Women’s Basketball: Cajuns decide to retain Rogers
Women’s Basketball: Cajuns decide to retain Rogers
Women’s Basketball: Cajuns decide to retain Rogers
UL interim director of athletics Scott Farmer will retain head women’s basketball coach Errol Rogers for the 2011-12 season.
The Ragin’ Cajuns completed their fourth year under Rogers at 11-19 overall and 4-12 in Sun Belt action following a 58-53 loss to South Alabama in the opening round of the league tournament. The UL graduate was paid $98,800 this season.
Farmer decided to bring back Rogers after the two met once in each of the previous two weeks.
"The team played very hard and gave great effort throughout the year," Farmer said. "Furthermore, the coaching staff has worked to address their weaknesses. I’m pleased with their recruiting.
"Improvement was shown, and I expect more steps to be taken next season."
After inheriting a program coming off its first NCAA tournament appearance in 2007, Rogers has a 31-90 overall record (.256) in four years with the Cajuns. That includes a 12-58 record (.171) in Sun Belt play. None of his teams has ever won more than four conference games in a single season.
The Cajuns haven’t won a Sun Belt tournament game since going 25-9 overall and 14-4 in league action under the late J. Kelley Hall in the 2006-07 season.
That season they won the Sun Belt’s West Division title, finished as the conference tournament runner-up and earned an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament. Hall left that spring to take over the University of Cincinnati women’s basketball program and was replaced by Rogers.
Rogers previously served as an assistant coach at Mississippi State (2003-07) and Bethune-Cookman (1999-2003). Prior to that, Rogers logged a 200-76 record in eight years at the prep level with stops at Lafayette High, Opelousas Catholic and Holy Rosary Institute.
In 1985 he founded the Acadiana Stars, an AAU girls basketball team in Lafayette.
After a season-ending loss to South Alabama in a first-round conference tournament game on March 5, Rogers said he was focused on getting his players ready for next season.
The Cajuns, who started 9-7 last season but lost 12 of their final 14 games, are expected to return 12 of 15 players, losing only senior starters Jasmine Barnes and Lyndra Bell and key reserve D’Mya Clay. Junior forward Mercedes Johnson led the squad in scoring and rebounding this past season and was a second-team all-conference selection.
"Like I had said earlier, I’m focused on getting our team ready for next year," Rogers said. "We’ve got some really good kids coming back. Some plays here and there and we win a few more games (this past season). Now I think we have the pieces of the puzzle in place."
