Q&A with Coppin State coach Fang Mitchell

Baltimore, MD - It's been an unusual recruiting cycle for Coppin State men's basketball coach Fang Mitchell.

Mitchell guided the Eagles to a 16-14 record last season, but his team lost four scholarships -- three this year and one next season -- because of Coppin's Academic Progress Rate. With 10 scholarship players coming back for another season, Mitchell had no scholarships to give for the 2011 class.

Mitchell also had to deal with questions about his future at Coppin thanks to his expiring contract. In May, after months of uncertainty, the university gave the 63-year-old coach a three-year extension.

While there were no new recruits to talk about this year, Mitchell spoke to Recruiting Report last week about his 2011-12 Eagles squad:

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Fang Mitchell gets three more years with Coppin State University

Legendary Coach Ron "Fang" Mitchell

At 5 o'clock on a fall morning in 2009, Coppin State University basketball coach Fang Mitchell drove then-sophomore Michael Harper to the hospital for surgery on his wrist. Harper, from Milwaukee, appreciated the show of support — then and now.

When Harper finishes his college career next season for the Eagles, Mitchell will be there for him again, just like Harper would want it.

"If they were bringing in a new coach in my fourth year, it would mean a whole new system, a new personality, a different look on the team," Harper said. "Him not coming back would have been horrible."

After two months of uncertainty, Mitchell is coming back for his 26th season and more. Francine Stokes McElveen, the senior advisor to the president for legal affairs, acknowledged Tuesday that Coppin has given Mitchell a new, three-year contract that will allow the legendary 63-year-old coach to finish his career at...

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Coppin State basketball coach Fang Mitchell agrees to new deal

Longtime Eagles coach will return for 26th season next fall

Baltimore, MD - Faced with a mandate to reverse Coppin State's long, painful slide to basketball mediocrity, Fang Mitchell rebuilt the program almost overnight and delivered the program's first winning season in seven years in 2010-11. Now, apparently, he will get a chance to continue the turnaround.

The iconic coach said Tuesday that he has agreed in principle on a new contract that will allow him to reap the dividends of his 2010 recruiting class of precocious junior college players. "I want to be able to coach the guys I brought in," Mitchell said Tuesday.

• Pictures: Fang Mitchell 

Mitchell's job security has been in question for more than a year, and it took more than a month after the 2010-11 season ended to arrive at a resolution for next season. Mitchell said he had reached "common ground" in his negotiation with university president Reginald Avery and that he expected the contract to be finalized this week.

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Mitchell, Coppin still at odds

The awkward, three-week standoff between Fang Mitchell and Coppin State University shows no sign of relenting anytime soon. Mitchell, the iconic coach who lifted Coppin to basketball prominence in the 1990s, declined an offer from the university on March 17 to return for his 26th season.

 At the time, he said the offer was not in good faith, but declined to go further. Since then, he has communicated only minimally with university president Reginald Avery, and he had to cancel a Tuesday meeting because of the death of his father-in-law, Rudolph Lewis, on Monday. Now, there will be no talks before the funeral on Tuesday.

All of which leaves Mitchell twisting in the wind. Technically, his contract doesn’t expire until June 30.


Videographer: Andazmedia

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Mitchell calls Coppin's contract offer 'unacceptable'‎

Coppin State University Athletic Director Derrick Ramsey

Baltimore, MD -- Fang Mitchell rejected an offer Thursday to remain as coach of Coppin State's men's basketball team, saying the contract was "unacceptable" but that negotiations will continue.

"It wasn't done in good faith," Mitchell said of the offer after a scheduled meeting with university president Reginald Avery.

Mitchell has coached at Coppin for 25 years, won 395 games, gone to four NCAA tournaments and captured 10 regular-season championships in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

He declined to say why the contract was unacceptable, but he said he expected negotiations to resume next week.

Asked if he believed he could still get a deal to remain at Coppin, he said, "Yes, in talking with the president, we should be able to get it done."

