Bowie State Bulldogs Make Changes For Upcoming Year

BOWIE, MD, - The Bowie State University Bulldogs athletic program will have a different flavor to it when the academic school year begins as the Bulldogs have brought in a number of new faces.

Yvette Thomasson replaces Paulette Gabourel as the Lady Bulldogs' volleyball head coach, while Marc Harrison will step in for the departed Don Webster as the head cross-country/track and field coach. Wheeler Brown takes over as Compliance Coordinator for Will Gardner and will assist head coach Luke D'Alessio with the men's basketball program.

The Bulldogs will join the rest of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association in the 2001-2002 year in adding bowling and women's tennis. Coaching slots for both sports remained unfilled to date.

Thomasson is no stranger to the area as she has spent the past four years as the girl's volleyball coach at Suitland High School. During that time she was also a guidance counselor at the school. She should be able to tap into the psyche of her new Bulldogs players as she graduated from Marymount University in 1994 with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology. Remaining at Marymount, she earned a Master's degree in Psychological Services Counseling in 1995, and a Master's in School Guidance Counseling in 1997.

"I'm very, very excited. It's a dream to be able to coach at the collegiate level," Thomasson said. "One day I would like to be totally involved in the athletic department full-time, but I don't mind taking baby steps first."

Smoothing the way for Thomasson, who will remain in her post as guidance counselor at Suitland, will be Gabourel, who will remain on the staff as an assistant coach.

Harrison, who will also serve as the football team's receiver coach, will also be in his first year at Bowie State University. He brings in a wealth of knowledge from both an athlete's and coaches' perspective.

He was a three-year starter at wide receiver and kick returner for Bucknell University and was a sprinter on the track team for two years. He graduated from Bucknell in 1992, with a Bachelor's degree in Secondary Education.

His first track coaching job came in 1993, in his home state of New Jersey, where he was the boy's sprint coach for Williamstown High School and coached the Freshman Athlete of the Year.

He moved on to Camden High School where he was the sprint coach from 1994-96. He helped produce three state championship teams, three 55m state champions and had 12 All-State performers during his tenure.

He jumped to the collegiate ranks in 1996, when he went to Coppin State University as the men's and women's sprint coach. From 1998-2000, he was a volunteer track coach at Woodlawn High School while working with the football team as the offensive and special team's coordinator.

He jumped into Division IAA football last year as the full-time wide receiver/kick returner coach for Morgan State University. He continued to be successful as he helped produce the MEAC's leading punt returner (#2 in Division IAA) and the school's all-time reception leader.

Brown is well versed in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) regulations as he was the Compliance Coordinator and head men's basketball coach at Wheeling Jesuit University from 1996-2000.

He has been involved in coaching and/or teaching of young people since he graduated with a Bachelor's degree from North Carolina A&T State University in 1979. In his10-year career as a college head coach, Brown has posted a record of 191-110.

After spending four years in the Atlanta Public Schools System, Brown came to the area in 1983, working for four years as an activity therapist for the Regional Institute for Children and Adolescents in Baltimore, MD.

In 1987, Brown began his coaching career as the head men's basketball coach at Howard Community College, a position he held until 1996.

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