Documents that accidently included team-level spending information of four University of Louisiana System sports programs were posted online for the University of Louisiana Board of Supervisors meeting on Aug. 27, 2026. The leak was first reported by the Louisiana Illuminator, then picked up by The Advocate.
A few months earlier, on June 8, Louisiana lawmakers passed Act No. 818, which allows universities the ability to shield athlete-specific and team-specific payout details from the public. In return, universities are only mandated to disclose total athletic spending across all teams.
One of the four UL System sports programs involved in the documents was the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The University budgeted $1.5 million for the year for revenue sharing for the 2025-26 year, of which $647,500 went to men’s basketball, $591,895 were given to football, $120,600 were allocated for baseball and $157,354 were shared across all seven women’s sports.
According to the Board of Supervisors documents, the University’s men’s basketball program had $647,500 in public Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) and revenue sharing expenses during the 2025-26 year, during coach Quannas White’s debut season as the head coach for the Ragin’ Cajuns. Then University Athletics Director Dr. Bryan Maggard relieved then coach Bob Marlin of his duties after a 15-year tenure with the Cajuns in the middle of the 2024-25 season.
The University sought out a new head coach that they believed could take the reins of the team during this new NIL era of collegiate sports, where spending money on players is necessary to staying competitive. White accepted the head coaching job for the next season, having served as the assistant coach for the Houston Cougars since 2023. In White’s first season as head coach, the men’s basketball team posted a 11-22 record.
The football program had $591,895 for the 2025-2026 year, accounting for 39.46% of the University’s budget for revenue sharing. The numbers for the football program’s expenses were surprisingly lower than the men’s basketball program, which accounted for 43.17% of the University’s budget.
In the last five seasons for the Cajuns under head coach Michael Desormeaux, they have extended their run of consecutive bowl games played to eight, ranking as the ninth-longest active streak among schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Desormeaux also led the Cajuns to a berth in the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) Championship game in 2024 after posting a 10-4 record.
The 2025 season saw the football program post a 6-7 record, including a loss against the Delaware Blue Hens in the 68th Ventures Bowl game. The football program has had three 6-7 seasons under coach Desormeaux and are 0-4 in bowl games since 2022.
The baseball program was given $120,600 for the 2025-26 year, only accounting for 8.04% of the University’s $1.5 million budget. Last season, the Cajuns played their best brand of baseball since their 42-win 2024 season. The baseball program had an overall record of 41-25 for the 2026 season, earning a spot in the NCAA Starkville Regional after coming up short in the SBC Championship game against Southern Mississippi University.
The University allocated $157,354 across all of the women’s sports programs including women’s basketball, soccer, softball and volleyball. The amount accounts for 10.49% of the University’s total revenue share budget that has to be distributed between all women’s sports teams.
The women’s basketball team had a 5-25 overall record for the 2025-26 season, only winning two conference games out of 16. The 2023-24 season was the last above .500 year for the women’s basketball program, having struggled to build a competitive roster in the last couple of years.
The University’s soccer program posted an overall record of 7-6-5 in 2025, with their season ending after losing to South Alabama University in the SBC Championship quarterfinals.
The University’s softball program has suffered quite a bit in recent years since the start of the NIL era. Softball has the most wins for a sports program in the University’s history, with an all-time record of 1,918-588. 300 of those wins are attributed to previous Cajuns softball coach Gerry Glasco. During Glasco’s seven-year tenure, the softball program boasted a .773 winning percentage and captured five SBC regular-season titles.
Glasco left Lafayette in favor of the coaching job in Lubbock with the Texas Tech Raiders. Many of the players recruited by coach Glasco during his time at the University transferred shortly after. One of the main motivations for coach Glasco’s departure was the budget Texas Tech was able to commit to building a championship softball program.
Coach Alyson Habetz was chosen as the succeeding head softball coach in the summer of 2024. Coach Habetz has led the Cajuns to a 58-52 record in her first two seasons as the head coach.
The figures to be approved for 2026-27 are budgeted amounts. Football will lead in public revenue sharing at $750,000, men’s basketball will have $701,700, baseball is budgeted at $50,000 and all women’s sports will have a combined budget of $200,000.