Early career

Born in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, Harold Arceneaux grew up in the B.W. Cooper housing development. At 6-foot-6 and 215 pounds, he was an excellent athlete but struggled academically in high school. Because he did not have suitable academic credentials to play basketball at a four-year university, he enrolled at the

College of Eastern Utah Utah State University Eastern (USU Eastern) is a public regional college within the Utah State Universitybr>system The USU Eastern campus is located in Price, Utah, United States. Founded as Carbon College in 1937, the college joined the Universi ...

, a junior college in

Price, Utah Price is a city in the U.S. state of Utah and the county seat of Carbon County. The city is home to Utah State University Eastern, as well as the USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum. Price is located within short distances of both Nine Mile Canyon and ...

. As a freshman (1996–97), he led CEU to a 28–5 record and the Scenic West Conference regular-season championship. He averaged 17.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, shooting 57.3 percent on field goals and 40.9 percent on three-pointers. Arceneaux transferred to Midland Junior College (in Midland, Texas) for the 1997–98 season. He averaged 17.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, leading his team to a 26–4 record. He shot a phenomenal 64.3 percent on field goals. For his efforts, he earned

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

Second Team All-American honors. He was named Player of the Year in Region Five and in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference.

NCAA Division I career

Having completed two years of junior college basketball, Arceneaux transferred to

Weber State Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. History Weber State University was founded ...

(in Ogden, Utah) to play for Guy Beach (an assistant coach at Weber State who had been the head coach for Arceneaux at CEU). As a junior (1998–99), Arceneaux teamed with

Eddie Gill Edward Gill III (born August 16, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player. Gill was born played college basketball at the College of Eastern Utah, Salt Lake Community College, and Weber State University. With the Weber State ...

to lead the Wildcats to one of the most successful seasons in school history. With Arceneaux leading the way, Weber State won the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eig ...

championship and earned an invitation to the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Tournament. The Wildcats faced perennial powerhouse

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

in the first round of the tournament. North Carolina was making its 25th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament and had won every first-round game since 1980. The Wildcats were heavy underdogs against the Tar Heels, but Arceneaux and his teammates were not intimidated. Weber State controlled the game, leading for most of the second half. North Carolina had no answer for Arceneaux, who scored from everywhere on the floor and finished with 36 points (20 in the second half). Weber State led by 10 points with 3:59 left in the game, but North Carolina fought back to make it close. Arceneaux made a pair of free throws with 13.3 seconds left, then he intercepted a North Carolina pass as time expired to preserve a 76–74 victory for the Wildcats. Weber State's win over mighty UNC remains one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history, and Arceneaux's spectacular performance made him a national star. Weber State faced

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in the second round. Again playing as underdogs, the Wildcats gave the Gators all they could handle. Once again, Arceneaux carried the team. He scored 32 points, but he did struggle somewhat in the second half. Weber State played well enough to send the game into overtime at 68–68, but Florida pulled away and won in OT, 82–74. The loss ended Weber State's tournament run, but it was enough to secure national respect for the little-known school. Arceneaux finished the season with a school record of 713 points. He averaged 22.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game, and was named Big Sky Conference Player of the Year. He set a school record by scoring 30 points or more in six games during the season, including a 39-point performance against

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the Hanf ...

. He also set an unofficial school record with 49 dunks during the season. With the national spotlight shining on him, Arceneaux considered skipping his senior season at Weber State in pursuit of a career in the NBA. Arceneaux initially declared himself eligible for the draft, but he ultimately decided to return to Weber State for one more season. His decision was criticized by many NBA scouts. With a new head coach and several new players, Weber State struggled during Arceneaux's senior year (1999–2000). The Wildcats finished with a respectable 18–10 record but did not return to the NCAA Tournament. In the first eight games of the season, Arceneaux averaged just 14 points per contest as opponents' defenses concentrated on him. As the season went on, he adjusted his playing style, and his statistics soared. He scored 27.0 points per game in conference play;, finished with a season average of 23.0 points per game (good for fifth in the nation), and added 7.4 rebounds per game. He finished his collegiate career in spectacular fashion, averaging 39.5 points and 14.5 rebounds in the last two games of his career (against Montana State and Eastern Washington).

Professional career

Despite his success at Weber State, Arceneaux was not drafted by an NBA team, and played for various organizations home and abroad since leaving college, including professional teams in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, Australia,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. He played in the 2000 Rocky Mountain Revue with the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

, but did not receive a contract offer from the team. After that, he had short stints with the Richmond Rhythm of the IBL and the

Columbus Riverdragons Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

of the

NBDL The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...

. He returned to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

for the 2004–05 season, signing with th
Utah Snowbears
of the American Basketball Association. Arceneaux scored 42 points in Utah's 130–115 playoff victory over the Long Beach Jam, which ultimately proved to be the franchise's final game. He was named to the USBasket.com All-ABA team that season. Arceneaux went back to Venezuela to play for Marinos de Anzoategui. He averaged 15.5 points per game and shot 60.0 percent from the floor, leading his team to the 2005 Venezuelan LBP regular season championship and playoff championship. He was also named MVP of the league All-Star Game. He also played for the Marinos for part of 2006. He returned to Utah for the 2006–07 season as a member of the

Utah Eagles The Utah Eagles were a basketball team in the Continental Basketball Association. They played their games in Taylorsville, Utah, and although they started play in the 2006-2007 season, they folded in mid-season. The Eagles played their home gam ...

of the Continental Basketball Association. Arceneaux averaged 19.8 points per game, but the Eagles struggled to a 6–18 record before the franchise ceased operations. As of September 2009, Arceneaux was with Lechugueros de León in

. In November 2010, he was transferred to the team Club Atlético Quilmes (Mar del Plata)

Personal life and ventures outside of basketball

Arceneaux is Vice President of From The Ground Up Records, whose artists include Mullage (Trick'n), Mr. Magic and The Boyz Next Door featuring Jamie Ray.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arceneaux, Harold 1977 births Living people ABA All-Star Game players American expatriate basketball people in Australia American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Mexico American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American expatriate basketball people in Portugal American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American men's basketball players Basketball players from New Orleans Columbus Riverdragons players Lechugueros de León players Magnolia Hotshots players Midland Chaps basketball players Philippine Basketball Association imports Shooting guards Small forwards Utah State Eastern Golden Eagles men's basketball players Weber State Wildcats men's basketball players