Burzis Kanga
Burzis Kanga will enter his third year as the head coach of the University of New Orleans men's and women's tennis programs in 2010-11.
Kanga, in his third stint at the helm of the tennis program, was hired on Feb. 22, 2008 by UNO athletic director Jim Miller as the program was reinstated as part of the rebuilding efforts on the Lakefront.
Kanga previously coached at UNO from 1986-89 and again from 2003-06 before the program was put on hiatus due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina.
No stranger to UNO prior to his stints as head coach, Kanga was a member of the Privateer tennis program from 1980-83, earning his Bachelors of Science in Business in 1984. While playing on the Lakefront, Kanga emassed an 81-9 mark and became the only member of either UNO tennis team to acheive All-American honors, doing so as a senior.
During his time on the UNO team, he was ranked as the top player in Louisiana for the under-21 age group. He also played professionally on the satellite tennis circuits of the USA, Europe and Mexico.
If the 2009 campaign was any indication, Kanga is well on his way to putting the Privateers amongst the nation's best teams.
In the team's first dual match since 2005, the UNO men defeated No. 59 South Alabama in Mobile, Ala. The victory was the first over the Jaguars in school history and propelled the men's unit into the national rankings at No. 75, a spot they would hold for several weeks.
While the men would fall out of the rankings, Kanga found a nationally ranked doubles' team mid-season in Calvin Kemp and Ben Smith. The duo both received All-Sun Belt honors and reached as high as No. 42 in the rankings, the highest in school history.
A native of Tanzania in East Africa, Kanga brought the 1988 Virginia Slims of New Orleans tournament to Chateau Golf and Country Club in Kenner, where he served as Director of Tennis and Head Teaching Professional from 1989-2006.
A long-time Board Member of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation, Kanga served as the Sports Commissioner for Tennis for the 1996 AAU Junior Olympic Games.
Kanga holds United States Tennis Association Professional 1 certification.
