[Sly Fox]

It seems like forever ago since David left us behind in search of greener grass. Well after sitting out his season filled with Katrina & Rita, he's finally ready to take the floor. But he's surrounded by a bunch of kids so it could be a long junior season:

Fresh faces fill UL roster
Five first-time freshmen begin learning system

Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

As the saying goes, you can't tell UL's men's basketball players without a scorecard.

The Ragin' Cajun squad, which opened "official" practice for the 2006-07 season Friday night and will hold two practice sessions today, has 14 members.

Half of them have never worn a UL uniform.
Five of them are first-time freshmen.

But, ironically, Cajun head coach Robert Lee says that his team is more ready for the start of fall drills than last year.

"We really didn't have the opportunities we wanted last year because of the hurricanes," Lee said. "That really hurt us."

UL lost its Cajundome home, which became a shelter following Hurricane Katrina, and Blackham Coliseum was also involved in hurricane relief. UL wound up playing four games in Blackham while the Cajundome was repaired.

The Cajuns are also benefiting from relaxed NCAA rules regarding preseason practice, with the squad already holding nearly every-day workouts in small groups and several practices as a full team.

"We've had a chance to fully practice a couple of hours for the last three weeks," Lee said. "That's been a big help to everybody. Even the guys we have returning, they don't have that much game experience."

UL lost most of the regulars from last year's 13-16 squad, but does return four players with starting experience and five with significant minutes. However, none of the five - guards Ross Mouton, Maurice Barksdale and Rhett Hebert and frontliners Valentino Hart and Adam James - averaged more than 6.7 points and 3.1 rebounds (Barksdale's numbers in 15 starts).

"We're asking our returning guys to step into a leadership role," Lee said, "but we haven't identified who will be the captains. Somebody still has to really go out and earn that title. The captain's titles have to be earned and no one has stepped up."

Barksdale and Hebert shared point-guard duties last season, while Hart started 11 times on the front line and Mouton became a dangerous three-point threat late last season. He made 20-of-27 outside the arc in his last six games.

Leadership will be key considering the youth that dominates the rest of the team. Transfer David Dees, who averaged 16.2 points as a sophomore at Liberty University two seasons ago, is the only newcomer with major-college experience, and former St. Thomas More standout Abray Milson has two years of junior college ball.

The rest - guards Willie Lago, Elijah Milsap and Stephen Dees (David's little brother) and forwards Courtney Wallace and Tyren Johnson - were playing their senior high school seasons eight months ago.

"They're picking up everything pretty quickly," Lee said, "much quicker offensively than defensively. We've really worked on defense a lot. But the guys we have, they're really a cohesive group and that's going to help us the whole season."

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