Beyond the Jersey: Erica Lafayette breathes new life into Cajun hoops
LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) -- Erica Lafayette is making her mark in her final collegiate basketball season.
The Baton Rouge native leads Louisiana women's basketball in points per game and 3-point percentage through 15 games. Entering the week Lafayette ranked top 5 in the SBC in 3-pointers made per game.
The Cajuns have plenty of confidence in Erica. During Monday's practice, the team was conditioning to end the day when the staff offered to end early if Lafayette could knock down 2 out of 3 shots from beyond the arc. After missing her first shot, she put the final two shots through the net.
Lafayette appreciates her team's confidence in her.
"It gives you a lot of encouragement because I've been in a position where it wasn't that," she said. "So, this is my first time really having that and you just never know how much a seed can blossom, or a flower can blossom when they get water. Right now, I feel like every day, like even today, like depending on me to make 2/3 threes for us to end practice. Like and they all got faith in that, like they all knew I was going to make that."
Head Coach Gary Brodhead knows that Erica Lafayette brings a skillset he hasn't seen in a long time.
"We knew she could shoot it," Brodhead said. "I didn't know it was going to be that good, especially catch-and-shoot from the three and stuff like that. I mean, I see it every day and I mean, I evaluate every day in practice shooters, and you know, what their shot should be and what their role should be. I mean, it has been a while since I've seen somebody shoot it that good."
Before Lafayette made her way to Lafayette, she was a member of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. That team was led by Vivian Stringer, the fifth-winningest coach in the history of women's college basketball. Following her retirement in 2022, and the death of assistant coach Nikki McCray from breast cancer in 2023, Erica wanted a change of scenery.
"I was just like, I'ma get my degree," she said. "I'm going to finish out the season, but I just wanted something new. I wanted a shift of change, a shift of energy."
Since arriving in the Hub City, Lafayette has enjoyed the family feel of Acadiana. Off the court, Lafayette loves to spend time with her nieces, watch her favorite show, "The Equalizer," and get involved in the business world.
"I'm a public speaker," Erica said. "I've spoken at Columbia University a lot of times. I've spoken and Big 10 symposiums. I've done a lot of things, and I have a podcast called Yappin With E. Subscribe to that."
As the Cajun Women's Basketball team continues to gel as a unit, Lafayette sees big things in their future.
"I'm looking at the way we have grown with each other," she said. "Like that didn't happen at first, What just happened, you know, at the end of practice. I'm looking at how we grew with each other, how we getting a chemistry, how we were able to talk it out and work things out and move past it because a lot of teams don't. This team, we can go as far as we want to go."