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NSU tops Coppin State to face Hampton in MEAC semis

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Norfolk State coach Anthony Evans admitted drawing up a play for a game-winning shot "hardly ever works."

"It didn't work this time either," Evans said. The plan was for freshman sharpshooter Pendarvis Williams to inbound the ball from the baseline, then race to the corner, where he would launch a 3-pointer. If it missed, Plan B was that the league's leading rebounder, Kyle O'Quinn, would have a chance at scoring off an offensive rebound.

But Coppin State overplayed Williams, denying him the ball, and it was up to senior guard Rob Hampton to make something happen. That was Plan C. And it worked.



Seeing a flash of daylight in the lane from just beyond the top of the key, the 6-foot-4 Hampton sliced his body through three defenders and banked home a layup with two seconds remaining as sixth-seeded Norfolk State upset third-seeded Coppin State 55-53 in a Thursday night quarterfinal game in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament.

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Lee Leads Coppin State Eagles to 73-60 Victory over Morgan State

BALTIMORE, MD -- Jordan Lee scored 19 second-half points and Coppin State snapped a six-game losing streak to Morgan State with a convincing 73-60 victory over the Bears in the regular-season finale for both teams on Thursday in the Physical Education Complex.

Lee, who was 0-for-2 from the floor in the second half, dominated the second period. He was 5-of-9 from the floor and made 5-of-8 three-point attempts.

Led by Lee, Coppin State shot a blistering 61.9 percent from the floor in the second half to overcome a 30-28 halftime deficit.

With the victory, Coppin State earned the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament. The Eagles will receive a first-round bye and will play the winner of the Norfolk State-Howard game on March 10 at 6 p.m. in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Rival Coppin State Runs Away From Morgan State In Finale, 74-58

BALTIMORE, Md. (March 3, 2011)-Perhaps the only bright spot for Morgan State in the second half of Thursday evening's Battle of Baltimore “East vs. West” game against cross-town rival Coppin State, was Jamesia (Jamie) Smith's near half court shot as the final horn sounded to turn a 19-point deficit into a 16 point loss.

Coppin State's Leola Spotwood recorded a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds, both game-highs and Larrisa Carter added a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds to lead the host Eagles to a 74-58 thumping of Morgan State in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) season finale for both teams at the Physical Education Complex (PEC).

Morgan State (16-13, 10-6 MEAC) was led by Smith, who finished with 13 points, while Theresa Davis, who was playing in her first game back, since dealing with an injury following the South Carolina State game (2/14), came off the bench to add 10 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the free throw line.

Box Score: Morgan State 58, Coppin State 74  

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Coppin State's Coach Fang Mitchell future unknown heading into regular-season finale

25 Years, 620 Victories, 10 MEAC Championships, 4 NCAA Tournaments and too
 many money games against the NCAA Top 25 to count -- provides
Ron "Fang" Mitchell with "Legendary Statue" in East Baltimore at Coppin State University
 and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.  No doubt, Coach Mitchell still has game!

Endings are usually bittersweet, often unwelcomed and sometimes contentious.

That might best describe the potential end of Ron "Fang" Mitchell's 25-year basketball stewardship at Coppin State University. If this is his farewell script, it will not be a good one for the man who built a dominating Division I program in West Baltimore in the 1990s, only to see it sputter and stall in the last decade.

Mitchell's departure this year is not certain. But his contract expires at the end of the season, the athletic director says he hasn't made a decision to retain -- or remove -- the coach, and Mitchell himself speaks only in cryptic phrases, if at all, about his job status.

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NSU Spartans zone out, can't solve Coppin State's defense

CSU Eagles Coach Ron "Fang" Mitchell

NORFOLK - The Norfolk State Spartans were a bit put off when their league's preseason rankings predicted they would finish sixth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

Now they are a bit put off by the fact that the prediction was correct. Playing lethargically throughout and pinned in by their opponent's well-played zone defense, the Spartans fell 76-69 to Coppin State on Monday night at Echols Hall.

