Louisiana men’s basketball looks to rebound amidst transfer deficits 

It’s that time of the year for Louisianians. We’re finally leaving the oven-hot temperatures, holiday season is rolling around and UL Lafayette basketball is less than a month away. 

Hopefully when basketball season starts, the football team will have continued its productive season. Maybe that success will leak across the street to the CajunDome. 

However, it won’t be easy. The Cajuns are coming off of a solid season finishing fifth in the SBC. They fell short 89-62 to the Arkansas State Red Wolves in the SBC quarterfinals. 

It was an underwhelming finish as they were expected to go a little further considering the talent and veteran leadership. 

In the offseason the Cajuns would take critical blows, losing three key starters to the transfer portal. 

Coincidentally, forward Kobe Julien transferred to Arkansas State, the same team that bounced us out of the postseason. 

He was the leading scorer on both the team and the entire conference, averaging 17.3 points per game. 

Julien spent a total of five years in the program and left his mark becoming a polished three-level-threat. 

He made the 2023-24 Sun Belt Second Team for his efforts. He also reached 1,000 career points becoming only the 51st Ragin’ Cajun to do it in school history. 

Forward Joe Charles would be next to take a stab at the transfer portal. He would eventually choose a conference foe: the McNeese State University Cowboys. 

Charles was the swiss army knife of the team capable of doing anything on the floor. He was the Cajuns’ leading rebounder and was third in the conference averaging 9.6 a game. 

He was a disruption on defense with his lanky build, also leading the team in steals (1.8) and blocks (1.1). He finished second in the conference in total steals and eighth in total blocks. 

His defensive activity was second-to-none and it was complimented well by his 11.3 points per game on decent efficiency. 

He made the 2023-2024 Sun Belt Third Team for his amazing play. 

Guard Themus Fulks was the final starter to enter the transfer portal over the summer. 

He chose to take his talents to the Milwaukee Panthers. He’s another big loss that the Cajuns will have to account for. 

Fulks led the team in assists with 4.4 and was third in the conference. The second best assist producer on the team was Hosana Kitenge by a wide margin (1.9). Fulks was also a defensive pest, second on the team in steals (1.3). 

In 24 out of their 33 games, Fulks led the team in assists. He was the engine of the offense, calling for motions and plays, and getting teammates involved. 

Losing our best scorer, rebounder and distributor all in one offseason is no easy pill to swallow for any team. It will be a tall task to ask the current roster to step up and fill those shoes. 

Julien, Charles and Fulks were three out of four players to average double-digits last season, with Kitenge being the other. That task alone will call on others to expand their roles. One being Kitenge as he will be leaned upon the most, likely as the number one option. 

He is also projected to produce more than his 6.5 rebounds last year with the departure of Charles. 

I could see him taking on a Jordan Brown role. Brown was our leading scorer for two seasons in 2021 and 2022. The agenda was simply to get him the ball in the paint early in the possession and let him use his elite footwork to get a bucket. 

Kitenge was a beast with his paint touches last season, shooting 56.2% from the field, so an increased volume could be a viable option. 

Another guy that will play a major role is senior guard Kentrell Garnett. He started in 30 out of 33 games last season and played his role as an offensively versatile guard. 

He was the best three-point shooter on the team and tied for seventh in the SBC in three-pointers made. He shot it at a team-best 39% as well. 

I’d love to see returning guards Michael Thomas and Brandon Hardy have increased roles as they continue to compete for more minutes and possibly starting opportunities. 

Overall, the Cajuns definitely lost a lot of firepower over the offseason, but when the big trees go down, the plants at the bottom begin to grow. Hopefully, the same can be said for a team with a lot of promise and solid pieces.