Hampton

Turnarounds: 31 Teams to Watch For: Part Three

Raphielle Johnson — Thu, 15 May 2008 07:50:42 -0700

With the off-season now upon us and the spring signing period well under way, this is a good opportunity to attempt to forecast some of the teams who could make the jump next season. Is there a team out there like this past season’s Drake Bulldogs, who went from ninth place to a dominating run through the Missouri Valley? Or how about Arizona State, a team that went from dead last in the Pac-10 to fifth place and could have the makings of a conference title run this season? With one pick for each conference, here are 31 teams you should keep an eye on next season.

Part Three

MEAC: Hampton

2007-08 Record: 18-12 (11-5)

Yes, the Pirates finished tied for second in the MEAC last season, but they saw their season come to an abrupt end with a harsh 75-74 loss to eventual conference champ Coppin State in the MEAC Tournament. They do have to replace leading scorer Rashad West, but of the five leading scorers on last year’s team three will be back. Look for Vincent Simpson, Matthew Pilgrim and Michael Freeman to take on even more scoring responsibility next year in attempts to win the MEAC. I think they’ve got a shot at getting to the NCAA Tournament next season, but they will have a fight on their hands from the likes of Morgan State and Delaware State.

Missouri Valley: Creighton

2007-08 Record: 22-11 (10-8)

Head coach Dana Altman was in Fayetteville for about two days before he decided that he had to remain at Creighton. His decision worked out for all parties involved as the Blue Jays notched another 20-win season and won a Postseason NIT game in the process. But more can be done, most notably contend for the MVC championship. With the exciting P’Allen Stinnett and many other key contributors due back next season, Creighton can definitely contend for the crown in 2008-09.

Mountain West: Utah

2007-08 Record: 18-15 (7-9)

Make no mistake about it; UNLV and BYU (if Lee Cummard and Trent Plaisted both return) are the favorites to win the Mountain West. But the slots in the standings behind those two are practically wide open, and the Utes could be the team that moves to the top of that list. The lone contributor to leave was guard Johnnie Bryant, who moved to the bench to make way for JUCO transfer Tyler Kepkay when the season began. Along with Kepkay due back is seven-footer Luke Nevill, who can score with either hand on the low block. With the number of players they have due back, look for Jim Boylen’s bunch to make a move up the standings to an area close to where we’ve been accustomed to seeing their program.

Northeast Conference: Monmouth

2007-08 Record: 7-24 (4-14)

It would be easy to choose Central Connecticut State here and proclaim them a favorite to win the NEC. But why not go way out on a limb and expect a team that only scored 59.2 points per game to compete in the top half of the conference? Last year’s team featured seven freshmen, four sophomores and two juniors. Jhamar Youngblood led the team in scoring with twelve points per game, but the year of experience should help this entire team when it comes to winning basketball games. Not sure how good they can be, but don’t expect the Hawks to be anyone’s whipping boy when conference play rolls around.

Ohio Valley: Southeast Missouri St.

2007-08 Record: 12-19 (7-13)

The Redhawks will welcome back three of their top five scorers next season, most notably forward Jaycen Herring and guard Kenard Moore. And their top departing scorer, Brandon Foust, only played in eighteen games last season so the core of this team should be used to playing without him. Six of their losses last season, five of which were in OVC play, were by four points or less and a little change in luck could put them in position to challenge at the top of the league. A change in those five results gives them a 12-8 record in the OVC last year, which would have been good enough for third place in the conference. They’re not too far off; it’s just a matter of finishing the job in crunch time.

Pac-10: Arizona State

2007-08 Record: 21-13 (9-9)

After the abomination that was the Sun Devils’ 2006-07 season, not too many went into last season thinking that come Selection Sunday they’d be debating the NCAA worthiness of Arizona State. But we were, and with stars James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph both returning to Tempe, Herb Sendek may have a team talented enough to make a run at a Pac-10 title. Granted, UCLA will head into the season as the overwhelming favorite and they should. But this has the makings of a big year for Sun Devil basketball, and they should have no problem whatsoever reaching the NCAA Tournament.

