The men’s basketball team will tip-off against the University of New Orleans for the ‘Pack’s last exhibition appearance before conference play.
Seven years ago last Sunday, the Privateers, under former head coach Joey Stiebing, routed the ‘Pack in a 92-40 exhibition.
This Saturday, Stiebing will sit on the opposite bench helping Michael Giorlando take on his former team.
Stiebing served as an assistant coach at UNO from 1991-1997 when the Privateers led the Sun Belt Conference three times and earned two National Invitational Tournament appearances. Head coaches Tim Floyd and Tic Price transformed UNO into a force to be reckoned with in Louisiana college basketball; however, when Stiebing took the reins, the ailing program had already started into decline.
Changes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association put stress on an already under-funded UNO program. Stiebing said that when he started there, the athletic department placed more emphasis on meeting new league graduation guidelines than making the NCAA National Tournament. Recruitment fell when Price and Floyd left and attendance at games had dropped more than half of what it had been.
But Stiebing worked with what he had. By doubling the team’s graduation rate and successfully recruiting five freshmen to the squad, he built for the future. In his last year he led the team to a 17-12 record and was named the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year.
However, shortly after, the department fired Stiebing for not competing at the level of his predecessors.
“We were doing the best we could do under the circumstances and I thought we were finally starting to show progress that fourth year,” Stiebing said. “They didn’t have enough confidence and faith in me to carry through with it.”
After selling insurance for a year, he received a surprise opportunity to coach the men’s national team in Doha, Qatar – a Middle Eastern state to the east of Saudi Arabia. Itching to get back on the court, Stiebing accepted the job and coached the team for four years – leading to a third place finish at the 2005 Asian Games and Qatar’s first appearance at the World Basketball Championships in 2006.
Now, Stiebing has returned to New Orleans to help his former UNO assistant, Giorlando, on the court and with recruiting.
As far as his attitude toward UNO goes, he said he has no grudges.
“I felt like everything happened for a reason. I mean, at the time I was a little bitter and disappointed because I felt like we hadn’t accomplished what I wanted to accomplish there. But, things always work out better than what you expect,” he said.
Stiebing said the Loyola players view the game as a last proving ground before conference play. Members of the team have expressed agitation for not performing better against Division I opponents like Tulane and the University of Southern Mississippi earlier in the season.
“The (UNO game is) important to me because of our players – it’s important to them,” Stiebing said. “Now there’s another opportunity to play a top-notch team and show how good (they) really are.”
But, Loyola will probably not face a team as tough as the Privateers (4-1) this season. Under first year head coach Joe Pasternack, UNO has had an astounding start reminiscent of the Floyd years.
They achieved their most notable win so far on the road against North Carolina State University (Ranked No. 21 in the Associated Press polls)) where T.J. Worley’s last-second three-pointer silenced the Wolfpack stands.
Loyola roughly matches UNO in height, but the Privateers’ speed will keep the game at a much faster pace than the ‘Pack is accustomed to. This week the team has practiced defending the inside to protect against paint-hungry senior Bo McCalebb, who ranked sixth in the NCAA for scoring last year.
Coming off their first home loss last week to Nicholls State University, the Privateers should be at full speed, especially if Kendall Dykes, a junior forward, returns from a sprained ankle.
Tip-off starts at 7 p.m. at the UNO Human Performance Center.
Steve Heath can be reached at [email protected]
