Five local players captured the hearts of nearly every sports fan in America last spring, as George Mason University went from an obscure Fairfax, Va., school in the Colonial Athletic Association to a Final Four team with a starting lineup of Maryland natives.
The Patriots gave men?s basketball fans in Maryland something to be excited about again. While the Maryland women went on to capture the national title, no local men?s team advanced to the Big Dance for the second year in a row.
For much of the 1990s, Baltimore area fans could count on seeing at least one school reach the postseason, including 1997, when Coppin State upset South Carolina in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
However, local men?s teams have not fared so well since then. No team other than Maryland has made the tournament this decade. In fact, for the 2003-04 season, Towson, Navy, Loyola and Maryland-Baltimore County all brought in new coaches.
Now entering their third years, each of those coaches is optimistic as practice kicks off this week. Towson?s Pat Kennedy looks to show that George Mason isn?t the only school in the CAA. The Tigers will now have the services of sharpshooter Gary Neal for a whole season.
“I?m excited, not just about what to expect in the short term, but the long term at Towson, as well,” Kennedy said. “We have eight to nine legitimate Division I mid-major players on our team.”
At Loyola, interest in the basketball program is at an all-time high. Jimmy Patsos led the Greyhounds to their first winning record in 12 years last year. Still, Loyola must find a way to keep its momentum going without guard Andre Collins, who averaged 26.1 points per game in 2005-06. Providence transfer Gerald Brown will play a key role.
“Our fans helped us win a lot of games at home last year,” Patsos said. “But we?re going to have to do a better job on the road if we want to win in the [Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference].”
At Navy, Billy Lange is trying to help the Midshipmen win their first Patriot League tournament since 1998. This year, Navy has four starters back and will have six newcomers that could see significant action.
As for UMBC, coach Randy Monroe enters this season with three new assistants. Looking ahead, the Retrievers could be a bigger player in America East in 2007-08, when three transfers are eligible to play, including former Coppin State standout and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference rookie of the year Darryl Proctor.
One of the most interesting local story lines to follow will be how Morgan State fares under first-year coach Todd Bozeman, once a rising coaching star at California before NCAA infractions forced him out of the college game for eight years.
Whether you went to any of these schools or not, I?d highly recommend taking in a game or two. The tickets are inexpensive, and the basketball is high-quality. And who knows? If everything goes the right way, you could have an up-close-and-personal look at a Final Four team.
Just ask George Mason?s fans.
Ron Snyder is a staff writer for the Examiner. E-mail [email protected].
