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NEW ORLEANS – Stacy Hollowell and his new look University of New Orleans Privateers begin their season tomorrow night at the Bramladge Coliseum against the Big 12's Kansas State Wildcats.
New Orleans embarks on its 55th season under the leadership of first-year head coach Hollowell. Hollowell becomes the 13th head coach in Privateer history and has deep ties to the program, having grown up attending basketball summer camps at Lakefront Arena with former coach Tim Floyd.
His appointment marks a full-circle moment for the Mandeville native, who arrives with an NAIA national championship from his time as the head coach at Loyola New Orleans. Notably, Hollowell's last appearance at Lakefront Arena saw him lead Loyola to an exhibition win over the Privateers in 2021 - kicking off their run to a 37-1 mark and the national championship. Three of his four assistant coaches were part of his staff or team during his eight seasons at Loyola -
Trey Lindsey, Javan Felix, and
Andrew Fava.
Just as Privateer fans will see a new coaching staff on the bench for the first time in a decade, they will also see a vastly overhauled roster. Just three players from last year return -
Omarion Henry,
Jah Short, and Turk Vincent.
Vincent, who has started at both wing and small forward over the past two seasons, has made significant strides in his three-point shooting, a development head coach
Stacy Hollowell emphasized during the offseason. Last season, Vincent averaged 8.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game, leading the team with three double-doubles. He shot 42.7% from the field and 71.2% from the free-throw line. In his debut season,
Jah Short earned a starting role by midseason, averaging 6.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. Short shot 46.7% from the field and 64.8% from the foul line.
Omarion Henry, entering his junior season, will return later this season after suffering an injury during summer sessions.
Eight transfers and four true freshmen fill out the remaining roster spots. Among the newcomers,
James White,
Kerwin Prince,
JR Jacobs, and
MJ Thomas stand out. White brings SEC experience, having spent two seasons at Ole Miss, where Hollowell was an assistant, before transferring to UAB.
At UAB, he played in seven games last season, scoring a season-high nine points against Alcorn. While at Ole Miss, White appeared in 46 games over two seasons, averaging 4.0 points and 2.0 rebounds per game while shooting over 40% from the field. He scored in double figures three times in SEC play, including a career-high 14 points on 7-for-10 shooting at Missouri.
Prince played last season at South Plains College, where he appeared in 35 games, averaging 8.1 points and 6.5 rebounds in just 11 minutes per game, while shooting 57.5% from the field.
Jacobs played and started in 32 games at Walters State, averaging 8.5 points and 8.2 assists per game. Jacobs shot 38% from three-point range and 75% from the foul line. Thomas, a freshman, finished his high school career with 2,388 points, 1,825 rebounds, and 308 steals. He helped lead Link Year Prep to a No. 1 national ranking by New England Basketball last December.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Just like UNO fans, Wildcat fans will seeing a new look squad with just three lettermen returning. KSU Alumni Jerome Tang leads the team in his third season and has brought in a highly regarded 11-man recruiting class. Tang's teams have won 45 games during his tenure, 19 in the Big-12 and 11 over Top-25 programs. Last year the Wildcats finished 19-15, with an 8-10 mark in Big-12 play. They were eliminated in the first round by Iowa after making the Elite Eight two seasons ago.
Wing player David N'Guessan is the key returner for the Wildcats. The 6-9 senior returns for his third season and has played in 63 games with 39 starts in Manhattan. He averaged 7.8 points per game, and 6.8 boards last season. All three of his career double-doubles came last year.
Senior transfer Coleman Hawkins is another player to look for having been selected to the watch lists for the Karl Malone Award, the Jersey Mike's Naismith Award, as well as the Big-12 Co-Newcomer of the Year.
Hawkins was a Second Team All-Big Ten selection in 2023-24 after averaging a career-high 12.1 points per game for the Fighting Illini while posting career-bests for field goal percentage (45.1), 3-point field goal percentage (36.9) and free throw percentage (79.2). He is the only player in Illinois history with at least 900 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists, 100 blocks and 100 steals.
The Privateers are 0-1 all-time against Kansas Sate after dropping the lone meeting in 1998. The Wildcats won 62-47 at Bramladge Coliseum. Desmond Baxter came off the bench to score 15 points for the Privateers in 33 minutes of action. Cortez Groves and Tony Kitt scored 14 and 13 for the Wildcats.
Tipoff of set for 7:00 p.m. and the game can be watched on ESPN+. Fans can also listen to Jude Young describe the action on 106.1 The Ticket or on
https://www.theticket1061.com/. Live Stats will be available
here, and fans can follow @PrivateersHoops on
X/Twitter for updates as well.
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Keep up to date with everything New Orleans Privateers Men's Basketball. Follow @PrivateersHoops on both
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