UMES passes the hat to Allen

Veteran coach with MEAC experience takes over men's basketball program

PRINCESS ANNE -- Standing under banners that boast of the past success of the men's basketball program at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore on Thursday afternoon, director of athletics Keith Davidson introduced Frankie Allen as the 10th head coach of the program in its 27-year span as a Division I program. The new coach donned a UMES hat when introduced and received a standing ovation.

"Let me just say this, it fits," Allen said after putting on the cap. "Not only does it fit, it feels good." The hiring makes a nice birthday present for Allen, who just turned 59 on Monday and received a call from UMES president Thelma B. Thompson sending her good wishes. Allen will make $110,000 per year during his four-year contract, looking for the program's second Division I winning season and the first since the 1993-94 campaign.

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The Hawks have had one winning season in 27 years of Division I basketball, five coaches in seven years, and 14 consecutive losing seasons. Best decision Thelma Thompson, President, could ever make--hiring a coach with a winning history of making losers competitive. Frankie Allen is the right man for the job, but I'm not so sure about his No.1 assistant coach, Jamal Brown.

Photo: UMES plans to sign Jamal Brown on April 21 as No.1 assistant coach to Coach Frankie Allen.

Brown's career at South Carolina State ended badly (fired) after one season as the head coach due to allegations of an "unprofessional relationship with a female trainer." Brown is married; he did have a star playing career at S.C. State and led the Bulldogs to the 1996 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament.

The new Bulldogs Coach Tim Carter nearly cleaned house of Brown's recruits and the leftovers managed a 13-20 and 7-9 MEAC record for 8th place. We believe in second chances, but one does have to question the wisdom of Frankie Allen's decision to hire an unproven coach with no Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, D.C., or New Jersey connections for recruiting. If UMES is going to improve, they must get inner city players to come to the Shore, and we are not speaking of Ocean City.

With Fang Mitchell at Coppin State, Todd Bozeman at Morgan State, Towson State, UMBC and Mount St. Mary's just completing an NCAA run, UMES will have an uphill battle to get 12-15 talented players. Princes Anne is not Nashville, Washington, D.C. or Baltimore County, and Allen will have difficulty in procuring quality players from the available lower 2nd and 3rd tier.

Let's move along; nothing much happening here with the Hawks program.

-beepbeep

NCAA men tournament backet breakdown: Team-by-team analysis

Mount St. Mary's College vs. Coppin State University, Dayton, OH (Tuesday, March 18, 2008)

16a. Mount St. Mary's

LOCATION // Emmitsburg

HOW THEY GOT HERE // Won Northeast Conference tournament.

RECORD, RPI // 18-14, 159th.

NCAA HISTORY // This is third appearance and first since 1999.

KEY PLAYERS // G Chris Vann (6-0, senior, 14.4 pts., 3.1 reb.); G Jeremy Goode (5-9, sophomore, 14.3 pts., 5.5 assists).

THE BUZZ // In the Northeast title game, Mount St. Mary's held Sacred Heart to 29 percent shooting, 10.5 percent from the three-point line.

16b. Coppin State

LOCATION // Baltimore.

HOW THEY GOT HERE // Won Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament.

RECORD, RPI // 16-20, 228th.

NCAA HISTORY // This is the fourth appearance, and first since 1997.

KEY PLAYERS // G Tywain McKee (6-2, senior, 16.6 pts., 4.3 reb.); F Antwan Harrison (6-3, senior, 9 pts., 2.3 reb.); F Julian Conyers (6-6, senior, 6.7 pts., 2.4 reb.).

THE BUZZ // Seeded seventh in the MEAC tournament, the Eagles won four games by a total of six points, capped by a stunning, 62-60 win over cross-town rival and regular-season champ Morgan State in the final.


UCLA vs. MVSU

16. Mississippi Valley State

LOCATION // Itta Bena, Miss.

HOW THEY GOT HERE // Won Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament.

RECORD, RPI // 17-15, 223rd.

NCAA HISTORY // This is fourth appearance and first since 1996.

KEY PLAYERS // F Carl Lucas (6-5/Sr., 12.7 ppg., 5.5 rpg.); C Larry Cox (6-10/Sr., 12.4 ppg., 8 rpg.); G Stanford Speech (6-3/Sr., 10.8 ppg., 2.6 apg.).

