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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. Bobby Paschal
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Home Phone: 813-951-6130 Head Basketball Coach, 1978-86, 153-85 record. Paschal honored by LABC May 01, 2005 – Bruce Brown Editor’s note: Former Cajun basketball coach Bobby Paschal is one of four honorees at the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches annual Hall of Fame banquet at 7 p.m. Saturday in Baton Rouge. The other honorees include LSU coach Dale Brown, LSU All-American Dick Maile and Southern Lab coach Joel Hawkins. Postseason play became a frequent occurrence for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette when Bobby Paschal was its head basketball coach from 1978-86. The Ragin’ Cajuns of then-USL won 153 games under Paschal and lost 85, competing in the NCAA Tournament twice and three times playing in the National Invitation Tournament. That was a far cry from 1975, when Paschal arrived on campus as an assistant under Jim Hatfield. The Cajun program had been dismantled for two years for NCAA infractions, and it was the task of Hatfield and Paschal to get it back on its feet as quickly as possible. Hatfield stayed for three seasons, then turned the reins over to Paschal, whose 1979-80 squad reached the quarterfinals of the NIT. “I think the very first time we got back in postseason play after we re-started the program will always be a special moment,” said Paschal, who will join the 2005 induction class in the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame. “We were able to get into the NIT, then beat Alabama-Birmingham and Texas to reach the quarterfinals against Minnesota. That was a big moment.” Future Philadelphia 76ers star Andrew Toney led that team, along with fellow seniors Dion Rainey and Carl Jordan. Paschal’s 1981-82 team stunned No. 1 Georgetown, beat Washington State and then Marquette in the finals to open with a title in the Great Alaska Shootout on the way to a 24-8 record, a Southland Conference title and an NCAA Tournament berth. Graylin Warner, Dion Brown and Alonza Allen were on their way to a special era for Cajun basketball. “Winning the Great Alaska Shootout was probably one of the highlights of my time at USL or anywhere else,” Paschal said. “I still remember now, flying back into Lafayette, and it seemed like there were thousands of people waiting to greet us. “We started the season unranked, and I think we ended up as high as 13th. That was certainly a tremendous highlight.” The long flight back from Alaska was quite different from the trip back from Marquette ending the 1982-83 regular season. In their first year as an independent after leaving the Southland, the Cajuns suffered an 85-64 loss that seemed to put postseason in jeopardy. When the announcement came that the Cajuns were in the NCAA tournament for a second year in a row, Paschal weeped tears of joy. “Obviously the flight back from Milwaukee was tough,” Paschal said. “I looked at it every way possible, and at one point I had us completely out of the NCAA and the NIT. “The fact that we got in showed the tremendous amount of respect that the basketball program had around the country.” The Cajuns got an NIT bid in 1983-84 and promptly defeated Utah State and Weber State in a pair of two-point thrillers and routed Santa Clara by 21 to reach the NIT Final Four. “The run to the NIT Final Four in New York City was another obvious highlight,” Paschal said. “It was USL, Virginia Tech, Michigan and Notre Dame in Madison Square Garden. Obviously that was a tremendous thrill.” The final postseason experience in the Paschal years came in 1984-85, when the Cajuns lost at Tennessee one step shy of another NIT Final Four. Paschal moved on to the University of South Florida in 1986 and enjoyed more success on the court, then he successfully served USF in athletic administration before retiring. “All of our years at USL were extremely enjoyable,” Paschal said. “The respect for basketball that Lafayette and the Acadiana area had was special. “Obviously, it was great to be able to go from where we started to getting players like Dion Rainey, who was the Player of the Year in Florida, and Andrew Toney, who was the Player of the Year in Alabama, and to have the opportunity for postseason play. “We could not have done it without the enthusiasm the university and the community showed.” That residual fondness for Louisiana makes Paschal’s LABC Hall of Fame induction that much more meaningful. “It’s extremely exciting to me,” Paschal said. “I look at it as a very high honor because of the respect I have for basketball in Louisiana at every level and the tremendous times we had at USL.” Originally published May 1, 2005
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