New Orleans Privateers
Encyclopedia
The New Orleans Privateers are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of New Orleans
University of New Orleans
The University of New Orleans, often referred to locally as UNO, is a medium-sized public urban university located on the New Orleans Lakefront within New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is a member of the LSU System and the Urban 13 association. Currently UNO is without a proper chancellor...

, located in Lake Terrace/Lake Oaks
Lake Terrace/Lake Oaks, New Orleans
Lake Terrace/Lake Oaks is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the city's Gentilly District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Lake Pontchartrain to the north, the Industrial Canal to the east, Leon C. Simon Drive, Elysian Fields Avenue, New...

 neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The Privateers compete in NCAA intercollegiate athletics, currently in the process of transitioning from Division I to Division II and competes as an independent
NCAA Division II independent schools
NCAA Division II independent schools are four-year institutions that field intercollegiate teams in football and other sports, but which are not formally affiliated with any athletic conference.-Full Division II member:...

 before joining the Gulf South Conference
Gulf South Conference
The Gulf South Conference is a College Athletic Conference which operates in the southeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division II.-History:...

 in 2012.

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
Sun Belt Conference
The Sun Belt Conference is a college athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Its football teams participate in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , the higher of two levels of Division I football competition . The Sun Belt has member institutions...

. 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
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

. 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.

UNO left the Sun Belt on June 30, 2010 and competed as an NCAA Division I Independent
NCAA Division I independent schools (basketball)
NCAA Division I independent basketball schools are four-year institutions that do not belong to a basketball conference or a primary conference for all sports teams.-Schools:...

 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. 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
Gulf South Conference
The Gulf South Conference is a College Athletic Conference which operates in the southeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division II.-History:...

 in 2012-13.

Intercollegiate sports

Men's sports
  • Baseball
    College baseball
    College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. Compared to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a less significant contribution to cultivating professional players, as the minor leagues primarily...

  • Basketball
    College basketball
    College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....

  • Cross Country
    Cross country running
    Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

  • Golf
    Golf
    Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

  • Football
    College football
    College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

     (2015)
  • Tennis
    Tennis
    Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...



Women's sports
  • Basketball
    College basketball
    College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....

  • Cross Country
    Cross country running
    Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

  • Golf
    Golf
    Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

  • Soccer
    College soccer
    College soccer is a term used to describe association football played by teams who are operated by colleges and universities as opposed to a professional league operated for exclusively financial purposes...

     (2014)
  • Tennis
    Tennis
    Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

  • Volleyball
    Volleyball
    Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...



Baseball

The UNO baseball team plays its home games at Maestri Field
Maestri Field
Maestri Field is a baseball stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home field of the University of New Orleans Privateers baseball team...

 located on the UNO East Campus and is currently coached by Bruce Peddie. New Orleans's most notable baseball rivals are LSU
LSU Tigers baseball
The LSU baseball team represents Louisiana State University in NCAA Division I college baseball.Along with the other LSU athletic teams, the baseball team participates in the West division of the Southeastern Conference...

 and Tulane
Tulane Green Wave baseball
The Tulane Green Wave baseball team represents Tulane University in NCAA Division I college baseball.The Green Wave baseball team competes in Conference USA...

. 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. 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
1984 College World Series
The 1984 College World Series was played at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, NE from June 1 to June 10. The thirty-eighth tournament's champion was California State University, Fullerton, coached by Augie Garrido...

. 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
Augie Schmidt
August Robert Schmidt IV is the current head coach of the Carthage College baseball team. He was a minor league baseball shortstop from 1982 to 1986....

 won the Golden Spikes Award
Golden Spikes Award
The Golden Spikes Award is awarded annually to the best amateur baseball player. It is awarded by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association. Though the award can be presented to any amateur player, it has always been given to a college baseball player.-Past...

 with the Privateers in 1982.

Privateers in the Majors

Privateers baseball has seen a number of alumni go on to Major League
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 careers, including:
  • Jim Bullinger
    Jim Bullinger
    James Eric Bullinger is a former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago Cubs , Montreal Expos and Seattle Mariners . He batted and threw right-handed. He is the brother of pitcher Kirk Bullinger. Jim Bullinger was converted to a pitcher in the Cubs' farm system,...

  • Randy Bush
    Randy Bush
    Robert Randall Bush , is a former professional baseball player and currently a front office member of the Chicago Cubs. With the hiring of Theo Epstein, Bush will continue as an assistant General Manager, and will be involved in the hiring process of the field and scouting staff.Bush played for...

  • Thomas Diamond
    Thomas Diamond
    Thomas Nicklaus Diamond is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent.-College & draft:...

