UL women's basketball coach Garry Brodhead isn't running from last year's many trials that produced a 5-26, 2-16 campaign.

But as he enters his 14th season with the Ragin' Cajuns, Brodhead also wasn't discouraged by it at all.

"I'm not a person that's going to get discouraged," said Brodhead during the Sun Belt's basketball media days zoom call Tuesday. "I think the biggest thing last year ... has been learning, learning, learning. You learn how to change, you know?

"We had to do some changes, you know, not only with the way we were doing things, but also with the, you know, the lineups, and going out and recruit, and, you know, that the whole college sports, to me, has changed so much that we need to adjust to it."

There are many reasons to believe Brodhead's Cajuns can make a rapid improvement up the Sun Belt standings this season, despite the coaches picking UL to finish 13th this year.

UL fans will get the first look at Brodhead’s new team in an exhibition game against LSU-Alexandria at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Cajundome.

One is the coaching staff has been in tact throughout the offseason, unlike last year.

Because of that, Brodhead is convinced the program's "fall" to five wins last year was largely misinterpreted.

"I'm lucky to have some young coaches that help me with that (changes)," he explained. "People say you fall, but I felt like we fell forward. We did not fall back. We continue to fall forward."

For most of last season, there were very few options on the bench. This year, UL''s foster is filled with promising newcomers.

"We really believe in what we have now," Brodhead said. "We haven't gotten to some of the things that I really want to do. We're still on the basic part of our deal. 
Right now, we're spending a lot of time on defensively, We want to make sure that everybody can defend.

"But you're right, we are going to be deep."

First, there's the veterans still hanging around in seniors Jazmyne Jackson, Mikaylah Manley and Kahlen Norris,  as well as seasoned sophomores Imani Daniel and Amijah Price.

"Jazmyne is shooting lights out man," Brodhead said. "I'm excited about her. Mikaylah is an offensive threat every time she catches the ball.

"Imani is a special player. She's one that's the first one in the gym and the last one out. She's doesn't have an injury. She can be hurt - break her finger or do whatever - and she's going to continue to play. That's the kind of toughness we need."

The staff then added size in 6-foot-3 freshmen from Senegal - Aminata Sowe and Ndioba Lo - as well as 6-2 Kayllis Walker from Laurel, Mississippi.

"(Assistant coach) Temeka (Johnson) has kind of been all over the world and she had some connections," Brodhead said of the international additions.

The staff also added two junior college guards in Malaya Jones from Trinity Valley Community College and Kennedi Johnson from Tyler Junior College.

Perhaps the biggest impression so far has been 5-foot-7 former John Curtis standout Bailey Timmons.

"Bailey Timmons has really, really, really surprised me coming in," Brodhead said. "She's 17 years old and some of the things that she's improved on this summer ... she's probably our best defensive player already. Offensively, she's pretty close to being the best offensive player already too."

The other freshman newcomers include: Justyse George from Teurlings Catholic, Kelis Dansby rom Clarksville, Indiana and Janja Dragistic from Montenegro.

“I thought we had a pretty good summer, and now we’re building on it,” Brodhead added. “We got a lot of work left to do, though. 
We’ve got some newcomers and we’ve got a lot of young kids are working, but we're excited about. The opportunity that we have to continue to get better. Defensively, we need some work, and offensively, we need some work, but it really has been going pretty good.”