THE BUZZ // No SWAC team has won an NCAA tournament first-round game since Southern shocked Georgia Tech in 1993. Jackson State drew Florida last season and lost 112-69.

Former Jefferson star accepts leader role for streaking FAMU Rattlers

Photo: Rattlers senior guard L.C. Robinson.

L.C. Robinson is no stranger to the leader’s role.

He was league MVP while a senior at Jefferson. He was the scoring leader as a sophomore at Highland Community College. And now he’s on top of his game, and on top of the scoring charts for Florida A&M, as the Rattlers approach his final postseason.

“It’s been one of those years. It’s been a lot — a lot — of fun,” Robinson said during a phone interview Monday night. “It’s been a different role for me this year than it was last year. I’ve had to be a leader a lot more this year. I’ve been there before, though; it felt natural to me.”

Robinson, the 6-foot, 180-pound senior, started in 32 of 35 games last year, averaging 11.3 points while finishing second in the MEAC in 3-point field goals made (103).

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2008 MEAC Basketball Tournament Schedule

Photo: Delaware State University Lady Hornets sophomore Ashley Thompson takes the ball to the hole against Morgan State University Lady Bears.

2008 MEAC Women’s Basketball Championship Schedule

Tuesday, March 11 - Opening Round
11:00 AM Game 1- No. 7 South Carolina State vs. No. 10 Bethune-Cookman
1:30 PM Game 2 - No. 8 Howard vs.No. 9 Florida A&M
4:00 PM Game 3 - No. 6 Morgan State vs. No. 11 Norfolk State

Wednesday, March 12 - Opening Round/Quarterfinals
10 AM Game 6 - No. 1 North Carolina A&T vs. Winner of Game 2
12:30 PM Game 7 - No. 2 Coppin State vs.Winner of Game 1

Thursday, March 13 - Quarterfinals
NOON Game 11 - No. 3 Delaware State vs. Winner of Game 3
2:30 PM Game 12 - No. 4 Hampton vs.No. 5 Maryland E. Shore

Friday, March 14 - Semifinals
NOON Game 15 - Winner of Game 6 vs. Winner of Game 12
2:30 PM Game 16 - Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 11

Saturday, March 15 - Championship Final (ESPNU)
1:00 PM Game 19 - Winner of Game 15 vs. Winner of Game 16


2008 MEAC Men’s Basketball Championship Schedule

Tuesday, March 11 - Opening Round
6:30 PM Game 4 - No. 7 Coppin State vs. No. 10 Howard
9:00 PM Game 5 - No. 8 South Carolina State vs. No. 9 Bethune-Cookman

Wednesday, March 12 - Opening Round/Quarterfinals
3:00 PM Game 8 - No. 6 Florida A&M vs. No. 11 Maryland E. Shore
7:00 PM Game 9 - No. 1 Morgan State vs. Winner of Game 5
9:30 PM Game 10 - No. 2 Hampton vs. Winner of Game 4

Thursday, March 13 - Quarterfinals
6:00 PM Game 13 - No. 3 Norfolk State vs. Winner of Game 8
8:00 PM Game 14 - No. 4 Delaware State vs. No. 5 N.C. A&T

Friday, March 14 - Semifinals
6:00 PM Game 17 - Winner of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 14
8:00 PM Game 18 - Winner of Game 10 vs. Winner of Game 13

Saturday, March 15 - Championship Final (ESPN Classic)
4:30 PM Men’s Bonus Game: N.C. Central vs. Winston-Salem State
8:00 PM Game 20 - Winner of Game 17 vs. Winner of Game 18

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Morgan State ambush Hampton in O.T.

Photo: Morgan State's Boubacar Coly had an awesome game scoring 18 points, 15 boards, 6 blocks, 1 steal and 3 assists. The 6-9/220 senior forward is from Ziguinchor, Senegal/Laurinburg Institute (N.C.) and had his 11th career double/double in leading the Bears.


Boubacar Coly scored 18 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as Morgan State hung on for a 66-62 overtime victory against visiting Hampton on Monday. Hampton took its first lead of the game 8 seconds into overtime on a 3-pointer by Matthew Pilgrim.

