Tim Buckley

tbuckley2@theadvertiser.com

When Orlando Magic point guard Elfrid Payton left UL and was selected 10th overall in last June's NBA Draft, Ragin' Cajuns big man Shawn Long had one thought in his mind.

Cajuns coach Bob Marlin, whose club opens its 2014-15 season Friday night at the Cajundome against NCAA Division III-member Louisiana College, did what he could to quickly whack it out.

On one hand, Marlin said, "It is his time, so to speak." But on the other, Marlin hastened to add, "He wants to think, 'Coach, you know, I'm next.' "

"I sat him down," Marlin said.

"I said, 'You're not next. You have to go out and do it on the court on a consistent basis. Just because you're Elfrid's roommate, it's not your turn. You have to do it through hard play, and over time.'

"But," Marlin added, "he's excited about the opportunity."

That he is.

Seeing Payton picked so high, Long said, "was a great motivator."

"Of course it puts (following in his footsteps) in my head," the Morgan City High product. "But, at the same time, I know that we have a team goal that we need to accomplish first.

"Without that, I can't do anything. So, right now, that's my main focus: Getting my team better, becoming a better leader and trying to produce some wins."

Teammates are convinced he can do all that.

"Shawn always has a chip on his shoulder. So, I'm excited," projected starting point guard Kasey Shepherd said. "He's always gonna be aggressive, and he's always gonna play. I'm just glad I'll be able to play a lot with him this year."

"He has a chip on his shoulder because he knows what's at stake," starting shooting guard Xavian Rimmer added. "He knows he's trying to get to the next level. He knows what he needs to do to get the next level."

In the eyes of some, that means simply playing – and doing it with both narrow focus and a clear noggin.

Do that, they figure, and Long's ceiling is sky-high.

"He can be the most dominant big man in all of college basketball," swingman Steven Wronkoski said. "He's got great skill, inside and out. I don't there's anybody in the conference that can really guard him 1-on-1, straight up.

"So, feed him the ball and let him do his thing. And when he's not on, we've got to make up for it and hit perimeter shots and get to the rim."

Long's credentials and past play already have NBA scouts watching the young father and one-time Mississippi State signee closely.

He averaged 15.5 points and 10.2 rebounds and won Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year honors in 2012-13.

He averaged an 18.6-point, 10.4-rebound double-double in helping UL to the Sun Belt Tournament title and a resulting NCAA Tournament appearance last season, and led the SBC in both boards and blocks (2.7 per game) as well.

He made every All-Sun Belt preseason team that exists this year.

And he was named to 4-of-4 preseason Mid-Major All-American type teams, joined only by Cal-Santa Barbara center Alan Williams as a consensus pick (with Georgia State guard R.J. Hunter, the Sun Belt's preseason Player of the Year, and Wisconsin-Green Bay guard Keifer Sykes both making 3-of-4).

That's what's on paper.

On the court is a bona fide NBA body – listed by UL at 6-foot-9 and 245 pounds, but supposedly measured at 6-10, 256 during one skills camp last summer – and someone one NBA scout said "checks all the boxes" when it comes to pro-game potential.

What's off the floor, though, is someone who still must prove to doubters that he has all the requisite intangibles to go with all that is measurable.

"He has a chance to have a breakout year," Marlin said of Long, who may play Friday night but missed UL's exhibition win over Loyola-New Orleans last week due to a bone bruise in his foot.

"The one thing with Shawn is he always is motivated to play. He might not be motivated to practice sometimes … but Shawn loves to play.

"We give the guys off, he's playing pickup," Marlin added. "And if we're not careful he'll be on the slab over at Girard (Park) or over at Morgan City, which is not good for his knees. I mean, he loves to play."

Payton's meteoric rise from relatively unheard-of freshman to lottery pick, though, may have been just enough for Long to start to realize how not just game but the whole package can lead to greater reward.

He's currently ranked No. 13 among pro-prospect juniors and projected to go early in the second round of next year's NBA Draft according to NBADraft.net, and he's rated as the No. 4 NBA prospect from so-called "non-Big 7" conferences by DraftExpress.com.

"Shawn gets it. Shawn understands," said forward Brian Williams, who transferred to UL after spending four years at Oklahoma State. "He's motivated, seeing Elfrid go in the draft so high. … He's definitely motivated after seeing that."

Part of the motivation evidently includes wanting to prove just how good of a teammate he can be.

"For Shawn, I think the key will be to just play his game," Shepherd said. "He's great at what he does, and when he comes out and he plays hard, then he's unstoppable. I think if he does that every night we'll be fine, and I think he knows that. So, when the time comes I think he'll be ready."

"He's getting people involved, and knows what it takes to win," Rimmer added. "He knows we want to get back to the NCAA Tournament as well."

That team goal – returning to the Big Dance sans Payton – is something Long sincerely seems to want on his resume.

It's also, he insists, something that for now trumps any personal ambition.

"I'm putting my team first," Long said, "and the rest of it will come. I just believe that."

The "rest," presumably, is playing in the NBA.

But Long, as much as he's hinted at it in the past on social media, just doesn't want to get dragged into talking about that nowadays.

"I always tell myself I'll never let anybody take the love of the game away from me," he said. "That's all. I just love to play.

"Once you try starting to add all that other stuff into it, it kind of clouds the main focus, which is to play. Play. Do what you love. Play the game. The rest of it will fall in place."

A LONG LIST

A look at 10 entries on the lengthy list of preseason accolades for UL redshirt junior big man Shawn Long:

• College Sports Madness Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year

• Preseason first team All-Sun Belt Conference

• Sporting News Yearbook Preseason five-member All-Sun Belt

• Athlon Preseason five-member All-Sun Belt

• Lindy's Preseason five-member All-Sun Belt

• College Sports Madness Preseason first team All-Sun Belt

• Basketball Times Preseason Mid-Major All-American, Mid-Major "Dream Team" starter

• NBCSports.com Preseason Mid-Major All-American

• SB Nation Mid-Major Madness Preseason first team All-American

• Jay Bilas Preseason five-member All Mid-Major Team

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

What they're saying nationally about UL big man Shawn Long:

"If the Ragin' Cajuns make back-to-back (NCAA Tournament) appearances, it may be on All-Sun Belt big man Shawn Long's back."

– Sporting New Yearbook

"The Ragin' Cajuns made a good go at Cinderella, but ended up losing 76-66 to (Creighton). The NCAA hopes now are on the shoulders of Shawn Long."

– College Sports Madness

"It will be Long's Ragin' Cajuns team this season with Elfrid Payton now in the NBA. His ability to block shots and shoot 3s at 6-foot-10 could mean that he winds up in the NBA Draft after this season as well."

– NBCSports.com

"He is just learning how to draw fouls and if he can improve a little at the stripe, he becomes a massively dominant weapon for Louisiana-Lafayette, even with the departure of Elfrid Payton to the League."

– SB Nation Mid-Major Madness

"All-SBC first-teamer Shawn Long … may have the best chance of unseating Georgia State's R.J. Hunter for Sun Belt Player of the Year honors."

– Athlon Sports

– Compiled by Tim Buckley