Coupled with fifth-place North Carolina A&T's win at Morgan State, Monday's loss means the Spartans (9-19, 7-8) can finish no higher than sixth, and could finish seventh.

Coleman's Career-High 20 Points Leads Coppin State Over Norfolk State

NORFOLK, Va. – Freshman Kyra Coleman scored a career-high 20 points and also grabbed 11 rebounds as Coppin State snapped a two-game losing streak with a 64-50 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference victory over Norfolk State on Monday in Echols Hall.

Coleman sparked a second-half rally by the Eagles as she scored 16 of her 20 points after halftime helping Coppin State to overcome a four-point deficit at the intermission. She finished the game 8-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-6 from the free throw line.

Coppin State (11-16, 8-7 MEAC) shot 53.3 percent from the floor in the second half, while limiting Norfolk State to just 29.7 percent shooting. The Eagles shot just 22.2 percent in the first half and trailed 24-20 at halftime.

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Delaware State Falls to Coppin State "Red Hot" Eagles

Coppin State Eagles Coach Ron "Fang" Mitchell

Baltimore, Md. -- Coppin State shot 60% from the field en route to an 89-72 men's basketball win over Delaware State at the CSU Physical Education Complex this evening. The Hornets dropped their third straight, seventh in the last eight games, to fall to 9-17 overall and 5-8 in the MEAC. The Eagles improved to 14-12 and 9-4.

Coppin State was 33—for-55 from the field, including 8 of 16 from three-point territory. Michael Harper led the Eagles with 25 points, highlighted by 6 of 9 shooting from three-point territory. Michael Murray added 16 points (7-10 FGs) for Coppin State.

DSU women win on late 3-pointer

BALTIMORE -- Kianna Conner hit a 3-pointer with 7.6 seconds left to give Delaware State a 51-49 women's basketball win over Coppin State on Monday night.

Coppin State had the last shot, but Shawntae Payne's 3-point try hit the back of the rim as time expired.

The Hornets (9-17, 5-9) won their second straight game. The Eagles fell to 10-15 overall, 7-6 in the MEAC.

Jaleah Holsey hit two free throws with 59 seconds left to put Coppin State ahead.

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FAMU guard McKelton scores her 1,000th point in win over Coppin State

With 46.9 left on the clock Monday night, Tameka McKelton walked to the free-throw line. She seemed relaxed. She hit the two shots. They were mere formality as the Florida A&M women's basketball team was about to wrap up a 73-62 victory over Coppin State University.

More importantly, the foul shots were McKelton's 20th and 21st points of the night as she became the first junior in a decade to score 1,000 career points at FAMU. The night's work at the Lawson Center was enough to give McKelton a career total of 1,011 points on a night that she obviously was pressured more by the probability of the milestone than anything that the Eagles did defensively.

FAMU protects home floor vs. Coppin State

Florida A&M might want to put up a sign outside the Lawson Center that lets visiting teams know that they're likely to come out of the place nicknamed the snake pit with a loss. Or so it seems.

Coppin State University became the sixth team to find out that the Rattlers are very protective when it comes to their home court. FAMU used the long ball in the second half to build a 14-point cushion then held off a late surge by the Eagles for a 60-58 victory.

The Eagles became the second consecutive team of the top three in the MEAC standings to stumble...


Videographer: atomicdog1983; FAMU vs. MSU, 2/5/11.

Grandmother should inspire FAMU fans to pack Lawson Center

His men's basketball team had just taken down Morgan State University, the team that the rest of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference had been looking up to for the past two seasons. Florida A&M head basketball coach Eugene Harris couldn't help feeling a little proud Saturday night. FAMU had won its eighth game in the Lawson Center for an 8-1 home record.

