Flashback #6: Submitted March 25

Confidence carried Coppin through season
By Keith Henry

DAYTON- For the Coppin State Eagles, the 2007-2008 season, at one point, nearly turned out to be a waste of time and effort. However, after their win over UMES in the middle of their MEAC season, these young men knew that this would be the turning point of the season.

Senior Julian Conyers said, “We started out real bad I guess you could say. Our main focus was to stay positive throughout the season. Even though we were 0-8 in the MEAC, we knew we were a better team than that. We were probably one of the best teams in the conference. So we just kept that positive energy and it turned out good for us.”

After the UMES win, senior Tywain McKee guaranteed that this will get them rolling all the way to the MEAC tournament title in Raleigh. That sort of confidence as a leader could only permeate through the team and get them to believe in themselves.

Senior Antwan Harrison said, “We started with experience and started five seniors early on, but we struggled to find our style of play. Then we found out we just had to play defense. If you get enough stops, you could win 2-0. But you have a chance to win every game.”

Coppin State (16-21) was the first team to ever earn an NCAA bid with 20 losses. Some national talk show hosts said Coppin State didn’t belong in the tournament with such a record. But it all goes to show that even though the regular season carries some weight, it is what a team does in the conference tournament that determines who goes to the NCAA Tournament.

In a one bid conference such as the MEAC, only the tournament winner advances to the big dance. For a team that placed seventh in the regular season to win four games in five days, these young men showed some appreciation for even getting to this point. “It was a great experience to have an opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament. They call it the Opening Round, but what we came through to get in the NCAA tournament; you can’t take that away from us. We appreciate the opportunity to be here,” said Harrison.

McKee added, “I just want to say that we appreciate the opportunity and we want to come back next year.”

The MEAC will be tougher next year and the Eagles know that the target will be squarely on their backs. Coppin head coach Ron “Fang” Mitchell stated, “I told them that I was proud of them and these are the things they are capable of when you don’t quit and you have a lot of determination. You have to believe in yourselves and in your teammates. I also thanked those guys for their contributions because they brought Coppin State and the program back to a level of respectability. I also told the underclassmen they have big shoes to fill and they need to start working right away.”