Either way there are ‘no easy games’
Who’s the toughest Black basketball conference, the SWAC or the MEAC? This of late has been debated on several HBCU-specific media sites.
The HBCUGO.TV studio hosts favored the 12 WBB and 12 MBB SWAC, while HBCU Gameday pointed out that the MEAC with eight clubs on both sides might be “top end” competitively, but sees the SWAC has “better depth and competitive balance.”
During the first scheduled bi-weekly men’s and women’s basketball head coaches video conferences (Jan. 7 and Jan. 12) respectively, MSR asked the coaches about such debates. To a person they strongly defended their league, now in its 55th year of intercollegiate competition.
“The players make this conference tough,” stated Howard WBB Coach Ty Grace, now in her 11th season. Since her arrival in 2015, HU has been among the league’s elite, making the MEAC Title game for five straight seasons, including last season.
“Obviously it is the players,” said Grace. “We have elite coaches, great coaches. But I think it’s the players that make it challenging every night, make it tough to make adjustments.”
Erik Martin, the South Carolina State men’s coach added, “There are no easy games in the MEAC.”
“League play is gritty, not pretty,” stressed Norfolk State’s Robert Jones of MEAC MBB contests.
Accomplished college coach and former WNBA player Nadine Domond, now in her first year at Morgan State, got her coaching start as a graduate assistant, then assistant coach at Hampton, a former MEAC member. She also coached in the SWAC and was its conference 2015 coach of the year at Grambling State.
“We have a lot of elite coaching in this league,” Domond told MSR. “I think the talent level in women’s basketball with the transfer portal and the ability to bring in so many different talents from all over wasn’t as accessible in the past as it is now.
“That’s what makes the league super special.”
Player spotlight
Paris McBride (Coppin State) – The 5’6” senior returned to the court after a season as an assistant coach at JUCO Southeast Arkansas College in Pine Bluff, Ark. She formerly played two seasons at North Carolina Central, then two seasons at Morehead State.
“I’m extremely surprised by McBride’s play,” Coppin State Coach Darrell Mosley said last week. “She outhustled everybody in the summer for that starting spot. She is the engine of our team. We go as she goes.”
Thus far McBride (Richmond, Va.) is averaging eight points, three assists, four rebounds and 1.5 steals this season.
“I can see her as a future coach,” said Mosley.
Bryce Harris (Howard) – The 6’4” graduate student currently leads the MEAC in scoring (19.9 ppg) and rebounding (6.8 rpg). He was recently named HBCU All-Star men’s basketball player of the week (Dec. 17).
“Bryce is an incredible human being,” declared Howard Coach Kenneth Blakeney. “When he was in high school, he was the one guy that we felt could shift the dynamics of our program. He has the chance to go down as one of the winningest players in our program and one of the most decorated players in our program.
“All of the things he’s done,” surmised the coach, “he’s done so much off the court … He graduated from our business school and started three businesses so far.”
Finally…
Coppin State hosted South Carolina on Sunday in a rare January non-conference road game. “It’s a big revenue [draw] for HBCUs,” first-year Head Coach Darrell Mosley told Greenville News.
“I like to go on the road and I like to go into an environment like an HBCU,” added Gamecocks HC Dawn Staley on the home-and-home contract signed in 2024, with both teams playing in Columbia in 2024, and a rematch in Baltimore this season. “It’s a cool environment, cool to have us come up there … I try to grow the game in ways most people don’t grow it.”
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.