  • Roger Erickson
    Roger Erickson
    Roger Farrell Erickson , is a retired professional baseball player who played pitcher in the Major Leagues from -. He played for the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins. He currently works at a winery in Georgia....

  • Johnny Giavotella
    Johnny Giavotella
    Johnny A. Giavotella is a Major League Baseball second baseman for the Kansas City Royals.Giavotella was called up to the majors for the first time on August 5, 2011. On August 7, 2011, Giavotella hit his first major league career home run off Max Scherzer.-External links:...

  • Mark Higgins
    Mark Higgins (baseball)
    Mark Douglas Higgins is a former Major League Baseball first baseman who played for one season in the MLB, and seven seasons in the Minor Leagues. He played for the Cleveland Indians for six games during the 1989 Cleveland Indians season...

  • Eric Rasmussen
    Eric Rasmussen
    Eric Ralph Rasmussen is a retired professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of eight seasons in the majors, between and...

  • Joe Slusarski
    Joe Slusarski
    Joseph Andrew Slusarski was a pitcher for the Oakland Athletics , Milwaukee Brewers , Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves ....

  • Brian Traxler
    Brian Traxler
    Brian Lee Traxler was a United States Major League Baseball first baseman. He was an alumnus of the University of New Orleans....

  • Jason Waddell
    Jason Waddell
    Jason Robert Waddell is a former left-handed Major League Baseball pitcher. Waddell played baseball at La Sierra High School in Riverside, California before moving on to the minor leagues....

  • Wally Whitehurst
    Wally Whitehurst
    Walter Richard Whitehurst is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from to with the New York Mets, San Diego Padres and New York Yankees...

  • Ted Wood
    Ted Wood
    Edward Robert "Ted" Wood is an American former professional baseball player. An outfielder, Wood played in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants and Montreal Expos from 1991-93...


Men's basketball

The Privateers play at 8,933-seat Lakefront Arena
Lakefront Arena
The Senator Nat G. Kiefer University of New Orleans Lakefront Arena is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena, in New Orleans, Louisiana and was built in 1983. It is named in honor of Nat G. Kiefer, the late state senator who aided UNO’s efforts to obtain state funding for the building...

. 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
Tim Floyd
Tim Floyd is an American college basketball coach and the current head coach of the University of Texas at El Paso Miners men's basketball team. He is also a former head coach of several teams in both the NCAA and the NBA, most recently the University of Southern California men's college...

, 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

  • Wilbur Holland
    Wilbur Holland
    Wilbur Holland is a retired American basketball player.A 6'0" guard, Holland played college basketball at the University of New Orleans, where he led his team in scoring for two seasons...

  • Wayne Cooper
  • Ledell Eackles
    Ledell Eackles
    Ledell Eackles is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Washington Bullets in the second round of the 1988 NBA Draft. Eackles played in seven NBA seasons for the Bullets, Miami Heat and Washington Wizards, averaging 10.8 ppg in his career...

  • Ronnie Grandison
    Ronnie Grandison
    Ron Calvin Grandison is a former basketball player, who attended University of California, Irvine and University of New Orleans...

  • Tony Harris
    Tony Harris (NBA basketball)
    Tony Dwayne Harris is an American basketball player. After spending high school at Roosevelt in East Chicago, he later went to University of New Orleans....

  • Ervin Johnson
    Ervin Johnson
    Ervin Johnson is an American former professional basketball center who played in the National Basketball Association from 1993 to 2006.-Professional career:...

  • Michael McDonald
    Michael McDonald (basketball)
    Michael Dewayne McDonald is a retired American basketball player. A 6'10" and center, he played collegiately for Utah Valley State College and the University of New Orleans. In 1990–91 he averaged 12.3 points and 8.3 rebounds for Utah Valley...

  • Dedric Willoughby
    Dedric Willoughby
    Dedric Willoughby is an American former professional basketball player.A 6'3" guard, Willoughby began his college basketball career at the University of New Orleans, then transferred to Iowa State University. His coach at both schools was Tim Floyd...


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.

Volleyball

Women's Volleyball is coached by Kim Young, who came to UNO from Grambling in 2010. Her tenure at UNO began with a 23-match home regular season win streak.

The volleyball program won the Sun Belt Conference
Sun Belt Conference
The Sun Belt Conference is a college athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Its football teams participate in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , the higher of two levels of Division I football competition . The Sun Belt has member institutions...

 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.

Football

UNO 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.

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.

Discontinued sports

After Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

, 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
Ashley Tappin
Ashley Tara Tappin is a former American college and international swimmer and three-time Olympic gold medalist.Tappin was born in Marietta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta....

, 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
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

in Aug. 2005 with the team resuming competing in the pool ahead of the 2009 men's home opener against Stanford. 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.

External links

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