Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Fomer Howard Bison player has team one win away from NCAA bid

Photo: Mount St. Mary's head baskeball coach Milan Brown, a former Howard University and MEAC star player.

Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers take on Sacred Heart in NEC final with former Howard University Bison point guard Milan Brown heading the 'Mount' program.

EMMITSBURG, MD - The Mount St. Mary's basketball team was practicing in virtual silence earlier this week, alone in its quiet gymnasium, when Milan Brown, the team's trim, neatly dressed fifth-year coach halted the action with a sharp bleat of his black whistle.

Brown, a former point guard who looks younger than his 37 years, almost always has his whistle clenched between his teeth, ready to bring practice to a stop at a moment's notice. Sometimes, he doesn't even bother to remove it before he speaks, barking out instructions, encouragement or discipline like a man whose jaw has been wired shut.

But on this day, he calmly took the whistle out of his mouth, and in gentle tones, locked eyes with his players. "You all better get your mind right," Brown said, in soft but stern tones. "Get your mind right -- right now. Because you won't be able to do it later."

Brown, a basketball lifer, was trying to impart the kind of wisdom that comes only with experience. He knew that this might be the last chance for his team to truly focus without any distractions, because ready or not, Mount St. Mary's might be on the verge of something big.

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