But Jerrell Green scored nine of his 13 points in the extra session and Morgan State made five free throws in the final 47 seconds. Green added five assists, while Marquise Kately finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for Morgan State (18-9, 12-2 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference).

Hampton (15-11, 8-5) scored eight of the first 11 points of the second half...

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Winston Salem may bid for 2009 MEAC tournaments

The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference is looking for a city for its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, and Winston-Salem might be in the running. Commissioner Dennis Thomas of the MEAC said that information on the bid process was sent to Winston-Salem officials. The next step is for the city to submit a proposal to the MEAC, if it’s interested.

Chico Caldwell, the athletics director at WSSU, is a member of the Greater Winston-Salem Sports Commission. He says that the commission has not met to discuss the MEAC Tournament. But Caldwell said that landing the tournament would be a good thing.

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The facility being discussed for Winston-Salem, North Carolina is the Joel Coliseum, which seats 14,500. Norfolk, Virginia is countering with the Scope, which seats 10,000. Richmond, Virginia is also one of the MEAC's targeted cities, expecting to place a bid for the tournaments.

-beepbeep

FAMU signs a diamond in ASHLEY HAMPTON

FAMU Coach Debra Clark has Lady Rattlers 3-0 on the 2007-08 season.

Florida A&M University Lady Rattlers basketball coach Debra Clark had successful surgery to remove her thyroid on Wednesday morning. Clark, in the final year of her contract did not let that stop her from moving the program forward and her assistants were able to keep the Lady Rattlers undefeated at 3-0 with a victory over Albany State on Wednesday evening.

On Thursday, Coach Clark signed to a national letter-of-intent Ashley Hampton, senior forward with St. John Lutheran, who is a top basketball and volleyball player in the Ocala, Florida region. Basketball was the sport that many took notice of the 5-foot-9 senior, as she also drew interest from Harvard and Princeton, thanks to a grade-point average of 4.42.

Seven relatives of Hampton has graduated from FAMU. She joins her uncle Whitfield Jenkins, as members of the family who have signed athletic scholarships with the Rattlers.

"They stayed in contact with me from there and also contacted my coach," Hampton said. "They kept up with me and then we had a home visit and then I went on my official visit and I was sold (on the school)."

As a volleyball player, Hampton started each of the past three seasons on the varsity, after moving up at the end of the freshman season. She played in three consecutive Class 1A Final Fours, including the state title game in 2006.

In basketball, Hampton plays the guard position and entered her senior season with a school record 1239 points. Last season, she received second team All-State honors, averaging 16.2 points and 10 rebounds per game, in leading the Saints to their third consecutive district championship and advancement to the regional semifinals. Hampton was also selected as the FACA's District 7 MVP for Class 1A.

Photo: All-Stater Ashley Hampton is expected to become a star in both the classroom and on the basketball court at FAMU, in 2008-09.

Her mother, Kimberly Pompey-Bell is the second year head coach of St. John Lutheran School Varsity & J.V Girls Basketball programs. She is pleased in her daughter's selection of FAMU. "She wanted to go where she could major in pharmacy, and she's real excited about this chance."

Ashley's mother is no stranger to Division I women basketball, having been a star player at Ocala Vanguard and the University of South Alabama, where she still holds the school record for most 3-pointers.

"A lot of people helped play a part in this," Ashley said. "I really enjoyed my time at St. John and I feel very prepared for what lies ahead."

FAMU currently has 15 players on its roster and Hampton will play the three-guard in college.

Two of the Rattlers' three players at that spot will graduate this season, so she will have a chance to get into the mix right away.

"They are a running team and their coach (Debra Clark) liked the way that I run the floor and finished on the fast break," Hampton said. "My main focus throughout school was academics and I also love sports. Why not use sports to help with my academics? It has really worked out well."

Due to Coach Clark's recovery period, she will miss the Lady Rattlers game with Savannah State University on November 20. However, with Ashley Hampton signed for next season, her recovery should be a little less painful and peaceful.

Congratulations to Ashley Hampton and her family for continuing the Rattlers tradition of excellence. Get well soon, Coach Clark! Go Rattlers!