we’re going to face more pressure. Lee said that OBU’s intensity was nothing compared to what UL will face Tuesday night in its road opener at Ole Miss. “They’ll be pressing us from the time we come in the gym,” he said. “We worked all week on handling their pressure. We need tougher play from our point guards, and it’s tough since they don’t have a lot of real experience, but this wasn’t all on them. It was a group effort, not handling the pressure. “If we make the same decisions we made tonight (Friday), Tuesday’s game will be over by the 10-minute mark.” Originally published November 13, 2006 Mouton saves Cajuns March 06, 2006 – Dan McDonald MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Ross Mouton said he was shooting in rhythm the last couple of weeks. Mouton nailed a 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds left in overtime, providing the Ragin’ Cajuns with a 62-59 victory over Troy’s Trojans in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. The Cajuns (13-15), now into the semifinals against East champion Western Kentucky at 8 p.m. tonight, trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half before rallying, and appeared to have the game won in regulation when Chris Cameron hit two free throws with 18.2 seconds left for a 57-54 advantage. But in the extra period, UL’s defense held Troy without a field goal and held the Trojans scoreless over the final 4:37, and a defensive block by Michael Southall with 12 seconds left set up UL for Mouton’s season-saving shot. “Coach had confidence in me right in front of our bench,” said Mouton, who finished with 14 points as one of three UL double-digit scorers. “We had two options on the play, either down low to Mike (Southall) or to me on the side. Chris (Cameron) found me.” Mouton’s basket grabbed the headlines, but it was that Cajun defense that provided UL’s seventh straight tournament win. Troy, which had rained in 23 3-pointers against Arkansas State on Friday, was held without a trey for over 29 minutes until Jackson hit the shot that sent the game into overtime. “If you take away the first two or three minutes, they only make three the whole game,” said Cajun coach Robert Lee. “The rest of the game, we did a great job defending out there. The guys followed the plan … don’t give any help on the shooters and if they penetrate, don’t help. “It was pretty much every man for himself out there.” It worked. Troy finished up 6-of-31 from outside the arc and missed 16 in a row at one point. The six treys were a season low for Troy. “They did a pretty good job of defending us tonight,” said Troy coach Don Maestri, “and we contributed by missing a lot of shots that we usually make.” Cameron finished with 15 points to lead the Cajuns, and had two key baskets in the final 5:55 including a 3-pointer before his two late free throws. Southall finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds, but his biggest play may have been the blocked shot that set up the final possession. Southall also played the final five minutes and the entire overtime with four fouls, and still was able to get two blocks and two forced jump-balls. “A lot of my fouls I got because I wasn’t going to let them get the dunk or the layup,” Southall said. “We decided before the game that we weren’t going to help, we were going to stand our ground. Once I got the fourth foul, I was able to still contest some shots.” Troy bolted out to an 11-4 lead by hitting three of its first four 3-pointers, and the Trojans had five by the 9:12 mark of the first half when Richard Damus hit one for a 23-13 lead. However, UL went on a 13-0 run keyed by two Cameron baskets, and Dwayne Mitchell’s layup in transition gave UL a 26-23 lead. The Cajuns went on to a 34-28 halftime advantage before Troy scored the second half’s first 10 points, six of them on slashing baskets by Sammy Sharp. “You’ve got to give our guys a lot of credit,” Lee said. “We got down by 10 early, and then we came out the second half and had too many turnovers, and then we lost our leader on the floor.” Mitchell, UL’s leading scorer, rebounder and assist provider on the season, suffered a strained hamstring three minutes into the second half and did not return. Even without his services, the Cajuns still rallied after Troy’s second-half run and Mouton’s layup in transition tied the game at 38 with 16:29 left. After that, neither team led by more than three points before Ed Turner’s jumper with 3:26 left gave UL a 55-50 lead. Jacob Hazouri and Jackson hit inside baskets to make it a one-point game before Cameron made the two free throws, and when Boo Ramsey missed and the rebound sailed out of bounds with four