NEW ORLEANS - Shortly after 3 p.m on Tuesday
afternoon, Brittany Helm and Cookie Johnson made their way on to the
main floor at the Lakefront Arena.
The floor, which was not available for the beginning
of the season's opening practice last Friday due to the University of
New Orleans 50th Anniversary Celebration Kickoff, was now available and
these two Lady Privateers were the first to take advantage of their new
home court.
As time inched closer to the start of 3:30 p.m
practice, more Lady Privateers took to the court as head coach Amy
Champion's squad became the first to take to the main floor at the
Lakefront Arena since pre-Katrina.
When players arrived on the floor, they could not
help but take a look around wondering what it would be like to see fans
in the seats. For the seniors who were forced to wait until their last
year of eligibility to play on the floor that they had seen during
recruiting visits in high school, the time had finally come.
It was not only a new experience for the players, it
was also a new experience for at least one member of the staff. While
the team prepared to begin practice, director of operations Angela
Marin was not sure where to find an elevator that Champion promised was
to be found.
For Marin, the only full-time member of the staff not
to have been around the last time the team used the facility, the
elevator was found not too far from courtside and the video equipment
was set up on a perch above the floor. Problem solved.
After some running exercises conducted by graduate
assistant Andrea Williams and further stretching led by team captains
Ashley Alexander and Jada Frazier, each Lady Privateer took a
basketball and began to work on dribbling skills as they continued
their warm-up.
The bouncing of basketball echoed all around the
empty main arena, prompting several workers who were just passing by to
stop and take a peek at the action.
Basketball, which had been synonymous with the
Lakefront Arena since the facility opened in 1983, has returned to its
rightful home.
The Lady Privateers open up their season at 7 p.m. on
Nov. 14 against McNeese State. The men follow with a 7 p.m. tip on Nov.
15 against North Carolina State.
