The Promise

This Aggie basketball season is over and it put me in the mind of a song by jazz great John Coltrane: “The Promise”.

In that piece ‘Trane and his band mates play the "head" (or theme), and then ‘Trane lays back and lets the piano player (McCoy Tyner) take over for the first five plus minutes of the song. Eventually, he comes back in with power, heart and soul. He is playing the soprano sax now instead of his normal tenor sax.

The Aggie men started off the season with a big win at Norfolk State and the Aggie faithful were excited. But it seemed as the season wore on their shooting percentage suffered and the other teams were able to exploit A&T’s pressure defense and score.

The league appeared to like playing at a faster pace against A&T. Quicker shots, open looks, contested looks - it was all there for anyone who wanted some.

And at times it was an “outside in” approach instead of an “inside out” approach. High percentage shots rule down the stretch. It’s funny, but this Aggie team had talent and concerned every league foe that they faced.

They just could not complete or close out many of the games.

The good news is that they did show flashes of playing a complete game and some of the freshmen started or played all year. The bad news is that this should have been the year to make a deep run for a title. The balance was there … on paper. “The Promise”.

The Aggie women, like ‘Trane, laid back and exploded on teams in the post season.

Laid back is unfair because they got after it every night during league play. The faithful got spoiled after the women knocked down each challenge. Besides, they had Auburn in Corbett and played them tough. I don’t know if or when Tweet Cook and Lamona Smalley will make the Hall of Fame, but I do know that they gave us their all.

Now back to the spoiled vibe and explosion.

Everyone felt that the Lady Aggies would win the MEAC tournament title. They lost. The Aggie nation was hurt. Everybody wanted one more chance.

It showed everyone that they could be gotten!

Everybody else it seemed, was having fun while his or her teams still played in the tourney. Blue Death Valley regrouped, the Aggie Nation regrouped. The team regrouped, and went on a run that reminded me of that solo by ‘Trane in “The Promise”.

They all came back against Wake Forest and UNC- Charlotte, with power, heart, soul, and focus.

The Aggie Nation took over the gym. They did not come to watch, they came to push the team. I saw fans that normally just checked out the action, open up and get loud. And it became infectious.

The players that hit their first shots and the show was rolling. And just as the ‘Trane solo finally stops, the Lady Aggies could not beat the eventual WNIT finalist Miami. “The Promise.”

So, where are we?

We have an Aggie nation that has turned heads in North Carolina. This is old news to us, but it allows others to market to us or schedule to us and hence, we can wedge our influence.

We have to promise that we will turn it on again, and support it from the hip.

The A&T administration has to support the teams with needed staff and equipment. It must keep the promise with the fans. The work of Ten Web TV and the broadcasting of the men’s and women’s games has been great. Cast down your buckets again and make Corbett an truly unique experience. The Maniacs need to come back. Keep creating. The graduation of the players is a given and is going at a good clip.

The coaches and players must continue to get better. The league has a lot of young talent and is growing. The women are being gained upon and the men have to gain on Morgan. We have good recruiting classes coming in.

So here we are. What a great year to be an Aggie. And with “the promise” of next year looming, I can rest my pen for now.

Belief and Suitcases

In my freshman English class at A&T, I read “The Autobiography of Malcolm X.” In it, Malcolm said that his wife Betty kept a packed suitcase for him because he was on the road so much.

Well, the A&T women’s basketball team is wearing me out trying to follow them!

They are still winning in their postseason play and the faithful will either need a lot of vacation days, frequent flyer miles or just “have it like that” in order to keep up with them. Miami is next!

But wait, I’ve got to back up.

I want to ask you like George Clinton (Parliament/Funkadelic) used to ask the crowd after he realized that he was getting ahead of himself. So he backed up to the beginning and said, “Do you believe in the Mothership, first off?!”

The crowd, caught off guard, mumbled back “Yeah!”

George, louder this time, said “do you believe in the Mothership?!!!” And the crowd yelled “Yeah!”

And then George went to work knowing that the foundation was there.

This Lady Aggie team reminded me of the A&T/NCCU football game the past year when, during the end of regulation, NCCU was on the A&T 10 yard line and was set to kick a field goal to win the game.

The Aggie Nation started to yell “Defense”… boom, boom …”Defense”, and it swelled and built up around Aggie Stadium. And then, in miraculous fashion, Jarrell Herring broke through the line and blocked it!!! The Aggies would eventually go on to win that game in overtime.

Now in Charlotte last Sunday, the 49ers mounted a comeback on the Aggies and it was crunch time. Our legs were tired, and the ball was getting heavy.

Coach Bibbs said something during the time out, and the Aggies took their time and were facing the greatest defensive pressure that UNC-C could muster.

Meanwhile, their home crowd was chanting, the shot clock was running down, it was in their house. The Aggies worked their reads and Freshman Amber Calvin hit a big shot.

