Miami Hurricanes
From Hoopedia
The University of Miami's sports teams are called the "Miami Hurricanes" and compete in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Its traditional athletic rivals include the Florida State University Seminoles and the University of Florida Gators. The home court of the Hurricanes is the BankUnited Center, a 7,000-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.
Team colors are green, orange, and white. The school mascot is 'Sebastian the Ibis'. The ibis was selected as the school's mascot because, according to university legend, it is the last animal to flee an approaching hurricane and the first to reappear after the storm, making it a symbol of leadership and courage.
Men's basketball
UM's men's basketball team has produced three players who are currently on NBA rosters. Rick Barry, who played his collegiate basketball at UM, is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. Barry is the Hurricanes only consensus All-American in basketball and led the nation in scoring his senior year with a 37.4 average during the 1964-65 campaign.
The university actually temporarily dropped the program after the 1972 season, with the Board of Trustees citing inadequate facilities, sagging attendance, and serious financial losses as the reasons for the decision. The program was revived before the 1985-86 season, though UM would be minimally competitive over the next several years. The program's fortunes turned around in 1990 when Miami hired Leonard Hamilton as head basketball coach and accepted an invitation to join the Big East. By the end of the decade, Hamilton had turned UM into one of the better basketball programs in the Big East and had guided UM to three straight NCAA tournament appearances (1998-2000), including a #2 seed in the 1999 tournament and a Sweet 16 appearance in 2000. The 1998 tournament appearance was UM's first since 1960.
Hamilton left at the end of the 2000 season to become head coach of the NBA's Washington Wizards and was replaced by Perry Clark. Clark had some success in his second season (2001-02), leading UM to a school record 24 wins and a #5 seed in the NCAA tournament. The 2002-03 season saw Miami move into its newly completed on-campus arena, the BankUnited Center. Despite a win over powerhouse North Carolina to christen the new arena, Clark's teams performed woefully over the next two seasons, leading to his dismissal following the 2003-04 season (UM's last season in the Big East). Clark was replaced by Frank Haith, whose teams have proven competitive in UM's first two seasons as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
