Men’s Basketball – Commentary: Fans’ reluctance to support Cajuns speaks volumes

Brady Aymond • baymond@theadvertiser.com • March 5, 2009

On Wednesday night, a cavernous Cajundome spoke volumes.

As the UL Ragin’ Cajuns opened up Sun Belt Conference Tournament play with a home game against Florida International, the Cajun basketball fans stayed away – in full force.

An announced crowd of 1,186 was on hand to see UL’s season end with a 71-69 loss to the Golden Panthers.

There have been whispers of it all season.

Wednesday night confirmed those rumors.

The Cajun fans aren’t happy with the current state of the Ragin’ Cajun basketball program.

And if Wednesday night proved anything, it’s that the fans aren’t going to show up until things change for the better.

After the Cajuns’ regular-season finale at Arkansas-Little Rock, UL coach Robert Lee made a plea on his postgame radio show for fans to put aside any animosity they had toward him and support the program in the conference tournament.

But not even March Madness could keep Cajun fans from taking their entertainment dollar elsewhere.

"In sports, when you’re not having success that you want to have or everybody thinks you should have, then naturally people become a little animated or whatever with the coach," Lee said after the Cajuns finished the season 10-20. "All I was saying was no matter what anyone thought of me or whatever, they need to just come out and support the team. Try to give those guys a boost when things are not going well for us on the basketball court.

"The people here in Lafayette have been great to me. Lafayette has been my home. I came here as an assistant coach as a boy and I’ve grown up here and become a man here in Lafayette. The people here have been great and they’ve given me great support since day one. So I’m always thankful for how much the people here have supported me."

Florida International never trailed in the contest, a stark contrast from the two teams’ first meeting this year in the Cajundome, when UL led throughout and won by 17.

Since getting to the semifinals of the SBC tournament in 2006, the Cajuns have lost in the first round the last three seasons. The last two have come at the Cajundome, to lower seeded teams.

This one played to a crowd that was only 9.9 percent of the Dome’s capacity.

"We understood that a lot of people doubted us," UL sophomore Chris Gradnigo said. "We wanted to prove everybody wrong, but we came up a little short.

"I just hope everybody stays and we can show everybody next year what we are really about."

The Cajuns will lose only one senior off this team – transfer Emmanuel Adeife – and are expected to return all five starters next season.

Whether Lee is among those returnees is debatable, depending on who’s doing the talking.

Some fans say it’s time to move on.

Others say injuries from the outset and throughout the season didn’t give Lee and the Cajuns a fair shot.

Either way, Lee’s confidence in his team is not shaken.

"No matter what happens, the future is very bright for this team," Lee said. "Because those guys are experiencing things now, as far as the pain and stuff that they’re going through, that is really going to benefit those guys in the next couple of years.

"That group of guys that we have in there, before they are finished here, that group of guys are going to do something special here. Right now, it may not look that way, but I’m telling you, that group of guys that we have in there, they are going to do something special here."

Brady Aymond is a sports writer for the Daily Advertiser. He can be reached at (337) 289-6357.