BAM! I think that she bounced up and down like a boxer who just entered the ring on new legs!!

I looked around and the Aggies were bouncing. The pep band, the bench! Wow!

At that very moment, it said that WE BELIEVE!

We believe in the young players. We believe in the team. We believe in the coach and staff. We believe in the school, and we believe in ourselves!

God is a given, in the mixture. This team is still playing. It does not want to go home. It climbs the rough side of the mountain by having to go on the road to win. The Aggies are leading again.

Now, back to the suitcase. I can’t make the Thursday Miami trip with a turnaround to Providence or Maryland for Sunday. I can still believe though. I want those who have a chance to grab an ear of a player or Coach, to say “we are with you”, and put a shoebox layered with wax paper and laden with chicken, in their hands.

Then look in their eyes and say ‘do your best’!

What a journey…Aggie Pride!

The Lady Aggies and History

I have to pick up my pen to write about this team. I am running on fumes after a wild night of not being able to sleep thinking about this team making history.

They won 73-49, beating Wake Forest in the first round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT). It was the first postseason win in a national tournament for the program, I've been told. The larger schools have their pick of the best players, and can offer those players TV, radio, web support, etc. But its funny how it pans out.

A&T offers a great education and tradition. Now if you are a star do you want to go to a big school and sit the bench, along with a possibility of your replacement being recruited the next year? Some are changing the model. They want to play now! A&T is making a name for itself; it is getting players.

Now, about last night. The game was in a small gym on the campus of Wake Forest. The Wake men were playing on TV later that night in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Hence, most of the interest and attendance would have been in the dorm rooms and bars around the Triad. The majority of the Wake Forest pep band may have been on the road with the men. In any case, they only had a few members in Reynolds Gymnasium that night.

Their crowd was 1/3 of the gym. A&T packed the house. The game was sold out. The Pep band was at full strength and it blew the roof off of the gym. The Wake Forest crowd looked at one another once A&T finished its first song, with that "what's this?" type of expression. The Aggie crowd was loud and cheered the players who made plays and went to the bench for a rest.

It was electric!

It was like yesterday meeting today. A throwback gym, the secret game between Duke & NCCU (NCC at the time, during segregation), the Woolworth store vs. the four A&T freshmen, the status quo vs. the promise of the new thing.

It was not as Smokey Robinson says in the song 'quiet storm': "butterfly caught up in a hurricane", it was the flower coming up through concrete.

The A&T women's basketball team showed the faithful that we must continue to believe. We must continue to provide for those coming after us.

History springs forth!

TV Timeout

The Aggie men return to the road, looking for some wins on Saturday. But Coppin State (2-11 in the MEAC) is never an easy team to beat.

The Eagles may not have the ballers from yesteryear, but they seem to hang around in most games. The Aggies better not take them lightly. A&T should jump right on them in the first half and make it a stress free night. In the last meeting between these two teams - a 67-62 A&T victory in Greensboro - the Aggies found themselves trailing at the half 24-32. However, I expect A&T to win this one again.

Morgan State (12-1 in the MEAC) will be waiting on Monday. ESPNU (9 PM) wants to see this. As a matter of fact, I do too! I want A&T to stop Kevin Thompson. He is not Moses Malone, but when he came to Greensboro he acted like it by getting 20 rebounds. Morgan beat us 74-65, and they walked out of the Corbett Center with 51 rebounds! To be fair, we had 33.

That was then, this is now.

I believe that we can beat Morgan if we go inside. Besides, it will be the last week of the regular season and the Aggies need to make a statement to the A&T faithful. The loss to Winston Salem had many fans wondering what’s next.

The Lady Aggies are 12-1 in the conference. They will face Coppin State (4-9 in the MEAC) on Saturday at 2pm. This should not be a tough task for the Aggies. A&T has displayed that consistency of a champion, and seems to be able to turn on the power when needed.

Now Morgan State (9-4 in the MEAC) will provide a bigger test for the Lady Aggies. A&T beat them 67-56 in snow-laden Greensboro, but now it should be a closer game.

The Lady Aggies have been looking good. I expect to see them on TV during the MEAC Championship.

Payback, Aggie style

The Lady Aggies have the gym by themselves today. Normally they are a part of a doubleheader with the men. I remember the Auburn game in the Corbett Center where the Aggies lost 76-63. That next game against Norfolk State the Aggies strapped a 81-51 spanking on the Spartans.

Well now the Aggies are coming off a 90-80 road loss to Hampton, and South Carolina State is in town at 4pm. They are 3-9 in the conference, and seem like an easy foe, but SCSU lost to A&T 67-60 on January 23.

Everyone is stingy with the Aggies. But now the script has flipped. The Aggies are looking to payback whoever walks into the gym.

To be honest, the team has played well. The bench, the starters, the desire and the fun of the season have been there.

