BCSP Notes . . .

The school has made no official announcement. Miller had said earlier that the school would make a final decision on Freeman's status about two weeks after the end of the men's season. Norfolk State's season ended in the MEAC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday, March 8 in a 81-66 loss to North Carolina A&T.

Freeman, 47, a former Miami assistant who was in the last year of his five-year contract, has posted an overall record of 63-83. His MEAC record is 51-39 during that span and includes five straight winning seasons in MEAC regular season play, including four seasons with a 10-8 conference mark. Freeman's team was 10-8 this year in the MEAC and 10-18 overall. They won a first-round MEAC Tournament game over Maryland-Eastern Shore before losing to A&T.

If Norfolk State decides to make a change, the school will be hiring its fifth coach since making the transition from NCAA Div. II status and the CIAA to Div. I status and the MEAC in 1997.

Lessett resigns at Md.-Eastern Shore;
Smith named interim head coach
Maryland-Eastern Shore men's basketball coach Larry Lessett announced his resignation last week and the school promptly named his top assistant to replace him on an interim basis for the next year.

Lessett posted a 13-74 overall mark and a 6-48 MEAC record in three years leading the Hawks. His team was 1-18 in the MEAC this season and 4-27 overall. The 2006-07 season came to a close on March 14, when the Hawks fell in the MEAC Tournament opening round to Norfolk State, 81-70.

"We thank coach Lessett for his contributions to the university and wish him well in his future endeavors," UMES Athletic Director Keith Davidson said in a press release last week.

Lessett leaves as the fourth straight UMES coach to depart with a sub-.500 record, dating back to the 1992-94 tenure of Rob Chavez.

"I really appreciated the opportunity," Lessett said last week. "And I wish them well." Lessett was paid $105,213 during this last year of his contract.

Davidson later announced that first assistant coach Meredith Smith would serve as interim coach for the 2007-08 academic year as the school looks for a permanent hire for the 2008-09 season.

"Coach Smith has been kind enough to take on this responsibility to allow us the time to evaluate our program and to take the time necessary to make the correct choice in terms of moving on with this athletic department," Davidson said. "I don't want to be here in two or three years making this same decision over and over again."

Davidson said the university would open the position to a nationwide search and make a permanent hire following the 2007-08 season, but also said he expects Smith to be a candidate to fill the position permanently.

"Today having appointing him as interim head coach I would fully expect him to be an applicant like any number of coaches who apply for this position," Davidson said. "What we have done is given him an opportunity to lead us forward and in doing so kind of audition for the job himself."

Smith, a UMES alumnus, has been with Lessett for all three seasons. He was previously the boys basketball coach at Southern High School in Baltimore, from 1978 to 2002, where he accumulated a 414-145 record and coached the team to three state championships.

"This is not the first time I have built a program," Smith said. "I built a program in high school that had a history of being successful. In fact, it was a nationally recognized program, one of the top programs in the country." Smith will have full latitude in the hiring and firing of assistant coaches as well as in offering scholarships like any head coach. He would not comment on the status of assistant coaches Steve Golston and Michael Farrare.

All of the players who are under scholarship will maintain those scholarships if they choose. Davidson said that consideration for the players who are currently on the team had a lot to do with the hiring of Smith on an interim basis.

"What we want to do is provide some consistency, so that we can do some healing. Not only athletically, but socially and academically," Davidson said. "We need to start to change the culture of losing around here. I'm hopeful that this will start today with the due diligence we are taking as far as an analysis of the program. Then we will move forward."

CIAA hoops stars to play
in Div. II all-star game at Elite Eight
All-CIAA basketball stars Gil Goodrich and Antonio Fitzgerald are two of 20 seniors selected to play in the second annual NABC/NCAA Dv. II All-Star Game on Friday, March 23 at the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

Goodrich, a 5-10 guard out of Linthicum, Md. selected as the CIAA player of the year out of Bowie State, led NCAA Div. II in scoring for much of the season before finishing fourth with a 25.4 points per game average. Goodrich led the CIAA in scoring and three-pointers per game (4.1) which also tied for best in the nation. His 7.4 assists per game were also best in the CIAA and fourth nationally. He finished second in the CIAA in steals (2.36 per game) and free throw percentage (85.6%) while topping the league in minutes played (38.4 per game)..

Fitzgerald, a 6-2 guard from Danville, Va. that played at St. Augustine's was also a CIAA stat stuffer. He finished behind Goodrich in scoring stats (22.4 ppg.), minutes played (37.5 mpg.), was fourth in assists (5.5 apg.) and sixth in free throw percentage (77.6%).

The game will match an East All-Star Team made up of players from the East, Northeast, South and South Atlantic regions against West All-Stars from the Great Lakes, North Central, South Central and West regions. The game is part of the NCAA Div. II Men's Basketball Elite Eight which will be held March 21, 22 and 24 at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.

David McLaughlin of Stonehill College will coach the East team and Bill Brown of California University of Pennsylvania leads the West.

© 2007 Azeez Communications, Inc.

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