Patriot: Bucknell

2007-08 Record: 12-19 (6-8)

Talk about a shocker. Both the Bison and rival Holy Cross were the trendy picks to win the Patriot League; instead they both end up at the bottom of the standings. But the Bison went into the off-season on a positive, knocking off Navy in a Patriot League quarterfinal before losing at Colgate. John Griffin, who hit the miraculous game-winner at Navy, Darren Mastropaolo and Rob Thomas are the only departing seniors. The key to how much of an improvement the Bison make next season will be how they go about replacing head coach Pat Flannery, who retired after fourteen seasons on the job.

Part One: ACC, Big East, Big Ten etc

Part Two: Big 12, CUSA, etc

Part Four tomorrow: SEC, WAC, WCC

Daily Poll: Who Will Win the MEAC?

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:34:15 -0700

2007-08 Hampton Basketball Preview

Joel Welser — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 09:45:10 -0700

Hampton Pirates

Overall Rank: #128

Conference Rank: #1 MEAC

2006-07: 15-16, 10-8, 3^rd (t)

2006-07 postseason: none

Over the last two years Coach Kevin Nickelberry has done an amazing job recruiting stellar talent into the Hampton program. Last season was supposed to be a major transition year with the new coach and the loss of four key players, but the Pirates still put together a solid season. Hampton started four freshman most of the year and expect improvement from each of them, but senior Rashad West is what makes the team tick. The 6-1 point guard led the team with 17.8 points and 2.6 assists per game and will have to once again be the steadying force on a young team.

Who’s Out:

The depth in the backcourt has taken a hit with the transfer of Demario Mattox and the graduation of Junior Pehoua. Mattox averaged 6.0 points and Pehoua added 3.9 per contest. The depth chart for the guards will be full of new players, but they are talented enough to be quality reserves. Forward Kevin Clark, who averaged 2.6 points and 2.1 rebounds and earned seven starts, is not returning to the program.

Who’s In:

Hampton fans hope this recruiting class can perform as well as last year’s. The backcourt is where some help is needed immediately and guards Chris Tolson and Brandon Tunnell will answer the call. The duo will likely spend the season being groomed to take over the starting point guard duties in 2008-2009. Milade Lola-Charles and redshirt freshman Oluwaseyi Oseni have the size, at 6-11 and 6-10, to develop into a dominating duo up front, but it is junior college transfer Donte Harrison who will make an impact on the Hampton frontline right away. Harrison averaged 11.6 points and 11.3 rebounds at Sullivan County Community College in New York. He is a good defender and his long arms will be an asset in the shot blocking department.

Who to Watch:

The development of Vincent Simpson, Theo Smalling, Matthew Pilgrim and Mike Freeman will be the key to the campaign. The foursome did a great job as freshmen, but they need to continue to improve if Hampton wants to reach the NCAA Tournament. Simpson has to become a more consistent shooter for a shooting guard and Smalling could develop a better game on the offensive end, although he may be relegated to being a specialist off the bench with the talent coming in. Pilgrim and Freeman are harder to find faults with and as long as they continue to develop, the duo will be tough to stop. Pilgrim and Freeman combined for 25.2 points and 11.8 rebounds per game.

Final Projection:

With West running the show and the four freshmen now sophomores, nobody should be able to stop the Pirates. Adrian Woodard will provide some experienced depth and that should help the team stay fresher down the stretch. Considering the last two recruiting classes have been among the best the MEAC has ever seen, the future is even brighter than the present. If Hampton can dominate the conference this year, they will own the conference for at least the next few years. The Achilles heel for the Pirates is their poor shooting. The team ranked 234^th in the nation in field-goal percentage, 286^th in three point field-goal percentage and 249^th in free-throw percentage. If it gets worse, the door will be open for teams like Morgan State, Coppin State and North Carolina A&T to capture an NCAA bid.

Projected Post-season Tournament: NCAA

Projected Starting Five:

Rashad West, Senior, Guard, 17.8 points per game

Vincent Simpson, Sophomore, Guard, 5.9 points per game

Matthew Pilgrim, Sophomore, Forward, 11.0 points per game

Theo Smalling, Sophomore, Forward, 2.7 points per game

Mike Freeman, Sophomore, Forward, 14.2 points per game

Complete Top 144 Ranking | 2007-08 Preview | Discuss the Preview

Night in the MEAC: a Cigarboy Road Trip

Bill Kintner — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 08:09:45 -0800

GREENSBORO, NC – What’s a MEAC you may ask? It stands for the Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference.

