Southwestern Athletic Conference

The Braves will play Mississippi State in the second game of the year which will be the first game played between either of the power conference Mississippi schools and a team from a HBCU!  The fans from Lorman are looking forward to this huge event and even though this will be played in Starkville there will be plenty of gold and purple fans there to witness this huge event!  Perhaps of equal importance will be game 13 when Ole Miss travels to Lorman to play the Braves in which for sure will be a huge game!  The Braves are led by the Smith boys, a pair of non-related studs who epitomize what Whitney’s style is all about.  Richard is a senior shooting guard who does just that.  He shoots and he scores often (he easily led the team in scoring) but he also plays tough, hard-nosed defense.  Larry defines hard-nosed as his nickname Mr. Mean can attest. 

This junior power forward never smiles and he thinks every rebound is his and does not mind setting a nasty back pick or two for Richard or anyone else coming his way.  Whitney has several other players of this ilk (Willie Norwood, Alfred Milton to name a few) but they key might be sophomore guard Eddie Archie.  Archie walked in last year and took over this team as it’s leader and point guard and has that IT factor to do whatever it takes to lead his team to wins.  This team is so good they got guys knocking at the door to come play here as the frosting on this year’s cake could be Julius Keye. 

The six ten rim protector came from South Carolina State last season (another HBCU school) to give this team arguably the only thing they are missing which is a terrific shot blocker and rebounder.  This team will be tough to beat whoever or wherever they play!  The Grambling (State) Tigers who basically put HBCU on the map with their great football program under legendary Eddie Robinson have been almost that good and significant with their basketball program under Fred Hobdy.  Hobdy’s team was a dominant team in the NAIA but have not had anywhere near the success since transferring into D-1. 

The talent is still there especially a senior class that features high scoring Bob Hopkins and incomparable Willis Reed up front.  This is an experienced and well-balanced team as the back court combo of senior Jimmy Jones and Larry Wright complement each other well and junior Aaron James is the designated long-range shooter.  The problem has been discipline, depth and defense and if Hobdy can coach these guys up at this level they can definitely compete for the SWAC title and beyond.  You can say the same thing for many other SWAC teams as there is much talent in many of these HBCU’s as the NFL (especially the Pittsburgh Steelers) have found out recently. 

For instance, Jackson State has never been a consistent contender but Coach Paul Covington has accumulated enough talent to be serious challengers this year if he can meld them all together.  Led by the high scoring Short brothers, Eugene and Purvis, who are both juniors though Eugene is older, the Tigers will definitely score some points.  These two brothers are almost clones of each other as both are six foot six and are terrific outside shooters who can run the floor and score about any which way you can think of.  Gene will end up at the four though as he has extra-long arms and though he is not really an inside player will use this to his advantage. 

 Covington does have bulldozers to bang and grab boards down low but he has to get the Short Bros. on the court.  They are that good and will be playing at the next level soon enough.  Now if he can find a few back court players to match these front court studs and apparently there is a pair transferring over from Alcorn State these Tigers might just make Jackson Mississippi a basketball hotbed at least for one year. Two Texas schools are in the same situation as both Prairie View and Texas Southern have some experienced teams with stud big men who can dominate the competition.  The Panthers are led by stupendous big man Zelmo Beaty who is one of the more dominant centers in the entire conference (and southwest) and that is saying something in this league which has more talent (and brawn) up front than some much bigger conferences.  Z is a solid scorer on the blocks and excels on the boards and defensively. 

Coach Leroy Moore has some solid support especially seniors Guy Manning and Harold ‘Coffee’ Grimes and could surprise but there is not much depth here and are not that athletic and if Z isn’t spectacular the Panthers will have a hard time competing.  The third Tiger team in this league from Texas Southern has Benny Swain who might not quite be Beaty down low but he can play and leads a much more balanced team into the SWAC wars.  Coach Robert Moreland’s team will score and he has recruited some solid underclassmen to complement Sauldsberry down low who can seem to all love to let it fly and did not meet a shot they don’t like taking.  Ben Jobe has got something going at Southern University with his fast-paced style that seems to finally being getting some talent to Baton Rouge or at least some carryover from another Tiger team from LSU. 

The Jaguars have one stud Jobe has built around in senior forward Bob Love who has improved every year down in the Bayou and if he continues could be a pro caliber player by the time he is done.  Juniors Frankie Sanders and Tony Murphy are the templates of the high scoring wings but there are many of those as Jobe rotates at least ten deep.  The Jaguars will entertain their fans but the question is will this style of play finally get this program into the upper echelon of this historic league.  The two most recent additions to the league will have a hard row to hoe to achieve anything that is not in the bottom half. 

The Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils (11 syllables) are young but Coach Lafayette Stribling has got some beef down low to build upon.  Junior Center Herman ‘the Helicopter’ Harris is the best returning player and is an incredible leaper (he has never lost a tipoff) and will lead the team into action and will have plenty of support up front but unless there is a high scoring guard somewhere coming into Itta Bena (yep that’s a town) the DD’s will not compete for the SWAC title. 

Alabama State is the newest and youngest program and are predicted to finish in the basement.  Coach James Oliver knows he has an uphill battle but he does have seven foot junior center Gregg Northington and trio of high scoring sophomores to build upon.  It might not be enough but they should be fun to watch.  The SWAC has a favorite to win the league this year in Alcorn State but there are at least three or four other programs who could challenge for the title and when it comes time in March to decide who gets that 15 or 16 seed in the BD it’s anybody’s guess who will be cutting the nets and having an out of control assembly with marching bands included when they announce the brackets.