University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Football to Move to Memphis
8/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Southern Miss Football to Move to Memphis
Posted by: Russell Anderson, Conference USA
Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowskyhas announced that athletic teams from University of Southern Mississippi and Tulane University, both affected by the damage of Hurricane Katrina, have found temporary accommodations until they can get back on their respective campuses. Tulane will be taking advantage of the hospitality of fellow conference members, SMU and UAB. University of Memphis has stepped up to assist Southern Miss and the Golden Eagle football team is expected to move to Memphis in the next day or two.
?Knowing our members, we are not surprised by the outpouring of support for Tulane and Southern Miss,? Banowsky said. ?We are especially grateful to SMU, Memphis and UAB for sharing their resources.?
Tulane?s football and women?s soccer teams followed the evacuation orders that came out with the threat of Hurricane Katrina. Both teams left New Orleans and made a 9 ?-hour bus trip to Jackson, Miss., on Sunday night. The teams stayed on the Jackson State University campus and the football team got a workout in yesterday in the school gymnasium. However, when Katrina continued its path through Mississippi yesterday afternoon the campus lost power.
Since that development, SMU administrators made the offer to allow Tulane?s football team to share practice facilities. The DoubleTree Campbell Center chipped in with a generous offer to provide accommodations for the team and now the Green Wave has a temporary home away from home.
SMU athletics director Jim Copeland said, "We know it will be very difficult for residents of New Orleans in the next couple of weeks. We are pleased to help out one of the members of our new conference with the use of our facilities until they are able to get back to their home."
The Tulane women?s soccer team, which was scheduled to play in the UAB Nike Tournament this weekend, will bus to Birmingham later today. UAB administrators will assist in providing practice facilities and lodging during their stay.
?The safety and well-being of our student-athletes and coaches has been our top priority,? Tulane athletics director Rick Dickson said. ?We are so very thankful for the generosity our other conference members have shown in our time of need. In particular, we appreciate the coordination the conference office provided.?
The Southern Miss football team, who was scheduled to host Tulane in the football season opener for both teams on Sunday, is expected to move to Memphis until they can resume practices in Hattiesburg. Sunday?s game has been postponed until Nov. 26, but the Golden Eagles will still be able to prepare for a Sept. 10 contest at Alabama due to the generosity of the University of Memphis.
?We are in the process of assessing our athletic facilities and community needs and are focusing attention on the welfare of our student-athletes,? Southern Miss athletics director Richard Giannini stated. ?We are certainly appreciative of the support we have received from the Conference and the kind offer of Memphis.?
Memphis athletics director R.C. Johnson added, ?We are pleased to help any way we can.?
The Conference office will continue to monitor the status of these Universities and their communities and provide updates as they become available.