It is a conference of historic Black schools. They are only ranked 31st in the RPI, but don’t tell the fans tonight at North Carolina A&T University, to them the home team Aggies are the NBA Champion 1993 Chicago Bulls. And little Steven Rush who tonight scored 28 points, is their Michael Jordan.

Well tonight’s tale takes place at the 5700 seat Corbett Sports Center, a very unremarkable basketball venue built in 1978.

But just because the building is unremarkable, doesn’t mean what happens in the building is unremarkable. In fact, this building has been host to a ton of good basketball.

For starters the Corbett Sports Center had an impressive 37 game winning streak from January 18, 1986 until November 30, 1988.

Around that time the Aggies appeared in the NCAA Tournament seven straight times from 1981 through 1987. They even made a couple return appearances in 1994 and 1995. Since then winning seasons have been few and far between.

Coming into this game A&T was only 8-12 and the Hampton Pirates were just 7-12. But someone forgot to tell the 4105 fans who came to the Corbett Sports Center to see their beloved Aggies win.

The Aggies average over 4000 fans a game and that is far more than any other school in their conference.

Those fans include the students standing at each end just 2-3 feet from the court. It is very intimidating to have fans that close.

Twice during the game there was an announcement to stay off the court and out of play. But tonight the students are well behaved.

Music is front and center at this venue. When the action stops the very good pep band swings into action. If it is not the band, then they crank up the rap music or sometimes some jazzy R and B music.

But rest assured it will not be quiet.

Now let me add I am not a fan of rap music, but gosh darn it works at the Corbett Sports Center. Maybe it is because of all the fans dancing in front of their seats. The stands start to shake and sway as the dance competition gets going. There is never a dull moment when the action stops on the court.

The PA announcer is a fellow named John Allen. He has a great voice, and the ability to say just the right thing, at the right time, using a minimum of words to do it.

At just the right time he will say, “Are there any Aggies in the House?”

Of course, the fans get louder.

Allen must have been a fan of the old Gomer Pyle show because he did a great Sergeant Carter imitation when he said, “I can’t HEAR you!”

Then it gets even louder again.

At the beginning of the evening he reminded the fans that A&T’ Corbett Sports Center was chosen as the 14^th best atmosphere in college. He said it as a reminder to the fans to keep the noise level up.

Never mind that he was referring to a fan poll from ESPN.com where fans who never went to most of the venues presented in the poll to be voted on just voted for their favorite schools.

But that is not the point. The point is that A&T takes tremendous pride in their program and the atmosphere in the gym, plus that everyone there was having a great time.

As the crowd roared the Aggies came out and laid an egg. By the 9:22 mark in the first half they trailed by 19 points at 27-8.

But the crowd screamed, danced and sang along with the music and sure enough Lazarus came back from the dead as the Aggies closed the gap to as close as eight points with a minute left in the first half before allowing Hampton to push their led back up to double digits at 41-30 at half time.

The half time entertainment was the dance team. They danced to some rap songs and every eye in the place was on the girls, as they worked their way though their routine.

In the second half the Aggies chipped away at the Hampton lead and finally at the 11:09 mark they tied the game at 48-48 on a free throw by Jason

Wills.

During the time outs the music plays on.

During one second half time out, they cranked up the song “Atomic Dog” by George Clinton. All eyes went up to the upper section aisle where a fraternity did a fancy dance in unison, while a lot of the fans especially the students danced a little themselves.

By the 3:59 mark the Aggies pushed their lead up to five points at 62-57.

Another time out and the crowd is going nuts.

They played a song called Go Sit Down by Maceo and of course everyone stood up and danced. There was a fraternity dancing in a mob on the upper aisle and there was one shirtless guy on anther guy’s shoulders. As they were dancing the guys were all smacking the guy on the shoulders until he fell off. Of course, they caught him and everyone in the gym had a smile on their face.

Back on the court as the game starts fans are shouting, “defense, defense, defense,” but the game starts going south for A&T and they end up losing 70-64.

The fans go home after another loss, but they will be back again. After all this is North Carolina A&T and their games are among the most unique, interesting and fun games in all of college basketball.