WATCH: UL men’s basketball HC Quannas White talks 2025 szn recruitment
The roster and coaching staff is pretty much set for UL men’s basketball and new HC Quannas White. Here’s what White had to say about incoming roster.
Summer workouts and long hours in the Cajundome are on the docket for Louisiana men’s basketball head coach Quannas White after a little more than a month of being in his new home, Lafayette.
The New Orleans native was named the 15th head coach of the Ragin’ Cajuns program. Even though he hasn’t been in the 337 long, he’s already winning over the community, and it’s winning him over as well.
“Being back in my home state is a blessing and a huge reason why I accepted the job because it’s right here in Louisiana,” White said. “I grew up here two hours down the road, but Lafayette has been amazing. The people have been great and right now we’re focusing on our guys getting in and ready for the summer.”
The buzz for Cajun basketball hasn’t been this high in a while after a disappointing last season where they went 12-21 overall. The arrival of White came with that excitement as he, his staff and the pending roster for the 2025-26 college basketball season will find any way they can to win this year.
“I want Cajun Nation to know first that we need them,” White said. “We’re planning on having 13,000 in that Cajundome and I believe that it’s gonna happen. They are gonna get my all on a day-in and day-out basis and so it starts there. But I need them with me, I absolutely do.”
‘Are you sure?’
Before White was donning Vermilion & White, and shaking hands across Lafayette, he was coaching under who he would say is the coach that had the biggest impact on his career: Kelvin Sampson. He played under the now legendary University of Houston coach from 2001-03 at Oklahoma and the duo would link back up in 2017.
White served as an assistant and an associate head coach to Sampson, leading the Cougars to heaps of success, including this past season’s National Championship appearance vs Florida. It was there that the two would share some of their last moments before White took his first head coaching gig at Louisiana.
“He asked me, ‘Are you sure?’” White said when asked about Sampson’s parting words. “That’s my guy, like a second dad to me, and he just said ‘Quannas go be you because you’re good enough and you’re prepared and you’re ready.’ And so I thank him for that.”
With Sampson’s stamp of approval, White is hoping to bring the winning ways the two of them experienced to Lafayette. Every final four appearances Sampson and the Cougars made, White was right there, and one of his main roles was player development.
Molding the future Cajun squad
White’s coaching philosophy, according to him, is pretty simple: finding ways to win and the backbone of that mindset is developing his players.
“I am big on player development, and I hang my hat on it,” White said. “We got a really good team, a talented team, high-character guys that are on this team, and that’s what you need to have a successful program. To acquire that from the start is, you know, really important, and my staff did we’ve done a great job at assembling this team.”
The Cajuns will have three returners from last season Zeke Cook, Jeremiah Evans, and Kyran Ratliff as well as eight other players transferring in. Their 2025 recruit class is headlined by a four-star forward Joshua Lewis and he will be joined by two other three-star recruits.
With so many new faces, White and his staff will serve as teachers throughout the offseason, ushering in his systems on both sides of the ball. Keeping all the noise out will be key for White and the Cajuns as this season will likely be a rebuilding season, and Cajun Nation is itching for something to cheer about when it comes to basketball.
“On Sunday, we have our first team meeting and I’m at the helm and I know exactly what to do,” White said. “Just consistently reminding these guys to stay focused on the people that really matter and that’s gonna be the people inside of that room. We’re gonna work our butts off to take this program to new heights.”
Shannon Belt covers high school sports and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow her high school and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ShannonBelt3. Got questions regarding HS/UL athletics? Send them to Shannon Belt at sbelt@gannett.com.
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