After losing three starters to the transfer portal following the 2023-24 season, UL’s basketball coaching staff needed to replace numbers and talent.
A few weeks of summer practices with his new roster, coach Bob Marlin is pretty convinced his Ragin’ Cajuns have accomplished both of those goals and then some.
“We felt like we’ve upgraded our roster at almost every spot,” Marlin said. “We feel real good about the guys we brought in.
“We did a really good job working with certain guys and just being patient. We’ve definitely upgraded our roster. We feel like we’re going to be much better defensively, we’re definitely better athletically and should be a better rebounding team as well.”
The new group of transfers includes Koron Davis from Louisville, Kyndall Davis from Eastern Illinois, Christian Wright from Oregon State and Zeke Cook from Jackson State.
The roster was also bolstered by junior college signee Mostapha El Moutaouakkil and high school signee Jeremiah Evans from Southwood High in Shreveport.
“If we can stay together as a team, we’re going to have a good year,” Marlin said.
The first need was a point guard and Wright filled that void.
“He’s super quick with the ball,” Marlin said after watching him practice. “He and Mike Thomas are going to do a good job of manning that point position for us. Christian does not shoot it as well as he used to — he had a knee surgery — but he’s working at it hard. He’s got tremendous quickness.
"He’s a great leader. He’s got SEC and Pac 12 experience and he played well. We’re super excited that we picked him up late.”
The other primary need was to get more athletic on the wing. Both Koron and Kyndall Davis helped to check that box.
“Kyndall Davis is a 6-5 kid who can play 3 or 4 and could play the 2, he’s athletic,” Marlin said. “He’s a much better defender at the 3 position than we’ve used in the past and we feel like a better rebounder too.”
As for Koron Davis, he’ll help with many of the areas lost when Blake Butler left the game after the first semester last season.
“Koron’s got good experience,” Marlin said. “He doesn’t shoot the ball as well as Blake, but he can do other things athletically.”
Marlin’s staff even lost its first transfer portal commitment when Duncan Powell shifted to Georgia Tech, so Marlin quickly contacted Jackson State’s 6-6 forward Zeke Cook to help on the boards. He’s the second recent transfer from Jackson State with Terence Lewis helping the Cajuns reach the NCAA tournament two years ago.
“He’s totally different than Terence,” Marlin said of Cook. “He’s much more physical, stronger — weighs a lot more. Terence had a unique ability to rebound the ball, which we loved about him and he had the soft floater and he could really score the ball. He was kind of a unique player.
“Playing alongside Jordan Brown, he got a lot of opportunities and he cashed on it. We’re hoping Zeke can do the same thing.”
El Moutaouakkil averaged 25 points a game in Florida last year and is already showing signs of being an immediate impact player.
“Really good player,” Marlin said. “He’s 6-6, strong and can do a lot of different things. He can handle the basketball, working hard defensively. I’m challenging him there, but he can really drive the ball to the basket.”
Although Chancellor White isn’t new to the program, he played sparingly two years ago and missed the entire 2023-24 season with a knee injury last year, so he’ll seem like an addition to the fans.
“Looking back at that, losing Chancellor White before the season ever started and Blake (Butler) at Christmas was a huge blow to us,” Marlin said. “Down the stretch, that really hurt our depth. That was another need we wanted to correct and we went out and got several longer wing players who can do that.
“He’s come back and worked hard,” Marlin said of White. “He’s lost some weight. He’s looked really good offensively and defensively and rebounding, he’s improved as well. We’re excited about adding him back to the fold.”
Also adding to Marlin’s optimism is all the additions are already in early and practicing.
“To have a full roster in the summer time, it’s been really good,” he said. “Everybody is healthy, so we’re able to do some teaching and play a lot — learning what these guys can do and what they can do together.”