So you're feeling real good about this, eh coach? "Our motto is we're going to defend to the end," seems a good enough response. It was a beauty to watch. Just like Harris said, every player on the floor brought some hustle. Larry Jackson matched up tough against the Bears' two big men. Yannick Crowder was swatting rejections all over the place.

Let Harris tell it for those who weren't there.

PHOTO GALLERY: FAMU vs. Coppin State


Videographer: cvc318; SCSU VS. FAMU-- HALFTIME

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Coppin State Upends First-Place Bethune-Cookman on Road

Tony Gallo missed all five of his shots in regulation, but made up for it with all eight of his points in overtime as Coppin State upset Bethune-Cookman in overtime, 90-79, in a MEAC contest at Moore Gym in Daytona Beach Saturday.

Gallo went 0-5 in regulation, but outscored BCU 7-1 in the first two minutes of the extra period, part of a 19-8 drubbing in overtime for the Eagles (11-10, 6-3).

C.J. Reed scored a career-high 34 points for the Wildcats (13-10, 7-2), who fell a half-game behind Hampton (18-5, 8-2) for the MEAC lead. Reed sent the game into overtime when he nailed his sixth three-pointer of the game just before the buzzer.

Coppin State Tops Bethune-Cookman 90-79 in Overtime

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Akeem Ellis and Tony Gallo combined to score 15 of Coppin State’s 19 points in overtime leading the Eagles to a 90-79 victory over Bethune-Cookman in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game on Saturday in Moore Gymnasium.

Led by Ellis and Gallo, Coppin State outscored the Wildcats 19-8 in the extra session to win for the fifth time in the last six games. The Eagles improved to 11-10 overall and 6-3 in the MEAC. Bethune-Cookman, which entered the contest in first place in the MEAC, fell to 13-10 overall and 7-2 in league play.

Eagles Win for Sixth Time in Last Eight Games

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Shawntae Payne led five players in double figures with 14 points and Coppin State used a strong second half shooting performance to defeat Bethune-Cookman 76-57 in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game on Saturday in Moore Gymnasium.

Coppin State (8-12, 5-4 MEAC) shot 57.7 percent from the floor in the second half to pull away from the Wildcats. The Eagles won for the sixth time in their last eight games and moved over the .500 mark in conference play at 5-4.

Payne was 6-of-13 from the floor to lead the Eagles, while Leola Spotwood and Larrisa Carter each added 13 points for Coppin State. CSU also received 11 points each from Ashle Craig and Kyra Coleman.

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Coppin State finds Wrong Gym

Coach Fang Mitchell plays 66% of Eagle games on the road

Since he has been at Coppin State, Coach Fang Mitchell has played 66 percent of his games on the road - half the MEAC games and practically all the nonconference games when his team collects guarantees to play the big boys in their arenas.

Amazingly, Coppin had never shown up at the wrong gym - until last week. Even though it was supposed to play UConn in Hartford on Dec. 20, the team was instructed to show up in Storrs the night before to practice, according to Mitchell. The gym was closed.

Eventually, Coppin got inside. They had one ball for half-an-hour. Eventually, they got enough balls to conduct a practice. And played the game the next night at the XL Center in Hartford. Coppin lost, 76-64, not a bad result against a really good team.

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Coppin St 56, Wisconsin 80: Opponents are in a zone, but so is Leuer as Badgers coast

Madison, Wis. — Wisconsin senior Jon Leuer has a new moniker: Zone-buster. Thinking his undersized team could identify and stick with UW's shooters by playing a variety of zone defenses, Coppin State coach Fang Mitchell opened with a 1-2-2 zone.

Leuer opened with 4 consecutive three-pointers in the first 2 minute 54 seconds Thursday night at the Kohl Center. That display set the tone as UW shot 50% from three-point range in opening a 19-point halftime lead and won easily, 80-56.

"I was able to knock down my first couple and get into a rhythm," said Leuer, who hit 5 of 10 three-pointers and 7 of 15 field-goal attempts overall to finish with 19 points. "From there my teammates were finding me in open spots. "I just found myself open a lot."

