| | Black college teams head westLUT WILLIAMS The year 2001 is a year for first-timers in black college basketball.
Only Alcorn State women's coach Shirley Walker has any experience on this level. Walker is a 23-year coaching veteran but took her first team to last year's NCAA tournament where they lost a first round contest 95-53 to Louisiana Tech, the top seed in the Midwest Region. The SWAC champion Lady Braves (21-10) are seeded last (16th) in the Midwest Region this year and travel to South Bend, Indiana for a first round contest against top-seed Notre Dame (28-2) Saturday on their home court. Joining Walker in the women's Midwest Region, though in a different location, will be Howard's first-year coach Cathy Parsons and her MEAC champion Lady Bisons (21-9). They will take on second-seed Iowa State (25-5) on their home court Friday in Ames, Iowa. Parsons got her first head coaching assignment when she took over from Sanya Tyler before the season. The Lady Bisons are seeded 15th.
For the men, Ron Spivery of SWAC champ Alabama State and Steve Merfeld of MEAC champ Hampton get their first shots in the Big Dance. Their dates are just as tough as the ladies. ASU (22-8), a 16th seed, gets to take on defending NCAA champ and South Region top seed Michigan State (24-4) Friday (7:40 pm) in Memphis. Hampton (24-6) travels to Boise, Idaho to meet the West Region's second-seed Iowa State (25-5) Thursday (9:50 pm). The Pirates are the region's 15th seed. Spivery won his and ASU's first SWAC championship in his fifth year leading the Hornets. Merfeld broke through to win Hampton's first MEAC title in only their third year in the conference tournament and his fourth year at the helm. CIAA champion Johnson C. Smith and 14-year head coach Steven Joyner won their first South Atlantic Region title Saturday night and will make the farthest trip west. His team earned a berth in the NCAA Div. II Elite Eight which begins March 21 in Bakersfield, California. The Golden Bulls (27-4), who downed CIAA rival Winston-Salem State to claim the region title, will take on Washburn (Ks.) University (27-4), champions of the South Central Region, at 9 p. m. in the national quarterfinals. 2001 Azeez Communications, Inc.
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Four of the five coaches who will take their teams into NCAA tournament play over the next week will be doing so for the first time. They'll each also have to travel west to do it and face some stiff competition.