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After some recent uncertainty about his future, Robert Lee will continue his tenure at UL next season.
Lee will be back for a sixth year as the head men's basketball coach and 14th season overall with the program following a 10-20 campaign last season. That followed a 2007-08 season in which the team went 15-15 overall and won a share of the Sun Belt's West Division title with an 11-7 record.
With one year left on his contract, Lee knows his team must continue to find academic success and win more games in 2009-10 for his time with the Cajuns to continue. If the team doesn't meet Academic Progress Rate standards in 2008-09, it will lose a scholarship and face a postseason ban. All of UL's athletic teams would be banned from postseason play with another subpar APR score in 2009-10.
<center><p><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20090329/SPORTS/903290349/1006" target="_blank">The rest of the story</a>
Joshua Parrott •
jparrott@theadvertiser.com • March 29, 2009
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Earlier in the week, Lee sat down with The Daily Advertiser to address various issues surrounding the program.
Question: What was your reaction when you were brought back for the final year of your contract?
Answer: I wasn't surprised with the decision the administration made. I'm excited about what our program can still achieve.
Q: How would you describe what happened last season?
A: It really was frustrating because I thought our team would be pretty good but only if it was whole. We're three or four days from the start of the season and (Randell) Daigle breaks his hand and (Chris) Gradnigo goes to the hospital with a staph infection. Our best defensive player Brandon Dison tried to play after not practicing and after a few games had to have season-ending surgery. (Travis) Bureau went about a month without practicing even though he was playing in the games. The biggest part was all the practice time those guys missed. That made it tough for our team chemistry to develop.
Q: What must this team improve on next season to become successful?
A: The main thing about next season is just to win. It's not just one or two things. We have to get better at containing the ball up top. We have to do a better job of getting into the paint and finding open guys. We have to rebound the ball better at the five spot (center) and score more there.
Q: The program's recruiting philosophy had been focused more on high school players in 2006-07 and '07-08, but the team's six newcomers last year were from junior colleges and four-year schools. Why the change?
A: We started out getting the high school guys, but we needed some experience right away because the team we had a year ago (in 2007-08) won 15 games but lost (Elijah) Millsap, (David) Dees, (Abray) Milson and (Maurice) Barksdale. A lot of the guys from that team were coming off their first year playing in college, so we felt like we needed some more experience to help them.
Q: More than half your team next season will be seniors, but due to NCAA sanctions and APR penalties you've only got one available scholarship for next year. St. Martinville native Javan Mitchell signed in November. Any more recruits on the way?
A: I've had two young men on our team come to me and say they would give up their scholarship if we can bring in another player that can help us. We have some guys that want to succeed in the worst way, so we might have some avenues to bring in a new player or two.
Q: Last year the average home attendance for the team was 2,871 - the lowest in 24 years at the Cajundome. That's down from an average of 4,795 in 2006-07. What can you do to help turn that around?
A: I don't know how much the economics played into it, but I know that the more you win, the more people will come out. We'll do the best job we can to market the program and entice people to go to the games. Hopefully, people enjoy the games when they come out and they'll want to come back and watch us play again.
Q: The 2009-10 season is not only important for the men's basketball team but also for the entire athletic program and you personally. How are you handling the situation?
A: If I put God first in my life and do what's right, I can't lose. That's how I try to attack every day. It keeps me from worrying about what's going to happen in the future.
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