Mid Eastern Athletic Conference Overview

The team to beat per usual are the North Carolina A&T Aggies.  Coach Cal Irvin’s squad dominated this league last year.  They held on in the conference tourney to get the invite to the Big Dance but did not show well.  They want to go back to prove that their loss on the biggest stage was more stage fright then a lack of cohesive talent.  There are many things to prove for this league but most feel this program is putting forth the best teams year in and year out.  A loaded roster will feature the toughest and coolest cat in the league in Senior Al Attles, who is the unquestioned leader of this team.  Attles is not the most talented player but he knows basketball all day and seems to will his team to victories.  He is joined by a veteran group including seniors Warren Davis (post) and Mo McHartley (guard) and perhaps the most talented Aggie at least on the offensive end in junior James ‘Bird’ Sparrow. Sophomore big man Joe Binion jumped ahead of the curve as this conveyor belt of a program develops players over and over again but you have to usually wait your place in line.  This seniority did not work in the beast Binnion’s case as he a bit more of a pounder then most of the tough guys who play post for the Aggies.  Irvin has by far the deepest team in the league and I would put money on this team winning the regular season title but getting to the Big Dance is an entirely different story.  Anything can happen in four days (yes, all 11 teams play in the tourney) and there are several teams close enough to the machine that is the Aggies to beat them on a given night especially if they get a great recruiting class. 

The four teams that seemingly have a shot to dethrone the champs are South Carolina State, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Morgan State and possibly newbies Norfolk State.   Coach Cy Alexander has a senior laden lineup with three studs leading the way as point guard Bobby Lewis, Frank ‘House of’ Card and Linberth ‘Bird’ Moody plus junior all-around guard Harry Nickens and have one more shot at glory in Orangeburg.  South Carolina State got a huge jilt right after the season ended last year (after a loss to the Aggies in the title game) when their top two big men decided to take advantage of the new transfer portal and moved on to new schools.  There is not much depth here but if Alexander recruited well especially inside the Bulldogs got a shot. 

The Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks will be in the mix but would probably be the favorites if not for a weird last-minute transfer in conference.  The MEAC does not make a player wait a year to transfer and superstar Joe Pace, who led this team to NAIA and NIT (the first black school to appear in the NIT), transferred at the last minute to the Hawks biggest rival and fellow Baltimoreans Coppin State.  You see the NAIA imposed financial and probationary penalties and Pace wanted none of that.  Coach John Bates was not happy with some of the shenanigans happening behind the scenes and left as well.   The Hawks have gone back to Nate Taylor to lead them into this year but like the Bulldogs are not the same team they thought they were going to be five months ago.  Taylor still has Seniors Jake Ford, Sonny Lloyd and James ‘Bones’ Morgan plus juniors Talvin Skinner and Rubin ‘Tuna’ Collins to form one of the highest scoring teams in the country but without Pace controlling the paint on both ends this will not be the same team. 

Another Baltimore area school who is also a huge rival of MESU are the Morgan State Bears but this team comes down to the most dominant force in the MEAC.  Junior Marvin Webster is a seven one monster who guards the rim like a Mormon Dad guards his daughter’s virginity.  The ‘Human Eraser’ blocks more shots than anyone in college basketball and though his offensive game is limited he has carried the Bears to never thought of heights.  Coach Nat Frazier has a super junior class to support Webster including fellow big man Eric Evans and guard Chet Davis but this season comes down to how much this team can score in this high-octane league because we know the Bears will not give up many points. 

Norfolk State are leaping up from the D-2 ranks to join the MEAC but unlike many new teams joining D-1 the Spartans bring along with them a solid team. Included are two seniors who might be as good as they get in any league at their positions.  New York Streetball legend guard Pee Wee Kirkland and small forward Bobby Dandridge are as good as they get and can carry this team far but there is not much size on this team so unless Coach Charlie Christian has some big men up his sleeve the Spartans might be on the outside looking in at the MEAC (even if it is going to be played in Norfolk) champions get their bid to the BD. 

The rest of the league does not look like serious contenders but who knows when it comes to March in the winner take all league tourney.  The other new team Hampton has one big stud to hang their hat on in the beefy big man junior Ricky Mahorn.  The Pirates have a couple of second year players who can help in point guard Daryl Warwick and Greg ‘can’t dance’ Hines but Coach Hank Ford (Jake Ford of Maryland Eastern Shore’s brother-really) better be bringing more with him.  Just another reason for the Hawks/Eagle rivalry (man isn’t that just the perfect birds for a rivalry) to be a must see this year.  Speaking of Eagles, the Eagles of Coppin State might have the best shot with ultra winner Pace coming their way but new Coach ‘Fang’ Mitchell does not have much in support though fellow juniors Tony Carter and Carter Colbert have some game.  Mitchell is known to be a heck of a recruiter and these Baltimore boys supposedly have a slew of perimeter studs coming to town so don’t underestimate these Eagles too much. 

The two other DC schools Howard and Delaware State are long shots though the Bison have a trio of big men in junior Gerald Glover Vadnay Cotton and sophomore Larry Spriggs and AR Williamson’s team could surprise.  Williamson has supposedly increased his odds by bringing in his kid Ron (a huge recruit) to play for him and this kid can flat stroke it.  The Hornets are basically starting fresh behind new Coach Greg Jackson as he has brought in almost an entire new team of freshman.  Carryovers Dave Withers at post, forward Ronald Horton and guards Samuel Shepherd and Charles Shealy can play and all four will start.  Big time recruit Bernard Campbell (a high school All-American from up the road at Dunbar in Baltimore) is penciled in as the fifth starter and showed he can play but at 6’1 and playing forward is struggling with the MEAC. He is showing why so many bigger programs passed him by but then again this kid can flat fly. 

The two Florida schools are also long shots but have some talent too.  Beth-Cook has a rugged front line showcased by rugged seniors Carl Fuller and Johnnie Allen up front but Cy McLairin must find some guards to compete in this athletic league.  The Rattlers from Florida A&M have some players coming back for Coach Ed ‘Rockjaw’ Ogelsby including superstar Waite Bellamy on the wing and fellow senior Willie Collier and tough guy junior Clemon Johnson underneath.  If Ogelsby gets some help for this trio they could surprise but you can make that case for every team in this league.  Unless NC A&T falls apart nobody is taking down the Aggies at least in the regular season but as far as the tourney in Norfolk and that automatic bid well that’s anybody’s guess?