Roger Cador Dies at 74: His Legacy Spans Over a Half Century at Southern University

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Roger Cador, whose name became synonymous with Southern University baseball over four decades, has died at 74.

On Tuesday, the Southern legend’s death was confirmed by WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge. A cause of death was not immediately disclosed.

In a past interview, Cador described his life at Southern in his own words. “I’ve had a love affair with Southern for over 50 years as a student and as a coach,” he said.

The Ventress native and sharecropper’s son became a student-athlete at Southern University in the early 1970s and later returned to the program as an assistant coach on both staffs before taking over as head baseball coach.

He described those years on the Bluff as a “golden era” for HBCU baseball, one he would spend the rest of his life trying to restore.

Cador led Southern in hitting during the 1972 season with a .393 average and was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 1973, according to the American Baseball Coaches Association. He played five seasons in the Braves organization, reaching Triple-A Richmond in 1977 before returning to Baton Rouge as an assistant on the baseball and basketball staffs.

In 1985, Southern named Cador its head baseball coach, a position he held for the next 33 years.

Before his retirement in 2017, Cador finished with a career record of 913-597-1 and a salary context that was not immediately disclosed, according to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. He also had 14 Southwestern Athletic Conference championships and 11 NCAA tournament appearances.

Cador coached 10 All-Americans and 62 MLB draftees, including 2003 Golden Spikes winner Rickie Weeks -- the first HBCU player to claim the award given to the top amateur baseball player in the United States.

Coach Roger Cador's love for Southern University was unwavering. Today, we look back at his words and the legacy he leaves behind. 💙💛

Rest easy, Coach.#WeAreSouthern pic.twitter.com/lvGFT3H8qA
— Southern University (@SouthernU_BR) July 1, 2026

The defining moment arrived in 1987. Cador's Jaguars stunned No. 2-ranked Cal State Fullerton 1-0 in an NCAA regional to become the first HBCU program to win a game in the NCAA tournament. Then-Baton Rouge sportscaster Knox Nunally had said on air that “it would be a cold day in the desert” before Southern beat the Titans. Well, it was freezing.

Wins mattered, but teaching mattered more for Cador. After convincing his father to allow him to accept Southern’s athletic scholarship, he was underprepared for college. Later, he built his coaching philosophy on the same patience that had been extended to him as a student.

“When I was not prepared to be in college, there were people working there who were loving and caring,” Cador said in a previous interview.

That framework became his identity at Southern, where he shared that coaching gave him the “opportunity to touch so many more lives.”

Roger Cador was inducted into the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Hall of Fame in 2018 and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2019. He was later enshrined in the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2023, joining Weeks in the same induction class. Cador is also a member of the ABCA Hall of Fame and the Southern University Athletic Hall of Fame.

Named to Major League Baseball's Diversity Committee in 2013 by Commissioner Bud Selig, Cador helped launch the Urban Invitational, now known as the Andre Dawson Classic, and worked on the Hank Aaron Invitational to broaden opportunities for African American players at every level.

Southern's baseball fieldhouse was later renamed in his honor. Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Weston Broome declared Feb. 3, 2023, Coach Roger Cador Day in the city.

“That's part of what the experience with Southern has been about,” Cador said. “People helping each other, reaching out to other people and bringing a good name to the university.”

The blueprint he wrote for Southern -- selling opportunity to the next generation when the resources were not there -- now passes to the HBCU coaches who inherit the game he loved, baseball.

Roger Cador was a true HBCU legend.

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