Oates: A nice win against Coppin State, but the fans were shortchanged by the schedule

Coppin State is one of college basketball's vagabond programs. During the non-conference season, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference team travels around from one men's basketball powerhouse to the next, taking its lumps on the floor in return for a nice paycheck.

It wasn't at all surprising, then, that Coppin State showed up to face the University of Wisconsin at the Kohl Center Thursday night. In the midst of a 12-day stretch during which they play at Connecticut, Kentucky and Texas in addition to UW, the overmatched Eagles were representative of the teams that have come to Madison this season.

Photos
ATTENDANCE: 17,230

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Note: Mainstream sportswriters can write all the criticisms they desire regarding Coppin State University basketball program. Call 'em "vagabond program" or any other name...but at the end of the day, the only thing that really matters is that Coach Ron "Fang" Mitchell is providing opportunity, exposure and experience to his players in competing with elite Division I level programs. Most importantly, he is earning enough capital from these "money games" to support ALL the non-revenue athletic programs at CSU. For that alone, Fang Mitchell is a hall of fame coach who provides countless opportunities to urban youth, who otherwise, would not receive an education and travel exposure beyond Baltimore City limits.

The Eagles are 4-5, 0-1 MEAC and NEXT GAME is at #14 ranked Kentucky on Dec. 28.

-beepbeep

Mitchell talks Coppin's 2008 recruiting class

Guard Tywain McKee (Mark's Digital Photography)

Last season Fang Mitchell led the Coppin State men’s basketball team to one of the more improbable seasons in NCAA history. The Eagles suffered through a 20-loss season before catching fire down the stretch, winning 12 of their last 13 games, including an upset of Morgan State in the MEAC championship, which earned the team an NCAA tournament berth. It was the first time a 20-loss team made the tournament.

This season, Mitchell returns the team’s leading scorer Tywain McKee, to the roster. But Mitchell must replace the other four starters, all of whom graduated.

Mitchell will look to his 2008 recruiting class to help make up for that lost production. The Eagles are bringing in four freshmen this season: Loch Raven shooting guard Jordan Lee, Mount St. Joseph point guard Justin McCoy, Milwaukee Custer guard Michael Harper and Philadelphia North Catholic guard Lenny Young.

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Coppin's turnaround fueled by seniors

Photo: CSU 6-7 senior power forward Robert Pressley,#40, Waldorf, MD/Southern Maryland Christian Academy.

After a 4-19 start that included a 1-17 stretch, the Eagles leaned on their five seniors to spark a season-saving surge.

On the first Saturday in December, Fang Mitchell slumped on a wooden bench inside the Coppin Center, contemplating the direction his once-proud Coppin State basketball program was headed. The direction was not good.

The Eagles had just taken a 28-point pounding against Morgan State, the second-worst home loss in Mitchell's 22-year career. As the venerable coach sat there, he bemoaned the lack of leadership and passion, but especially the lack of defense.

"I'm trying to find five people that make the game important to them," he said.

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Coppin State's unlikely run still has legs

Photo: Coppin State University head coach Ron "Fang" Mitchell club is back into the NCAA Tournament with an improbable upset of Morgan State.

When the final buzzer sounded, on the far end of the court, Reggie Holmes was sprawled alone on the hardwood, completely stunned. He couldn't believe his Morgan State team had just lost. The rest of the country, at least those tuning in on television, was also in a state of disbelief. But they weren't thinking about Morgan.

As the party continued at the other end of the court - as players in blue and yellow jerseys piled on top of each other, high like a Dagwood sandwich - the most unlikely of improbabilities had just unfolded. If we're being honest here, who really ever thought Coppin State had a chance?

But the public-address announcer's voice boomed. He made it official: "The Battle of Baltimore is over. For now." Coppin topped Morgan, its cross-town rival, 62-60, in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title game, putting a bold exclamation point on the most amazing turnaround in college basketball.

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