Lee, fans enjoy festive night to tip off the season

LOUISIAN La. — Well, after all, it was Late Night.

And Robert Lee was doing his best David Letterman impression, roaming the Cajundome aisles with a wireless microphone.

“I got some fans from Opelousas right here,” Lee said, pointing to a group sitting in one of the lower sections near the floor. “Do y’all think we can get to the Final Four?”

There was some shouts of affirmation. There would have probably been more, but some people were focused on the on-court scrimmage ... some were well past their bedtime at Saturday’s Midnight Madness ... and others were probably trying to figure out why UL Lafayette’s new basketball coach was wandering through the stands while his team was scrimmaging on the floor.


“Tonight was just for the guys to get up and down, play a little and have some fun,” Lee said after the 30-minute running-time scrimmage. “And it was for the fans. We wanted them to have fun, too.”

Lee, named the Cajuns’ head coach in mid-August after eight years as an assistant on the staffs of Marty Fletcher, Jessie Evans and Glynn Cyprien, had some after-midnight fun, too.

Not long into the scrimmage, with assistants Rennie Bailey, Carlin Hartman and Jason Kennemer in charge of the players, Lee grabbed the wireless mike and headed to the seating area.

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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@lafayette.gannett.com