There are a lot of expectations for the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns after ending the 2016-17 season 21-12 and having transfers like Marcus Stroman joining the team this year. Add that to a pair of Preseason All-Sun Belt nods, there’s some serious hype for the 2017-18 season.
Seniors Bryce Washington and Frank Bartley were named on Tuesday to the 15-player Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference team with Washington netting a second-team selection and Bartley named to the third team.
Washington led the conference last season in field goal percentage, finishing 60 percent from the floor and was named second-team All-Sun Belt in 2017.
Bartley is coming off of a Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year after having to sit out the 2015-16 season after transferring from BYU. The Baton Rouge native averaged 15.3 points and 4.3 boards per game.
The Cajuns finished 21-12 last season and received one first place vote and 113 points amongst the 12 teams in the conference. What interesting is that the second through fifth-place teams are all separated by three points. Louisiana will have an exhibition game on Thursday November 2nd against Millsaps with tipoff set for 7 pm. The regular season will start out in Oxford on November 10th against the Ole Miss Rebels.
Below is the list of the Preseason All-Sun Belt teams with Cajuns players listed in Bold.
Preseason First Team All-Sun Belt
Tookie Brown (Georgia Southern, Junior, Guard, Sport Management)
Ike Smith (Georgia Southern, Junior, Guard, Sport Management)
Kevin Hervey (UTA, Senior, Forward, Interdisciplinary Studies)
Erick Neal (UTA, Senior, Guard, Broadcasting)
Jordon Varnado (Troy, Junior, Forward)
Preseason Second Team All-Sun Belt
Ronshad Shabazz (Appalachian State, Junior, Guard, Criminal Justice)
Jaylen Shaw (Coastal Carolina, Senior, Guard)
D’Marcus Simonds (Georgia State, Sophomore, Guard, Sociology)
Bryce Washington (Louisiana, Senior, Forward, Accounting)
Wesley Person (Troy, Senior, Guard, International Business)
Preseason Third Team All-Sun Belt
Demario Beck (Coastal Carolina, Senior, Forward)
Mike Hughes (Georgia Southern, Senior, Guard, Sport Management)
Frank Bartley (Louisiana, Senior, Guard, Sociology)
Travis Munnings (ULM, Junior, Forward, General Studies)
Nijal Pearson (Texas State, Sophomore, Guard, Business Management)
Preseason Player of the Year
Kevin Hervey (UTA, Senior, Forward, Interdisciplinary Studies)
-Clint Domingue