The Louisiana Ragin Cajuns are coming out of the Arkansas road trip 1-1 in conference play and are feeling pretty good about it.
During Bob Marlin’s press conference on Wednesday afternoon, he discussed that they needed to perform well on Monday night when they were on national television taking on defending Sun Belt Conference champions Arkansas Little Rock. “We wanted to come out and play well to show not only our fans but people outside of the state of Louisiana and the Sun Belt Conference a little bit about our group and what they’re made of.”
Despite the Cajuns only starting one senior in Johnathan Stove and having several freshmen with significant playing time, they’ve been able to get to a hot start and one of the biggest reasons has to be Bryce Washington picking up where Shawn Long left off. The junior forward is currently averaging 14.4 points 11.7 boards per game, but according to Marlin, it’s been his off-the-court mentality that has helped with the maturity of this squad.
“Bryce is such a good leader.” Marlin said, “He does a good job talking to other players and leads by example.” However, it’s not all him as Stove and Jay Wright have been helpful alongside their captain in building that all important team chemistry for this Cajuns squad.
The Cajuns will next take on in-state rival UL Monroe. Last year, the Cajuns split the series against the Warhawks with both teams winning on their home court. Marlin spoke on UL Monroe and that they are “very difficult to prepare for. They always play extremely hard being an in-state rival. Coach Richard does a nice job with his team. They’re a very balanced team, they have six players that average anywhere from 8.3 and 13.3 per game so a lot of guys can really step up much like us.”
-Clint Domingue