I remember thinking to myself during the Winston Salem State game during a span that Winston was hustling and guarding everyone, that the Rams were all on our freshmen and running around playing defense, and then here is ‘Tweet’ Cook with a three point shot. Bam! They did it again, and here is Tweet again, Bam! It was like they had forgotten about her and it seemed like Tweet knew when to turn it on during the crunch. To make it so bad, Tweet made it look so easy with a Michael Jordan shrug after knocking them down.

We have a lot of weapons. The Aggie Fans should give the props to the seniors. The season is winding down.

The Aggie Men have their sights set on playing Winston Salem State Monday night at the Greensboro Coliseum. They have been up and down all year. One thing for sure, if you are in second place the Aggies will beat you. They beat Delaware St, 65-54, and South Carolina State, 87-69, this past Wednesday. They will rest Saturday and let the conference feed off of each other.

On the other hand, the WSSU trap has probably kept the team from resting. I forgot the numbers, but in the first matchup between these teams this season A&T could not get the ball up court time after time, and WSSU gained momentum. The Aggies finally solved it but lost 59-57.

Payback. This will be the biggest Aggie game in Greensboro this year. Also, it will be interesting to see how the standings are on Monday night once the dust has settled. This could not have come at a better time as the team has won two in a row. They beat Hampton, 69-65, on the road Monday night, before the SCSU win on Wednesday.

What will we see? I believe that we will see James Porter and Thomas Coleman waking up for the last run of the season. This has been the best we have looked in a long time. This is the best time for the payback.

Big Bad Morgan

The Morgan State men’s team is 6-0 in the conference and they are on their way to Corbett on Monday. Provided, that is, if they can make it through the pending winter storm. Meanwhile, the Aggie men are wounded from a two point loss to Winston Salem State, and they need to have a good weekend of wins in order to heal.

But first things first. Morgan has to get through Norfolk, and A&T has to get through Coppin State on Saturday.

If there are games played this weekend ( storm), then we have the edge. Not only because of the home crowd, but because no one can rest on a bus going through snow! Well, I guess you could if you are dog tired.

Now, the Corbett crowd will possibly be weak, with just students and staff in attendance, if that! But to be honest, Corbett was already missing the ‘Aggie Maniacs’ and therefore failed to rattle Howard and Hampton last week. They behaved just like casual fans. They once were dreaded by teams as they mentally got into the heads of the players with their antics. The leadership of the group is trying to regroup before it’s too late, so the burden is where is has always been: on the team. They need two wins this weekend. Coppin is 0-6 in the conference and wants to face an Aggie team that struggles. Morgan comes in on Monday with hopefully, red eyes and tired legs.

Have you ever taken the trip to Norfolk from N.C. via the I-85 connection?

Well you can drive at a fast clip on 85, then you take HWY 58 east towards the coast and you can face a speed limit as slow as 25, if I remember correctly, in parts of Virginia. 25 miles per hour! And then factor in the snow and ice!

Man I could not take it. I took I-95 back and went through Rocky Mount to Raleigh/Durham. It was like taking the first non-stop bus out to my nearest city, rather than that stop and go, little town route.

So, Morgan, if they come, may just be getting in right before game time, and if the Aggies can jump on them, then we will all be happy. Besides, they are from the north which means they should know how to drive in the snow.

Lets not forget that Morgan has that big man Kevin Thompson who averages 12.8 points and 12.0 rebounds per game. Between him and Thomas Coleman, someone may break a rim in Corbett! And I may not be there to see it! Is this is the MEAC Finals Preview? Shaking my head, and rubbing my eyes… am I seeing things?

Now the Aggie women are 6-0 in the conference, and the Morgan State women are 5-1. Morgan’s only loss was at Hampton, 74-37. It seems like the Lady Aggies are tested every week. It is always ‘this team is hot and that team is hot’ type of talk. But the Aggies never panic. They just do the little things to win. They have a nice blend of youth and experience. They can all ball. They can all make plays.

Ta’Wuana “Tweet” Cook is just fun to watch. Lamona Smalley just does the little things well and she also has a nice handle in the paint. You had better watch them now, because they are seniors. Jaleesa Sams can explode for a big night at any time. Coppin is 3-3 in the conference and beat Hampton 58-52 in Virginia. So who knows what they will have on Saturday

Well, we will see if any ball is played this weekend due to the pending storm.

The Aggie Men will face ‘Big Bad Morgan’ and we will see if any rims need to be replaced.

Down and looking up

The Aggie men are 1-4 in the conference. They are tied with FAMU, and ahead of Coppin State (0-4). Their work is cut out for them. South Carolina State (2-2) just beat down Coppin, 87-65, and lost to Morgan, 72-67.

