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"The Wiz" making some more magic at Alcorn State
LUT WILLIAMS Now, he says, with pressure building from alumni across the country for him to stay, he's not so sure. Whitney talked of his possible retirement and about his current team Tuesday
from his office on campus just one day after the Braves escaped with an overtime
win at Grambling to remain unbeaten (11-0) in Southwestern Athletic Conference
play and atop the league's standings. The Braves are 12-7 overall. In 1996 Whitney returned to the Lorman, Mississippi school after seven years away from college basketball. Before leaving, he had spent 20 years (1969-89) leading the Braves to unprecedented heights and demonstrating that black colleges could compete with so-called "major" Div. I institutions on the hardwood. His 395-199 record over that span included nine SWAC coach of the year awards. ÒI made stipulations then, I had a timetable for us to be competitive,Ó he said. ÒItÕs touch-and-go, now. IÕm looking at quitting but IÕm being pressured not to quit. Last year at the beginning of the season, I said I would make a decision after the season. I decided to stay one more year. But, we should be good again next year.Ó Fielding good teams that can compete nationally is nothing new to the man known as ÒThe Wiz.Ó Back in 1980, he coached the first black college team to win in the NCAA Div. I tournament when his upstart Braves defeated South Alabama 70-62. That team fell in the second round to Louisiana State, 98-88, to finish at 28-2. His 1982 team lost in the opening round (94-84 to eventual Final Four participant, the University of Houston) but he came back to get other NCAA tournament wins in 1983 (over Xavier of Ohio) and 1984 (over Houston Baptist). The 1983 team lost to Georgetown (68-63) while the '84 team was felled by Kansas in a 57-56 heartbreaker. His 1979 team was the first black college team to compete in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) getting an historic win over Mississippi State on MSU's homcourt in Starksville, Ms., before falling to eventual champion Indiana 73-69 in the second round. Since returning to the helm of the Braves' program, Whitney has posted a 92-71 record and added another SWAC regular season and tournament title in the 1998-99 season. The Braves lost in the 1999 West Regional to #2-seed Stanford, 69-57. Upon his return, he said his job was "finding someone to replace me as soon as possible." Alcorn President, Dr. Clinton Bristow, echoed those sentiments, saying that Whitney was to "groom and mentor an assistant to come in and prepare himself for a head coaching position." Seven years later, Whitney, a 1953 graduate of Kentucky State and one of that school's most famous athletes, is still grooming and mentoring. That may be because replacing a guy called "The Wiz" for his coaching genius, which includes 11 conference titles and 12 postseason appearances, is no simple task. And "the Wiz" is up to some of his old magic with this year's Braves' squad. Only five teams in SWAC history have gone through the regular season with an undefeated conference record Ð four at Alcorn State and one at Grambling. Whitney has coached three of those Braves' teams and this year has a chance to add a fourth. After struggling with chemistry early in the season, the Braves have found their stride led by six-eight senior forwards Marcus Fleming (14.3 ppg., 7.4 rpg.) and Walter Harper (10.9 ppg.), and junior guard Jason Cable (11.9 ppg.). "We've had different people to step up but they are the bellweathers of our team," said Whitney of his three standouts. "We have six or seven others averaging between six and eight points per game that play support roles. It's really been a team effort." The early season included close losses at Hawaii (62-48), New Mexico State (82-72) and Southern Mississippi (66-60). Recent close losses to Morris Brown (68-64) and Texas-El Paso (80-76) came during a grueling eight-day stretch in which the Braves played five games. Close wins recently over Jackson State (81-78) and Grambling have been good tests. "These guys just refuse to lose," said Whitney, noting that a come-from-behind win over Texas Southern in December "made our ballclub." "Our real strength has been our poise in close games. We've been behind late against a lot of teams but somehow have been able to pull those games out. "While it's good to be undefeated now, it's more impotrant to win the conference tournament. It's then we need to be at our best. We can not have a letdown." Winning the conference tournament and getting back to the NCAA tourney for a final time will not dictate his decision on retirement, however. "That's not the issue at all," coach said. "I'd like to go out that way, but my concern is winning whenever we have a game to play." That's exactly what's kept him around this long and why the Brave faithful never want to see him go.
© 2002 Azeez Communications, Inc.
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