Black college basketball is now in conference play. All the MEAC men’s and women’s teams are in action, aiming to improve their lot as they march to their respective tournaments in a couple of months.
Current standings (as of January 9)
MEAC Men’s – Norfolk State and South Carolina State (2-0), Howard (1-0), Morgan State and Coppin State (1-1), Maryland Eastern Shore (0-1), Delaware State (0-2) and North Carolina Central (0-2).
MEAC Women’s – Norfolk State, Coppin State and Morgan State (2-0), Howard (1-0), Maryland Eastern Shore (0-1), Delaware State, South Carolina State and North Carolina Central (0-2).
They said it …
The MSR was among several reporters on the MEAC first bi-weekly basketball coaches video conference January 8. All eight institution’s men’s and women’s head basketball coaches spoke on previous and upcoming games in a brief statement and a question-and-answer session with media members.
“We have some of the best coaches,” declared Coppin State WBB Coach Larry Stewart.
Morgan State WBB Coach Ed Davis said that his players might be starting to understand “what it means to be in the MEAC. I don’t care what conference they come from, when you come here, this is going to be your most difficult challenge. I think for some of them they finally realize the differences.
“I think over the past weeks they are beginning to buy in exactly what is needed to be successful,” added the coach.
“Experience is pertinent in our league,” stressed North Carolina Central Men’s Coach LeVelle Moton on his squad this season. “We lack some of the necessary experience right now. We are too immature to walk into other gyms and compete at a high level. It’s on all of us – we win together, we lose together.”
Moton joked, “I always say and I don’t know what it is but we become who we are by Martin Luther King Day. That’s when it starts to click for our new guys.”
Weekly honors
Howard freshman guard Blake Harper Jr. was named on Monday the MEAC’s Player and Rookie of the Week. The 6-5 Washington, D.C. native tied his career high 34 points in a 100-94 win over Delaware State in the conference opener, along with six boards, two assists and a steal, and went 10-for-12 from the field, including 3-of-4 in three pointers.
“He is an unbelievable story. He didn’t even start for most of the year on his high school team because they had a lot of talented players,” said Bison Chief Program Strategist Daniel Marks on Harper. “We believed in Black and saw the potential in him. He is the only freshman in the country averaging 18 points, six rebounds and three assists per game.”
Norfolk State graduate guard Brian Moore, Jr. won Defensive Player of the Week honors. He had seven boards, four blocks, three steals in a victory over Maryland Eastern Shore along with 22 points, and had 18 points and five rebounds in a 67-52 loss to then No. 1 Tennessee.
North Carolina Central swept the weekly women’s basketball honors: Graduate guard Kyla Bryant – Player of the Week, freshman guard Shakira Foster, Rookie of the Week, and graduate forward Morgan Callahan earned Defensive Player of the Week.
Bryant averaged over 19 points, nine assists, three rebounds and two steals in a 1-1 for the Eagles. She played all 40 minutes in both contests.
Foster scored a career-high 24 points in a one-point win over Furman. She averaged 17 points, three boards, and 1.5 assists in a 1-1 week.
Callahan averaged 12 points, 8.5 rebounds, two steals and 1.5 blocks in two games for the Eagles, including a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds – 11 defensive in a three point loss to Coppin State. She currently leads the MEAC in total rebounds (17) and blocks (3) after the first week of conference play.
NCC Coach Terrance Baxter calls the three Eagles, “My big three.”
Local players shining …
The MSR asked about two Minnesota natives playing in the MEAC this season:
Graduate 6-0 guard Joshua Strong (Brooklyn Park) is the only Division I basketball player in the country who also is enrolled in law school for Howard. This is his second year with the Bison.
“Joshua has been amazing for our program both on and off the court. His dedication and ability to go to class and then practice and study. Every free minute we have on the road, he is in his books on (his) laptop,” reported Marks of Strong. “He’s one of the leading three-point shooters in the country, shooting over 50% this year after shooting 46% last year.”
Senior forward Kierra Wheeler (Minneapolis) notched her 30th career double-double, recording 19 points, 11 rebounds and six steals in the Spartans’ first conference victory over UMES.
“MeMe” loves basketball,” surmised NSU Coach Larry Vickers on the 6-1 frontcourt player. “She’s in the gym on our day off working on her post moves. She constantly wants to get better.
“Statistically her points are down but she sees more double teams than she saw all last year. All her defensive statistics are up – her blocks are up, her steals are up, her defensive rebounds are up,” he concluded.
Finally …
Norfolk State women’s basketball is No. 8 in the latest College Insider Mid Major Women’s Basketball Top 25 poll this season. The Spartans, the only HBCU featured in this week’s poll, returns to action Saturday Jan. 11 at home against Coppin State.