seconds left, it looked like the Cajuns would survive. But Jackson, just like he did at the end of the first overtime in Troy’s double-overtime win over UL in Troy three weeks ago, nailed a trey over four outstretched arms to force overtime. “I thought we’d experienced deja vu,” Southall said. “We had them in Troy and he hit one, and then he hit another one tonight. But we pride ourselves on defense, and we were able to regroup and defend them the rest of the way.” “That was heartbreaking,” Lee said of Jackson’s shot. “We had contemplated fouling, but our guys were confident in the way we were defending the three.” Originally published March 6, 2006 Mouton, James grow into roles March 03, 2006 – Dan McDonald Ross Mouton and Adam James have been playing basketball together for so long, the moves become almost instinctive. “We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” James said. “I can pretty much tell when I throw it to him whether he’s going to shoot or not.” In the last four University of Louisiana games, James has had a lot of premonitions. Mouton has had 14 3-point baskets in that streak including five in a row in Saturday’s 69-59 regular-season-ending win at Arkansas-Little Rock. Maybe it’s not by coincidence that the two Lafayette and St. Thomas More products have played their best at the end of the season, and their Ragin’ Cajun squad has won seven of eight games entering this weekend’s Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Murfreesboro, Tenn. “I hope whatever’s gotten into Ross stays there,” said Cajun coach Robert Lee. “He’s definitely got the green light now. It’s been amazing the way he’s shooting, but it’s because he’s put in the work. He’s there after practice every day working on his shot. “Adam’s got an amazing amount of heart, and the last half of the year it’s showed in his play. He’s made some big plays for us just because he works and works and never gives up.” The pair came to UL after successful careers at STM and played sparingly as natural freshmen. Playing time increased last year, with Mouton playing in 31 games and James in 29, but their biggest impacts didn’t come until after the start of this year’s conference season. “It’s definitely been a lot more fun the last four weeks,” said James, whose 1.8 point and 2.0 rebound averages don’t reflect his contributions. “Just winning feels much better, but my role has been more important than it ever has been in my college career … rebounding, playing defense, and since our offense is generated by our defense we’ve really tried to pick it up there.” Mouton is averaging 4.6 points in league play, but he’s averaging 12.8 per game over the last four games while making 14-of-25 (56.0) outside the arc. “Once a few shots drop, it definitely helps your confidence,” Mouton said. “Taking good shots in rhythm is the biggest key. Coach (assistant coach Rennie) Bailey said we look more mature and more confident as a team, and I think it’s because we’ve been more patient, managed the shot clock better and gotten better shots.” The pair began playing together with the Lafayette Biddy All-Stars at age 8, playing on 8 1/2-foot goals that James was always closer to than his teammates. “He was always taller than the rest of us,” Mouton said of James. “I usually stayed at the forward slot and we’ve sort of stuck there all our lives.” That is, except for one year. “My dad (himself a former college player at then-Northeast Louisiana) was coach one year,” James said, “and he made me play point guard to better my ball handling skills.” Later, it was the Lafayette Aces and the Lafayette Stars in AAU play prior to going to St. Thomas More, where the two were seniors on a 32-6 Cougar team that reached the state Class 4A finals. Success was almost assumed at STM, and winning back-to-back Sun Belt Tournament titles and making the NCAA Tournament in their first two college seasons seemed only a carryover of that success. That made the first two-thirds of this season – loss streaks of four and five games and a 5-14 mark before the recent turnaround – a nightmare for the pair. “It was really getting depressing,” Mouton said. “But we’ve picked a great time of year to pick it up, going into the conference tournament.” Originally published March 3, 2006 Mouton, UL fight slump January 21, 2006 – Cajun men search for shooting touch at Florida Int. Dan McDonald There are two kinds of shooting slumps in college basketball. The other is a team-wide slump, one that takes away a lot more weapons and is infinitely more damaging. Just ask Ross Mouton … or, for that matter, any member of Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajun squad. “We’ve all been