WATCH: Louisiana flood victims thank University of New Orleans players for help
The Privateers do their part to help Louisiana after its historic rainfall and flooding
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1 min read
One of the most uplifting things I've seen this week has been what the University of New Orleans basketball program has done to help victims of the historic and deadly flooding that has ravaged Louisiana.
Many sports teams around the area are chipping in. But the U. of New Orleans hoops program doesn't often get national publicity. I've got no problem changing that here and now.
"They got here about 9 o'clock this morning, and all those big boys, they went to work," 80-year-old Elbert Norred says in the video below.
Norred and his wife, Ione, had their home take on about four feet of water. Immense damage to the home and all things inside of it.
Norred's perspective is one to admire.
"We're a lot better off that a lot of people," he says of his home damage. "A lot of people, it's just a roof sticking out (of the water)."
Love Ione's message to the team, too.
"When you're playing out on the basketball court, wave at us," she tells the team.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune has the full story. Give it a read.
Basketball coach Mark Slessinger had coached the son of North Oaks Medical Center's legal counsel, John Derenbecker. Knowing that Derenbecker lived in the Hammond area, Slessinger called in the middle of last week to ask how he and his family had fared. "He told me that they were fine, but that he knew of a lot of other folks who weren't fine, who needed help," Slessinger said. "I told him to figure out who needed the help the most, that I had my whole crew who could come help out on Saturday and Sunday."
Quick work and good work. New Orleans has some good karma coming its way on the court this season, you'd think.
(H/T, College Basketball Talk)
