Former UNO basketball coach Benny Dees dies at 86

Benny Dees, who led the University of New Orleans men’s basketball program to its only NCAA Division I Tournament victory in 1987, died Tuesday at the age of 86.

Dees spent only two seasons on the Lakefront but made a huge impact in a short time.

“It is a sad day for UNO Athletics,” former UNO baseball coach and athletic director Ron Maestri, who hired Dees, said Tuesday in a Facebook post. “Benny was a great coach and friend.”

Dees came to UNO to replace Don Smith in 1985 after serving as an assistant under Wimp Sanderson at Alabama. The Privateers went 11-19 in Smith’s final season.

Dees’ first Privateer team, which included several transfers from the Tulane program shuttered less than two weeks before his hiring, went 16-12.

The addition of junior college transfer Ledell Eackles the following season gave UNO a huge boost. The Privateers finished 26-4 and No. 16 in the regular-season Associated Press rankings and defeated the likes of LSU, Southern California and Oklahoma State.

In their final season as an independent, UNO received a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament and defeated Brigham Young in the opening round in Birmingham, Alabama, setting up a matchup with Dees’ former employer and boss, Alabama and Sanderson.

The Crimson Tide ended the Privateers’ season with a 101-76 victory.

Following that run, Dees left UNO to become the head coach at his alma mater Wyoming, where he stayed for six seasons and led the Cowboys to one NCAA appearance. His final college head coaching job was at Western Carolina for two years.

Dees retired to south Georgia about a decade ago.

Benny Dees Arrangements
Visitation on Saturday, March 27, 2021
Uvalda Methodist Church
Uvalda, Georgia
Visitation at 9:00-11:00
Funeral at 11:00 (Outdoors)
Ron Hall Funeral Home of Vidalia, Georgia handles arrangements.