- New Orleans Privateers
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New Orleans Privateers 
University University of New Orleans Conference(s) Independent
Gulf South Conference (2012)NCAA Division II (full member 2012) Athletics director Amy Champion Location New Orleans, LA Varsity teams 11 Football stadium Tad Gormley Stadium Basketball arena Lakefront Arena Baseball stadium Maestri Field Mascot Air Pierre; Lafitte Nickname Privateers Fight song "Let's Hear It For UNO" Colors Reflex Blue and Silver Homepage www.UNOPrivateers.com The New Orleans Privateers are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of New Orleans, located in Lake Terrace/Lake Oaks neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The Privateers compete in NCAA intercollegiate athletics, currently in the process of transitioning from Division I to Division II and competes as an independent before joining the Gulf South Conference in 2012.[1]
Contents
History
UNO's athletic teams participated in NCAA Division II from 1969 to 1975 before moving to Division I in and becoming a charter member of the Sun Belt Conference.[2] In December 2009, the LSU Board approved a proposal from UNO to move its athletic program from Division I to Division III following a drop in enrollment and associated budget cuts following Hurricane Katrina.[3] The school submitted an application in May 2010 and in June 2010, received initial approval from the NCAA Division III Membership Committee to move forward with its transition. The school originally announced that it intended to add football, along with women's golf and women's soccer as part of the transition to NCAA Division III.[4]
UNO left the Sun Belt on June 30, 2010 and competed as an NCAA Division I Independent in all sports during the 2010-11 academic year as part of the transition from Division I. Following the findings of the financial analysis and institutional research the LSU Board of Supervisors meetings approved the move down from Division I to Division II instead of Division III. UNO will be placed on the NCAA Division II Membership Committee spring agenda, to compete in Division II sports. The Privateers also plan to add women’s golf, women’s soccer and football to reach Division II’s minimum requirement of 10 sports.[2] UNO will begin playing at the Division II level and competing as an independent team during the provisional 2011-12 academic year before the school becomes a full member of the Division II and member of the Gulf South Conference in 2012-13.[5]
Intercollegiate sports
Men's sports
Women's sports
Baseball
The UNO baseball team plays its home games at Maestri Field located on the UNO East Campus and is currently coached by Bruce Peddie. New Orleans's most notable baseball rivals are LSU and Tulane. Despite being a relative newcomer to college baseball, the UNO baseball team has a history of fielding competitive teams. Most of the early success belongs to Ron Maestri who led the team to the Division II World Series in 1974.[6] After making the jump to Division I, Maestri once again brought success to the Privateers. In 1984, the Privateers became the first University in Louisiana to make the Division I College World Series.[6] During the tenure of Tom Walter, the Privateers made post-season appearances in 2007 (as an automatic qualifier) & 2008 (as an at-large).
Augie Schmidt won the Golden Spikes Award with the Privateers in 1982.
Privateers in the Majors
Privateers baseball has seen a number of alumni go on to Major League careers, including:[7]
- Jim Bullinger
- Randy Bush
- Thomas Diamond
- Roger Erickson
- Johnny Giavotella
- Mark Higgins
- Eric Rasmussen
- Joe Slusarski
- Brian Traxler
- Jason Waddell
- Wally Whitehurst
- Ted Wood
Men's basketball
The Privateers play at 8,933-seat Lakefront Arena. The team is coached by Mark Slessinger. UNO qualified for four NCAA tournaments in 10 seasons between 1987 and 1996. UNO won the Sun belt conference in 1978 and '96. Tim Floyd, who coached UNO to tournaments in 1991 and '93, and is currently the head coach for the University of Texas-El Paso. The Privateers have been ranked nationally four times: 1987, '91, '93 and '96. The highest rank was 16th by the Associated Press in 1987. The schools best winning percentage (23-7/.767) came when it was an NCAA Division I Independent in 1983.
NCAA Tournament history: Tournament appearances 4 Final Fours: 0 NCAA Tournament record 0-4
Privateers in the NBA
Women's basketball
The team is coached by Amy Champion, who also serves the university's athletic director. On March 19, 1983, the Buck-ettes as they were known, won their third game in three days in Amarillo, Texas defeating Memphis 68-58 to win the Women's National Invitational Tournament. The team previously defeated Weber State (100-70) in the semifinals and Texas Tech (66-65) in the quarterfinals.[8]
Men's and women's golf
- Head coach - Chris McCarter
Men's & women's tennis
- Head coach - Burzis Kanga
Volleyball
Women's Volleyball is coached by Kim Young, who came to UNO from Grambling in 2010.[9] Her tenure at UNO began with a 23-match home regular season win streak.
