New Shade of Green and Gold: Acadiana banking Korey Arnold can rejuvenate its girls basketball program

by: William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor

Korey Arnold developed a vision of what the top of the mountain in Class 5A girls non-select basketball looked like.

For the past four seasons, the 43-year-old Arnold guided Walker to the state semifinals, only to be repelled three times by the eventual state champion, including this past season. He directed the Ladycats to a state runner-up finish in 2015.

With a proven record of success Acadiana High is banking on that same level of achievement for its program following Arnold from Livingston Parish to Lafayette Parish. He agreed to become the new head coach of Lady Rams, replacing Jeremy Richardson who was 5-23 last season.

“I think it’s definitely a good situation to walk into it,” Arnold said. “May take a year or two to get it right. There’s athletes in the area. It’s important to get those kids there and into the system, develop the culture and your identity in the first year, and then try and take drastic steps in years 2-3-4.”

Arnold, a native of Raceland and a graduate of Nicholls, intends to finish the school year at Walker. He’s planning to meet within the next week with the team’s returning players and set a course for the summer of weightlifting in June and some basketball amid a backdrop of teaching in July.

Acadiana has never been to a state tournament and last won a state playoff game in 2018. The Lady Rams have one of the more distinguished programs statewide that boasts three former WNBA players – Kim Perrot (UL), Sheri Sam (Vanderbilt) and DeTrina White (LSU).

“If they’re willing to buy in and do what they’re supposed to do, and create a culture and identity, I expect to make the playoffs next year,” Arnold said. “I’m not going there to lose. I’m not in the business to lose. We’re going to go out there and do what we have to do to make a drastic step.”

Arnold’s 20-year career record of 523-150 includes stops at Cabrini, Hahnville, Sam Houston, and Walker. He spent the bulk of his career – 13 years – fostering the Lady Cats into one of the state’s top teams that was 371-77 – an average of 28.5 wins a season – with eight district championships, five Livingston Parish titles and six trips to the state tournament the past 10 years.

The Lady Cats, which graduated seven signees the previous two seasons, were 32-3 in 2024-25 and reached their fourth straight state semifinal, falling 50-48 to Zachary, the eventual state champion.

“We had another great season,” said Arnold, whose team opened with a 65-11 win over Acadiana. “I feel like we basically overachieved. People thought we were depleted. We heard that Walker was down. This group just worked their butts off, played through a couple of kids on the offensive end, and the other kids just played hard on the defensive end, and that took it to the semifinals. We had a great chance to win that game. It just didn’t break that way at the end.”

Arnold had already moved into offseason mode, making plans for his player’s weightlifting sessions, compiling a schedule of when to get back into the gym, and putting together a 2025-26 season when he was contacted about the opening at Acadiana.

After years of bypassing coaching opportunities in either the college game as an assistant or other head coaching positions at the high school level, Arnold remained firm and continued to add to what he had already established at Walker.

“I never entertained it because I felt like at Walker, we had something going that we could build on,” Arnold said. “We did that with four straight Final Fours which is hard to do at a public school at the highest level. I thought we were really successful at Walker. I went and met, and I thought I needed to listen to (Acadiana). I liked the situation I’m going to. It can be long-term and sustainable if we do it the right way.”

A common denominator – principal Jason St. Pierre who previously served as principal at Walker – didn’t sway Arnold’s decision.

“I don’t think it’s anything to do with him,” Arnold said. “It could have been any principal had they made me the offer and I felt the situation was enticing. That helps that Jason’s there, and I know what he stands for which is pro athletics. That didn’t affect my decision one way or the other. It was more of the opportunity of the challenge, the change of scenery. You know 13 years is a long time to be at one place.

“I’m not leaving because I don’t think we can’t continue to be successful at Walker,” Arnold said. “I felt year in and year out you can be a top eight program because you’re going to have kids that work really hard. There’s a lot of moving parts that went into our success. It just wasn’t showing to games and we’re good. We put in a lot of work with the junior high programs, especially on the weekends. I plan on doing the same thing at Acadiana. If you don’t invest in your future, there is no future. I think we did a really good job with that.”

Arnold sees a recurring theme at Acadiana that he encountered at Sam Houston and Walker. He found himself starting over in both situations after large senior classes opened the door for freshmen and sophomores and the opportunity to grow together in the same system.

Arnold said his desire for making defense a top priority won’t change, but the method may look different until his system takes hold.

“We always pressured at Walker,” Arnold said. “It wasn’t always the same. I coached to the talent I had. We want to hang our hat on the defensive end and let your defense somewhat be your offense. I’ve been at four different schools and have coached all different types of athletes, all different types of skill levels.

“I think I have an idea of how to balance and coach according to what we have,” Arnold said. “I’m not one of those guys that tries to hammer a square peg into a round hole. I’m going to do what I have to do to put us in the best situations to be successful.”