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Morgan State, North Carolina A&T top final BCSP rankings
Lut Williams
BCSP Editor
Todd Bozeman's entry into Morgan State three years ago represented something of a sea change for black college basketball. Never before had such a high profile coach joined the black college ranks.
Three years later he has done the unthinkable. Or rather, he's likely done what everyone expected him to do. He's led Morgan State from doormat status in the MEAC to being the best team in black college basketball.
One year after his Bears won the MEAC regular season title but fell in the league's tournament finals, they completed the difficult sweep. They won the regular season crown by three games and added the tournament title to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Div. I Tournament.
Their 23-12 overall mark included an impressive win on the road at Maryland, a team that would later knock off Final Four participant North Carolina and earn a 10th seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Bears also got a win over Depaul of the Big East, a team that took Final Four participant Villanova to the buzzer in late February.
The Bears were seeded 15th in the NCAA Tournament's South Region and lost to 2nd seed Oklahoma in the first round.
Bozeman has done it the old fashioned way. By using his recruiting roots, he's stocked his team with talented players, the first step for anyone looking to turn around a program that was 4-26 the year before he got there. But he's also molded them into a solid team that can play with anyone in the country.
After finishing second to Benedict a year ago, Morgan State's run earns it the top spot in the final 2008-09 Black College Sports Page ranking. While that's significant, Bozeman may just be getting started. If Morgan State can keep him around for another couple of years, we may see some even more impressive accomplishments.
Finishing behind the Bears this season is Claflin who finished with an outstanding 25-4 record and won the SIAC regular season title. Ron "Bootsy" Woodard's troops were the premier team in Div. II black college basketball, earning a top ten ranking in national polls for much of the season. Despite being upset in the SIAC tournament semifinals, the Panthers showed their mettle being the only one of six black college men's teams to get out of the first round of the Div. II playoffs.
Alabama State (22-10) won the SWAC regular season crown for the second straight year, but unlike last season, Lewis Jackson's troops were able to complete the sweep by holding off Jackson State for the league's tournament crown and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Div. I Tournament. Unfortunately, the Hornets had to play three nights after their tournament victory in the NCAA play-in game where they lost to Morehead State. The Hornets check in at No. 3.
Benedict was last year's final BCSP top team after winning both SIAC regular season and tournament titles and advancing to the South Region's final game, one game away from the Elite Eight. This year Fred Watson's troops played second fiddle to Claflin but still posted a sterling 24-6 record. Their season ended in the first round of the Div. II South Region playoffs. They earned the fourth spot in our final ranking.
Jackson State (18-15) is fifth, followed by CIAA regular season champ Virginia Union (21-7), WVIAC regular season winner West Virginia State (24-6) and CIAA Tournament titleist Johnson C. Smith (23-8). The latter three were all first round losers in the NCAA Div. II Atlantic Region first round.
Two MEAC teams round out the men's top ten, regular season runner-up South Carolina State (17-14) and tournament runner-up Norfolk State (13-18).
WOMEN
Three women's teams stood head and shoulders above the others this season, and one of them outshone the rest.
Led by seniors Brittanie Taylor-James and Amber Bland, Patricia Cage-Bibbs' Lady Aggies of North Carolina A&T won the MEAC title by a comfortable three-game margin before sweeping to the tournament title in a 22-point blowout win over Hampton.
The Lady Aggies (26-8) set a school record for wins for the second year in a row and earned the conference's highest placement ever, a 14th seed, in the NCAA Tournament. For all those accomplishments the Lady Aggies deserved the top perch in this year's ranking. Their first round 83-71 loss to ACC runner-up Florida State was another testament to their phenomenal season.
Prairie View A&M's margin over its nearest SWAC competitor was a whopping six games. Cynthia Cooper-Dyke's team then demolished second-seed Southern in the tournament final by 25 points before running into top-seed Oklahoma in a first round NCAA matchup. The Lady Panthers are second in our final ranking.
Lonnie Bartley led his Lady Wildcats at Fort Valley State to an unblemished 22-0 regular season conference mark and completed the sweep by taking the SIAC Tournament title. They could not carry that momentum into the NCAA Div. II tournament however, succumbing in the first round of the South Regional.
Clark Atlanta (23-5) pursued but could never catch Fort Valley State, finishing second in the regular season and losing to the Lady Wildcats in the SIAC Tournament finals. Three of the Lady Panthers' losses were to FVSU. CAU takes the fourth spot.
Johnson C. Smith (20-9), who emerged from a tightly bunched CIAA race to win the league's tournament, is fifth. SWAC runner-up and WNIT invitee Southern (16-13) is sixth. Coppin State (14-15), who came on late to tie Delaware State for second in the MEAC and earned a WNIT bid, is seventh. MEAC Tournament finalist Hampton (15-16) is eighth.
Fayetteville State (19-8), who finished second in the CIAA regular season race is ninth and UDC (24-5) is tenth.
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