The volleyball program won the Sun Belt Conference West Division championship in 2009 under former head coach Jozsef Forman. The division championship was the first of its kind for the Privateer program. Former Privateer volleyball players include former NCAA Division I career kills leader Javonne Brooks. Brooks broke the collegiate women's volleyball record for career kills in a 3-0 win over UT-Pan American on October 29, 1992. The 5'10" senior from Wharton, Texas broke the old record 2,767 held by Long Beach State's Tara Cross. Brooks finished with 2,932 kills and in 2005 was named the Sun Belt's All-Time Greatest Volleyball Player.[8]
Future sports
Football
Main article: UNO Privateers FootballUNO football competed as a club team during the 1960s and 1970s. It was reinstated in 2008 currently under the direction of the university's admissions director Andy Benoit. The University later announced in 2009 that the school planned to sponsor a varsity football team as part of the schools transition from Division I. The team is expected to begin competition in 2015 under the umbrella of the UNO athletic department.[10]
Soccer
The university announced the addition of women's soccer as part of the transition to Division II. UNO plans to begin women's soccer in 2014 with the possibility of adding men's soccer after 2015.[10]
Discontinued sports
After Hurricane Katrina, the university suspended its men's and women's track and field program. The track and field program consisted of the three male and three female components of track and field (indoor, outdoor and cross country). UNO has also previously competed in gymnastics, men's soccer and softball. Swimming and diving, women's soccer and both tennis programs have had several stints with the Privateer athletic program.
Men's & women's swimming & diving
Former coaches of the UNO program include U.S. Olympian Ashley Tappin, current Florida International head coach Randy Horner, and James Winchester. The women's program originally competed from 1983-1992 with the men competing from 1988-1992. The women were reinstated in 2004 with the men following in 2008. The team has called the Lakefront Aquatic Center as its home. The facility was damaged during Hurricane Katrina in Aug. 2005 with the team resuming competing in the pool ahead of the 2009 men's home opener against Stanford.[11] In 2011 the university cut the swimming programs as part of the transition to Division II. Without a conference home the teams competed independent during the 2010-11 academic year with minimal members.[12]
References
- ^ "GSC Officially Extends Membership Invitation To UNO". Gulf South Conference. April 29, 2011. http://www.gulfsouthconference.org/news/2011/4/28/GEN_0428111304.aspx. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
- ^ a b Hogan, Nakia (March 4, 2011). "UNO plans for Division II to go before LSU Board of Supervisors". The Times-Picayune. http://www.nola.com/uno/index.ssf/2011/03/uno_plan_for_division_ii_to_go.html. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
- ^ Varney, James (December 12, 2009). "Board approves move to Division III for UNO". The Times-Picayune. http://www.nola.com/sports/index.ssf/2009/12/board_approves_move_to_divisio.html. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
- ^ Stewart, Robert (October 15, 2010). "Amy Champion officially named UNO athletic director". The Times-Picayune. http://www.nola.com/uno/index.ssf/2010/10/amy_champion_officially_named.html. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
- ^ "New Orleans looks to Division II: UNO hopes to become part of Gulf South Conference in '12-'13". NCAA. February 4, 2011. http://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/2011-02-04/new-orleans-looks-division-ii. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
- ^ a b "History of Baseball in New Orleans". Society for American Baseball Research. http://www.sabrneworleans.com/history.html#1970s. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
- ^ "University of New Orleans Baseball Players Who Made it to the Major Leagues". Baseball Almanac. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/college/university_of_new_orleans_baseball_players.shtml. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
- ^ a b http://www.unoprivateers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=16700&ATCLID=1345873
- ^ http://www.unoprivateers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=16700&ATCLID=204971899
- ^ a b "University of New Orleans Football/Soccer Timeline". University of New Orleans. April 26, 2011. http://www.unoprivateers.com/documents/2011/4/26/UNO_Football_Program_Timeline.pdf. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
- ^ http://www.unoprivateers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=16700&ATCLID=204784833&SPID=10258&SPSID=86704
- ^ Staff. "UNO Cuts Swimming". collegeswimming.com. http://www.collegeswimming.com/news/2011/mar/24/uno-cuts-swimming/. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
External links
Gulf South Conference Current members Future members Categories:- New Orleans Privateers
- University of New Orleans
- Gulf South Conference
- College sports teams in New Orleans, Louisiana
- College sports teams in Louisiana
- College sports teams in the United States by team
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