![](https://i0.wp.com/spokesman-recorder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/March-sadness.Woldeslassie.32.jpg?resize=771%2C578&ssl=1)
March Madness is now underway. This time of year is also when teams and coaches, especially those that didn’t make postseason play, do their introspection on the season just completed.
Abe Woldeslassie’s March schedule includes attending the Division III championship game and networking with other coaches at the DI Final Four among other things. His Macalester Scots team won its final game of the season, a 79-65 win over Augsburg on February 17. They finished 10-15, 6-14 in the MIAC.
The Mac head coach said he will also devote time for introspection on a season that was promising at the start but didn’t pan out as originally planned. “As a coach, every year you got to look at what we could have done better,” he told the MSR last week. “Whether it’s practice time or in-game management, things like that. The whole coaching staff wants to come back next year, so that’s positive.
“I’m really excited for 2024-25,” admitted Woldeslassie, who completed his sixth season as Scots HC, the longest-tenured Black basketball coach in the MIAC.
This season started off on an exciting high with junior guard Caleb Williams lighting up host Minnesota with 41 points in an exhibition game at The Barn last November. However, injuries to key players such as 6-7 junior forward Badou Ba (out all season) and sophomore 6-5 power forward Noah Shannon, who missed most of the season after winter break, were perhaps too much for the Scots to overcome.
“It was a roller coaster year,” added Woldeslassie.
The ’23-24 season highlights include watching the growth of 6-6 junior forward Armando Akapo-Nwagbo, who was pressed into service because of Ba’s absence.
“Armando just physically couldn’t play as many minutes as he wanted,” continued Woldeslassie. “We had a freshman center who just wasn’t quite ready to play extended minutes.”
But with Akapo-Nwagbo expected to return next year more experienced, as well as a healthy Ba, this may explain Woldeslassie’s optimism for next season. “I feel like we could go from one of the more undersized teams this year to next year being one of the bigger teams,” stated the coach.
Williams, who finished second in league scoring (20 points a game), is slated to graduate in May and plans to transfer, perhaps to a larger school, to finish his collegiate career. He made all-MIAC for the third straight season, as did his teammate Coby Gold, who averaged 15.2 points this season.
“Caleb definitely got a lot of national publicity from scoring 41 [points],” said Woldeslassie on the 6-2 shooting guard. His performance against the Gophers “just showed these really good Division III players are just as good as some of those Division I players,” said the coach.
Woldeslassie and his staff soon will be back at work preparing for next season. “I’ll go to the coaches clinics,” he said. “I’ll work a few camps. Do a lot of film evaluation. Talk to our players about watching [March Madness games] and learn from that, whether it’s Division I, II, III.
“Our goal is to be there someday.”
Support Black local news
Help amplify Black voices by donating to the MSR. Your contribution enables critical coverage of issues affecting the community and empowers authentic storytelling.