Rarefied Air: Shawn Long on the Precipice of Something REALLY Special

Shawn Long has already etched his name in the annals of Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns basketball history.

What you may not know is, Long has a chance to do something only ONE college basketball player has accomplished in the modern era (since 1973.)

Long, after his 12-point, 12-rebound performance Saturday against Little Rock, now has scored 2,135 points and hauled in 1,333 rebounds in his Cajuns' career.

Last week, the folks at collegehoopedia.com, let us know Long has a good chance to join a pretty exclusive club:  2,250 points and 1,400 rebounds.

According to their research, only one player in the modern era has done it:  Lionel Simmons of LaSalle, and he did it 25 years ago.

There are four others who accomplished it as well.  Three of them (Dickie Hemric, Tom Gola and Elgin Baylor) played back in the '50's.  And, the great Elvin Hayes, who played for Houston, did it in the '60's.  (And, it should be noted Baylor and Hayes accomplished the feat in just three seasons.)

Long has six regular season games remaining and at least one in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in New Orleans. That means, to get to the milestones, he'll need to average 16.8 points and 9.5 rebounds during that time to reach those two marks.  Of course, if the Cajuns advance in the conference tournament, then he needs to average a bit less.

Cajun fans have just two more opportunities (March 3 vs. Georgia State and March 5 vs. Georgia Southern) to see Long in action at the Cajundome as he closes in on one of the greatest accomplishments by a Ragin' Cajun in any sport.