The Aggies did not impress anyone by losing two games at home. Now, in an effort to make you feel better, I will say that they have been in every league game this season. And how in the world are both Howard and BCU currently 4-1 in the conference?

A&T is not a bad team. Didn’t they have BCU on the ropes with a last second shot? I think that they play so fast and they press so much, that it causes the opponent to get open looks, and quite often, at that. They will just make any opponent look good, even a D-II team. I ask where is the team that I saw against NSU? They came back during that game, and got over the hump for a win.

Well, the Aggies will travel down to the low country this weekend seeking a much-needed victory, and they will be looking to move up in the standings. Then, guess who’s waiting on Monday night? WSSU! I don’t know what will happen. I know that Winston wants to lace a big “L” on us! We have had their number in football and basketball the last few times, so the I-40 trip has been good to A&T.

I can’t wait to get over there and talk to some of the guys about their move back to D-II.

The Lady Aggies, however, are digging in. They are 5-0 in the MEAC and it seems like the line-up chemistry struggles are over. The team is back healthy for the most part, and Jaleesa Sams was just named MEAC Player of the Week. Lamona Smalley got a mention also. The Aggie fans were getting spoiled for a while until the ladies had a few close games this past week. Now the grind of the season is here. Everybody on the bench has been playing a part. This seems like an easy weekend with SCSU being 0-4 and WSSU at 0-5, but don’t forget that SCSU took NCCU to overtime before losing. Whereas, A&T just snuck by NCCU in Durham.

This contest should be interesting.

Now, as for the WSSU game, I would say get off work early for the 5:30 start. Otherwise, I think the second team may be dealing by the time you get there in the 2nd half.

The Aggie Women are looking good. The Men are down and are looking up. Let’s get it started.

Corbett, sweet Corbett

Well folks, the Aggie men and women basketball teams will both come home this weekend.

The men have found out that the road can be tough. They are 1-11 away from Greensboro and their last game was against Bethune-Cookman University. BCU had to shut the doors 15 minutes before the men’s tip-off due to the contest being a sell out. Everyone has it in for the Aggies these days. There will not be any easy nights from here on out, considering that each league team will bring its best effort against A&T and since our ‘top heavy’ three point shooting offense has us struggling at .316%.

But to be fair, our scoring offense (71.1 ppg) is second only to Morgan State’s (77.2 ppg. And those numbers didn’t just come against cup-cakes. We scored 78 at Tennessee and 82 at Ohio University (not Ohio State).

The one road win this season was at Norfolk State with a 93-84 overtime victory. It was a conference game on top of that. The men, however, are 4-0 at home. They beat a decent Middle Tennessee State team, 65-56, in the Corbett Sports Center in November. Overall, the Aggie men are 5-11 overall and 1-2 in the conference.

The Lady Aggies are doing better but they would like a little home cooking as well. The women are 8-7 overall) and 3-0 in the conference.

They have played only one game in Corbett this season and it was against Auburn! They lost 63-76. It really ended up being a moral victory, showing the Aggie fans how close we were to the ‘next level’. The Lady Aggies would bounce back with two wins against Norfolk St. 81-51, and Louisiana Lafayette 95-78, on the road. Things were looking good and everyone was riding high … until LSU hit them with a 75-33 punch in the gut. But it seems as though that was the ‘low water level’ for the season. They started to refill the reservoir with a close loss against Iowa St., 62-66, and a victory in Durham against NCCU, 78-74, and a close loss against Liberty, 51-57. They were playing better. The bench was playing better along with the newcomers. The showdown against FAMU was close, but the little things like free throws helped to put it away. The Aggies found a way to win. The road was tough. The average attendances from the last 10 games were 2,395. The Aggies had 1,527 at its lone home game.

Well, the Aggies are home now. Corbett will be kind. The weather will be warmer.

Here is what’s on the table:

Howard

Howard comes in on Saturday, and Hampton on Monday. The Howard men are 2-1 in the conference with wins over Hampton (56-54) and Coppin State (59-53). They lost to Morgan 90-58. Howard is in third place. The Howard women did the same thing. They beat Hampton (48-47), Coppin (59-45), and lost to Morgan (57-48). The Lady Bison are tied for third place along with Morgan and FAMU.

Hampton

The Hampton men are tied with A&T, FAMU and Norfolk for 5th place at 1-2 in the conference. They will tangle with a tough Norfolk on Saturday before the trip down I-85 to Greensboro. The Hampton women are tied for fifth with BCU and Coppin State at 1-2 in the MEAC. They beat Morgan (74-37), lost to Coppin (58-52) and Howard (48-47). They are an up and coming team. They lost to Georgia Tech (63-54) and beat William & Mary (71-66) earlier.

The Dawg Pound, Aggie Maniacs and the Live Wires will be in demand this weekend. The energy should help the tired legs. The family is back together.

It’s funny how good it is sometimes to get away from home, and it’s just as good to come back home!