trying to concentrate in our shots,” Mouton said during the Cajuns’ preparations for today’s Sun Belt Conference contest at Florida International. “Everyone’s been working on the side, trying to work on little things that hopefully will add up to big things.” Mouton and the Cajuns are hoping things start adding up at 6 p.m. (CST) today against the Golden Panthers (4-13, 1-4 Sun Belt). FIU snapped an 11-game loss streak Thursday night with a 61-52 win at New Orleans. That left UL (4-11) as the only winless team in league play, and the 0-4 Cajuns are averaging a very un-Cajun like 60.8 points in those four games. They’re at 67.2 per game for the season, a number that would rank as UL’s lowest-scoring season since 1964 if it continues the rest of the year. Mouton knows one element that’s missing. “Last year we got a lot of baskets on hustle plays,” he said, “coming up with loose balls, getting easy shots off steals, all the intangibles. And we got an awful lot of defensive stops last year.” UL got off almost 200 more shots than its opponents last year, mostly because the Cajuns got almost 80 more steals, forced over 50 more turnovers and had nearly 100 more offensive rebounds than its foes. Even with numbers like that, coach Robert Lee said it still comes down to making baskets. “We’re just not a very good shooting team right now,” Lee said. “I wish there was some magic switch to pull to change that.” Mouton, who played in all 31 games last season, has been working with fellow STM and UL product Brad Boyd, a Cajun graduate assistant who holds UL’s school records for 3-point attempts and baskets. “He’s been on me about shooting in a rhythm,” Mouton said, “and catching the ball in the shooting pocket, in position to shoot, instead of waiting and letting the ball come to me in some other spot.” “You don’t get the perfect pass all the time,” Boyd said. “But you have to catch it in a position to explode and shoot, and make it the same on every shot. “You can overthink all these things. All you have to do is use your legs and follow through, and let your own ability take care of the rest.” Mouton is hoping that all the shooting woes will soon be a thing of the past, and last week’s woeful marksmanship – 36.7 percent against South Alabama and 32.3 against Troy – will be only a bad memory. “Right now, we really need to find something to build on,” he said. “We’ve had some good, intense practices this week and we’ve put some new things in on defense that hopefully will help this weekend. We definitely need a win to get things going, and there’s no better time than right now.” Louisiana (4-11, 0-4) at Fla. International (4-13, 1-4) Today, 6 p.m. (CST, approximate pending end of women’s game) Pharmed Arena, Miami ON THE AIR: KPEL-AM (1420) and KRKA-FM (107.9) in Lafayette and KANE-AM (1240) in New Iberia with Jay Walker. Air time is 5:30 p.m. The broadcast is also available online at www.ragincajuns.com. COACHES: UL, Robert Lee (2nd season, 24-22); FIU, Sergio Rouco (2nd season, 17-30). SERIES: UL leads 10-2 and has won the last eight meetings. In games played in Miami, UL is 3-1. The Cajuns won both of last year’s meetings, 67-50 in Lafayette in the only regular-season game and 80-69 in the Sun Belt Tournament. LAST TIME OUT: UL lost to Troy at home 73-50 Saturday. FIU won at New Orleans 61-52 Thursday. NEXT: UL hosts New Orleans Monday, 7:05 p.m., Cajundome. n PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS: UL – #1 Ed Turner, G (6-7, Jr., 11.2); #4 Maurice Barksdale, G (5-11, Jr., 8.4, 3.0 assists); #11 Chris Cameron, F (6-11, Sr., 10.0, 4.6 rebounds); #23 Dwayne Mitchell, G (6-5, Sr., 18.0, 11.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists); #44 Michael Southall, C (6-11, Sr., 14.5, 7.6 rebounds). FIU – #5 Elvis Lora, G (6-0, Fr., 10.8); #12 Cesar Chavez-Jacobo, G (6-5, So., 1.0); #15 Kenny Simms, C (6-8, So., 6-1, 3.4 rebounds); #21 Ismael N’Diaye, F (6-6, Sr., 6.6, 3.8 rebounds); #24 Ivan Almonte, F (6-6, Sr., 13.4, 11.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists). n LAGNIAPPE: First of four games in eight days for UL, three of them on the road where the Cajuns have lost five in a row … UL has lost six straight Sun Belt regular-season games dating back to the end of the 2004-05 season. … Both Mitchell and Almonte rank among the nation’s top seven rebounders this week. Mitchell is sixth (10.8) and Almonte (11.2) was seventh before a career-high 19 boards against UNO Thursday … Southall ranks fifth nationally in blocked shots with 3.6 per game … Almonte was two assists away from a triple-double Thursday. Originally published January 21, 2006
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