Just hours after helping lead UMBC to its first America East title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament, junior forward Darryl Proctor was glued to the television, watching more college basketball.
Proctor?s allegiance is with UMBC (24-8) as it prepares to face Georgetown (27-5) on Friday in a first-round game at RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C., but he wanted to see if his former school ? Coppin State ? would also make the field of 65.
Proctor averaged 13.6 points and 7.4 rebounds in two seasons at Coppin State, which advanced to the NCAA Tournament forthe first time since 1997 by defeating Morgan State in the championship game of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament. Proctor transferred to UMBC two years ago to play with his childhood friend, UMBC guard Brian Hodges, whom he grew up with in Prince George?s County.
“You dream about something like this growing up,” Proctor said. “And to be able to do this with my good friend Brian means a lot.”
Proctor said he still has several friends who play for Coppin State, and was happy to see them experience a similar level of success as his Retrievers after starting the season 4-19.
But there won?t be a reunion for the former teammates. The Eagles (16-21) couldn?t maintain their momentum after winning the MEAC Tournament and fell, 69-60, to Mount St. Mary?s (19-14) in the NCAA Tournament?s opening-round game in Dayton,
Ohio, on Tuesday. Mount St. Mary?s plays top-seeded North Carolina (32-2) on Friday night after Proctor?s team plays the
Hoyas on the same floor at 2:55 on
CBS.
“Darryl is doing at UMBC what he did for us at Coppin,” Eagles senior forward Antwan Harrison said. “He moved to UMBC looking for what I guess is a better opportunity for him and now he gets to play Georgetown in the NCAA Tournament. It would have been nice if we could have been there with him too, but unfortunately things didn?t work out for us.”
And Proctor was pulling for his friends.
“I had to watch that game,” said Proctor, referring to the Eagles? game against Morgan State. “It was great for Coppin because I get the opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament and now, so [did] they. It was especially nice to see Antwan, who was one of my roommates, get this opportunity in his last season.”
Coppin State coach Ron “Fang” Mitchell respects his former player. Proctor, the MEAC Rookie of the Year in 2005, was the team?s captain before transferring.
“You can see why we made him captain,” Mitchell said. “That?s the leadership ability he had. He was a tough-nosed player who played to win every game. A lot of people doubted him because people didn?t believe he could shoot but when he got to Coppin he became a better shooter.”
Proctor, who averages 15.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, represents one of the final pieces of the puzzle needed by UMBC to make its first run to the NCAA Tournament. He joined the Retrievers the same time as fellow transfers guard Ray Barbosa and forward Cavell Johnson, who both came from James Madison.
Barbosa said seeing UMBC?s name appear on the tournament bracket on Selection Sunday validated his decision to transfer to UMBC because he grew tired of losing at James Madison. The Dukes averaged just six wins a year during his three seasons in Harrisonburg from 2003-06.
“Cavell and I chose UMBC because we felt it would be a good fit for us to play in the America East conference,” Barbosa said. “With us and Darryl Proctor in the mix, along with the guys who were already here, I knew we could be a really good team.”
