Colonels give Piper a 3-year extension

What do three straight bids in the Southland Conference Tournament and victories over LSU and Tulane earn a coach?

At Nicholls State University, the answer is the first multi-year contract in school history.

Colonels Athletics Director Rob Bernardi announced this week that Nicholls men’s basketball coach J.P. Piper has agreed to a three-year contract extension.

The agreement is the first multi-year deal in program history and will keep Piper in Thibodaux until at least the 2013-14 season.

“We want stability, consistency and competitiveness from our head coaches,” Bernardi said. “Clearly J.P. has demonstrated those qualities in his coaching style and the play of his teams.”

“I would like to thank [Nicholls President] Dr. [Stephen] Hulbert, [Nicholls Vice President for Institutional Advancement] Dr. [David] Boudreaux and Rob Bernardi for demonstrating their confidence in me,” Piper said of his new deal. “It is a privilege and an honor to represent Nicholls as its basketball coach. My staff and I will continue to work hard to make our university and the local community proud of this basketball program.”

Piper landed an extension after what was another solid season in 2010-11 for the eight-year coach. The Colonels finished the year with a 14-14 record and advanced to the Southland Conference Tournament for the third straight year.

They did so after losing their second best statistical player, junior forward Fred Hunter, who tore his ACL in the middle of conference play.

“That was one of the hardest days I’ve ever had as a coach,” Piper said at the time of the injury.

Becoming a regular attendee of the conference tournament marks a drastic change for the Colonels.

When Piper took over the program prior to the 2004-05 season, Nicholls was just 11-71 in its previous three seasons.

But in Piper’s third season, things began to change for the better as the coach was named the 2006-07 Southland Conference Coach of the Year after narrowly missing the conference tournament.

Just two years later, making the Southland Tournament was never in doubt, as Nicholls had a 20-win season for the first-time since 1994-95 and rattled off a 12-4 record in Southland play before losing in the semifinals of the conference tournament.

Piper’s toughest coaching season may come in the first year of his new deal, as there are plenty question marks surrounding the Colonels’ 2011-12 team.

Nicholls lost standout forward Anatoly Bose to graduation. Hunter will also still be on the shelf next season and will take a medical redshirt to fully heal his knee.

That means Nicholls will have to rely primarily on new faces and inexperienced players.

Despite those disadvantages, Bernardi knows the Colonels can make up for it on the bench where he believes he’s found the right man to lead his men’s basketball program, now and into the future.

“We are confident that our basketball program will continue to progress under his leadership,” Bernardi said.

Colonels hire two volleyball assistants:

With the ink still wet on Piper’s extension, the Colonels also announced this week that Karina Bellato will join the university’s volleyball program as assistant coach.

Bellato lands in Thibodaux after spending the past three seasons coaching at Redlands Community College in El Reno, Okla., helping lead the team to a 64-36 record.

Prior to Bellato’s stay at RCC, she coached for two seasons at Frank Phillips College in Borger, Texas, leading the Lady Plainsmen to a pair of regional championships.

As a player, Bellato completed for MacKenzie University in Sao Paulo, Brazil, one of the most highly regarded institutions of higher learning in the country.

“Karina has a lot of experience,” Colonels’ volleyball coach TeAna Tramel said. “She knows what it takes to be at a high level as a player, and from her time as a coach she has proven to be a very capable recruiter. She has contacts all over the international volleyball community and offers a wealth of knowledge.”

In addition to Bellato’s hire, Tramel also hired former Colonels’ standout Enjoli Ford as the team’s graduate assistant coach.

Ford served as a setter for the Colonels from 2005-08, racking up 1,305 career digs.

She graduated from the university in 2009.

“Enjoli has been a valuable member of the program for a long time,” Tramel said.

“We are relying on her knowledge of the program and experience with the university to help us out a lot. With her and Karina, we have a very solid coaching staff.”