Hoops Notes

Virginia State has decided to reassign men's head basketball coach Anthony Collins after four years at the helm.

Collins, a 1979 Virginia State grad, had compiled a 54-64 record during his tenure including a 14-18 mark this season.

The change comes despite Collins' team making a run to the CIAA Tournament semifinals in late February, losing to eventual champion Johnson C. Smith. That performance and despite the fact that Collins would have returned four starters off that team were not enough for him to retain the post.

"I was told [by administrators] that there were a lot of unhappy people, and that they wanted to go in a different direction," Collins, told Richmond Times-Dispatch writer Ralph Paulk last week. "I asked for some particulars, but I wasn't given any. Obviously, it's a big disappointment because we felt as if we were building something and we believed we were on the right track."

Collins best season was his second, in 2006-07, when his team posted a 21-7 record but lost in the quarterfinals of the CIAA Tournament. He followed that up with an 11-18 mark last season.

He is the third CIAA men's head coach to lose his job so far this post season.

D'Alessio curiously out at Bowie State

Bowie State's most successful men's basketball coach ever, Luke D'Alessio, will no longer lead the Bulldogs.

BSU Athletic Director Derek Carter announced last week that D'Alessio will not return once his contract expires in June 2009.

"This was a tough decision but a change is needed at this time to take our program to a higher level," said Carter. "We appreciate the contributions that Coach D'Alessio and his staff have provided the University and wish them nothing but the best in their future endeavors."

And D'Alessio has made significant contributions. Prior to his hiring in 1999, the Bulldogs had never won a tournament game. During his ten years at the helm, Bowie State became one of the most feared programs in the conference and annually challenged perennial title contender Virginia Union under then head coach Dave Robbins for conference honors.

D'Alessio, a former junior college mentor joined the BSU family in 1999 and posted a 7-21 record in his inaugural season. But he lived up to his "program changer" reputation a year later when his Bulldogs compiled a 19­9 record, BSU's first winning season in 30 years.

The team's 10-6 record in the CIAA also marked the Bulldog's first winning record in the conference play in school history.

Over his 10-year Bowie State career, D'Alessio captured a CIAA Championship (2003) and advanced all the way to the NCAA Division II Final Four that same year. He garnered two CIAA Eastern Division titles (2004 and 2005), was a NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional Semifinalist (2004), and made it to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16 in 2005.

Personal accomplishments include CIAA Coach of the Year (2001­2002 and 2003-2004), Most Outstanding Coach (CIAA Tournament - 2003) and South Atlantic Region Coach of the Year (2003).

D'Alessio finished the 2008-2009 season with a 15-13 overall record, 10-8 in the CIAA and had a BSU career record of 199-96 (.674).

Fayetteville State, also of the CIAA, announced in the first week of March that head men's coach Sam Hanger's contract would not be renewed. Hanger had compiled a FSU record of 99-101 in seven years. Also within the past seven seasons, the Broncos have advanced to the CIAA Championship game twice (2005 & 2008) and had three .500+ seasons.

UAPB women headed in new direction

University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Athletics Director Louis Perkins Jr. has announced that the contract of head women's basketball coach Danny Evans will not be renewed. During his five year tenure at Arkansas-Pine Bluff Evans accumulated a 42-78 overall record.

"After completing a review of our women's basketball program we feel it is necessary to move in a new direction going into next season," said Perkins.

Perkins noted that UAPB assistant women's basketball coach Cary Shelton will be named Interim Head Coach. Shelton has been a member of the UAPB Athletics Department for the past four years serving as an assistant coach on both the men's and women's basketball teams.

UAPB will honor Evan's contract until its completion on July 1st. A national search to fill the head coaching vacancy will follow.

Three HBCU stars to play in Hall of Fame Classic

Three HBCU players of the year will take part in the (NCAA Div. II) Hall of Fame All-Star Classic on Friday, March 27, at 7 p.m. at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., the birthplace of basketball. The game is a day before Saturday's NCAA Div. II national championship game in Springfield.

CIAA Player of the Year Anthony Hilliard of Elizabeth City State, SIAC Player of the Year Kenny Boyd of Morehouse and WVIAC Player of the Year Ted Scott are all seniors who will play for the East squad coached by Linc Darner of Florida Southern. Both Scott and Hilliard are two-time players of the year in their conferences.

Scott, a 6-3 guard, led the Jackets to a 24-5 mark and the league regular season title by averaging 23.0 points per game. The 2007 East Region Player of the Year ranks second on the WVSU career scoring list with over 2300 points.

Hilliard, a 6-4 swingman, averaged a double-double of 22.9 points and 11.0 rebounds per game, both tops in the CIAA, while leading ECSU to its first back-to-back 20-win seasons in nearly 40 seasons. Hilliard grabbed over 1000 rebounds in his ECSU career. Boyd, a 6-7 senior, averaged 15.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game while shooting 54.1% from the field for Morehouse.

The players were selected by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). Fans may attend the All-Star game by purchasing admission to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday evening.

© 2009 Azeez Communications, Inc.

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