Men's Basketball 2025-26 Roster Reload: Louisiana

The Ragin’ Cajuns enter the 2025-26 season with a new ladder at the helm — Louisiana native Quannas White.

White’s playing career was before the transfer portal era, but he used it to his benefit. After spending two seasons at Midland College he transferred to Oklahoma, where he played a key role for a Final Four squad. White then spent multiple seasons in the NBA D-League.

His coaching career has been equally extensive. White spent nine years as an AAU coach in Louisiana. White then bounced around multiple teams as an assistant coach, before becoming associate head coach at Houston helping guide the Cougars to a national championship appearance.

The time is here and the time is 𝐍𝐎𝐖 🏀

It’s time for the @quannas_white era at 𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐀#GeauxCajuns pic.twitter.com/1zCQ2Ebuh8

— Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns® Men’s Basketball (@RaginCajunsMBB) March 17, 2025

Transitioning to his first head coaching role, White faced a challenge of balancing his duties in Louisiana, and a March run with the Cougars. One of his initial priorities was roster retention — successfully convincing three key contributors to return to Lafayette.

Three key pieces return to Lafayette. Jeremiah Evans returns after an up and down freshman season, where he scored a high of 19 points against Old Dominion. Zeke Cook started 18 games after transferring in from Jackson State last season. Kyran Ratliff averaged 5.7 points and started 15 games as a sophomore.

Departures

Like many programs, especially one that loses a head coach, Louisiana has experienced significant roster turnover.

The most notable loss came through the transfer portal, as forward Mostapha El Moutaouakkil is headed to Jacksonville State. El Moutaouakkil was the leader in both scoring (14.5 per game) and rebounds (5.2 per game) last season.

Two five-year guards, Kentrell Garnett and Michael Thomas, have exhausted their eligibility. Garnett, a starter over the last couple seasons, appeared in 112 contests and averaged 10.1 points last season. Thomas played 15.5 minutes per game throughout his five seasons.

Christian Wright transferred to Lafayette last offseason. After stops at Georgia and Oregon State, Wright recorded a career-high in points, assists, three point percentage, and field goal percentage in his lone season for the Ragin’ Cajuns. He also graduated.

Kyndall Davis remained in the Sun Belt Conference, transferring to the Texas State Bobcats. Davis started 18 games in his only season in Lafayette, averaging 5.5 points and grabbing 2.9 rebounds.

Additionally, guards Brandon Hardy and London Fields departed via the transfer portal. Hardy transferred to Southern University after averaging 22 minutes per game as a sophomore. Fields has transferred to East Texas A&M after not taking the jump as a sophomore that some expected.

Arrivals

White’s first recruiting class is a long list, featuring 13 new players coming out of high school and the transfer portal.

Headlining this incoming class is four-star freshman Joshua Lewis, a 6-foot-7 wing who was initially committed to Iowa, and also visited Florida State. Lewis arrives with serious anticipation, as he is the highest ranked recruit in school history, according to 247sports. Lewis has the potential of being on of the most impactful freshmen in the conference.

𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐄𝐃 🖊️

Join us in welcoming ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ @JoshuaLewis10, the 𝙃𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙀𝙎𝙏 𝙍𝘼𝙉𝙆𝙀𝘿 high school signee in program history 👀

🏀 Ranked 6⃣3⃣rd by ESPN
🏀 Ranked 4⃣9⃣th in 247 Sports composite rankings
🏀 1⃣7⃣th ranked small forward in the Class of 2025 #GeauxCajuns pic.twitter.com/QX5N3pKUbe

— Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns® Men’s Basketball (@RaginCajunsMBB) April 17, 2025

Another promising freshman is Mike Collins, a point guard with multiple high-major offers coming out of high school. Collins is expected to compete immediately, but playing time might be tough to come by, as Louisiana brings in several experienced guards.

Louisiana added six guards via the transfer portal, including Jamyron Keller from Oklahoma State, who started 26 games for the Cowboys and scored a season-high 15 points against BYU. Karris Bilal also comes from a high-major program, in Vanderbilt, where he redshirted as a freshman last season.

The rest of the guards include De’Vion Lavergne, who averaged 13.6 points at the JUCO level before redshirting at Purdue Fort-Wayne last season; Milan Meija, a career 35 percent three-point shooter at the NAIA level and also averaged 1.6 steals per game; Jaxon Olvera, who scored a career-high 27 points at Pepperdine as a freshman last season; and Dorian Finister who spent two years at Kansas State before playing 26.7 minutes per contest at Sam Houston State last season.

Son of NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon, Rahman Olajuwon, transfers in from Tyler Junior College. The 6-foot-8 wing appears to be redshirting the upcoming season.

The frontcourt also gains depth via the transfer portal: Todd Jones (Portland),a former number one recruit in Louisiana with three years of eligibility; Sean Elkinton (Louisiana Tech), a 6-foot-8 forward that can stretch the floor, as over half of his field goal attempts came from beyond the arc last season; and Dariyus Woodson (North Dakota), a forward who can also stretch the floor as he attempted 161 three-pointers last season.

With a new staff, returners, transfers, and freshmen, it could take some time for everything to fall into place. However, once these pieces start to fit together, this could be one of the most fun teams to watch this season.

The anticipated season kicks off on Nov. 3, as Louisiana will travel to Indiana to take on Ball State. Quannas White’s home debut will come against in-state foe Southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 7.