No Substitute for Hard Work - UMES Men's Basketball

GAME DAY: UMES @ Hampton - Starters (ESPNU)

2011-01-31T18:36:00.000-05:00

UMES - Maroon uniform
00 - Obame Obame
3 - White
23 - Bradshaw
24 - Haley
32 - Hines

Hampton - White uniform
1 - Pellum
4 - Agbelese
5 - Tunnell
20 - Funches
32 - Morgan

I'm here... really, I am.

2011-01-31T17:35:00.000-05:00

Wow, there is no way that it's been over two weeks since I last blogged - I feel horrible. I've been crazy busy and of course when we're at home, I rarely get a chance to blog. This past Saturday we were at Howard, but they didn't have wireless in the gym at all, so it was hard enough to load stats let alone blog! I swear I'm going to try to update this more often. Tyler talked to me the other day and he said he has a bunch of topics that he's going to write about, so I promise... we'll keep ya updated!

Tonight we're playing at Hampton... on ESPNU, make sure to check it out!!

Take A Kid to the Game 2011

2011-01-12T14:47:00.003-05:00

Don't forget that this Saturday is the annual Take A Kid to the Game day! There'll be a bouncy house, facepainting, caricatures, temporary tattoos, hot dogs/drinks, a poster making station, team autographs and MORE! Each child in attendance will also receive a free UMES prize. Kids 12 and younger are FREE with a paid adult admission.

Click on the photo for more information.

(Oh, and all of this is FREE!)

Nike NCAA Campus Roar

2011-01-11T17:46:00.007-05:00

Help us win the Nike NCAA Campus Roar! Submit a favorite UMES "roar" and see it made into a Nike t-shirt!

GAME DAY: UMES @ NCCU - Starters

2011-01-10T16:19:00.000-05:00

UMES - Maroon uniforms
3 White
5 Bell
23 Bradshaw
24 Haley
32 Hines

NCCU - Gray uniforms
3 Clement
5 Leemow
12 Wilkerson
35 Chasten
42 Manns

TONIGHT'S GAME TIME CHANGED

2011-01-10T10:34:00.000-05:00

Tonight's game at NCCU, originally scheduled for 7:30 p.m., has been moved up to 4 p.m. due to an impending winter storm. For more information, please visit www.umeshawks.com or www.nccueaglepride.com.

North Carolina Central

2011-01-09T14:52:00.019-05:00

The concourse of the McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium had millions of black and white photos of former players in addition to the Alex Rivera Hall of Fame with trophies and more photos and different athletic gear.

I just noticed that I've been really bad with photos this trip, hopefully we can change that!

South Carolina State Photos

2011-01-08T16:45:00.008-05:00

Just three photos from earlier...

Outside of the arena

Athletic trainer Randi Kaplan tapes Tyler Hines before the game

The guys stretch and warmup in the hallway

UMES @ South Carolina State - Starters

2011-01-08T16:15:00.002-05:00

UMES - Maroon uniform
3 White
5 Bell
23 Bradshaw
24 Haley
32 Hines

South Carolina State - White uniform
1 Toombs
4 Porter
5 Sanders
12 Pitt
22 Bennett

Tip in about six minutes.

Travel/South Carolina State

2011-01-07T16:35:00.025-05:00

It's been another long travel day for UMES basketball as we left the Hytche at approximately midnight. After driving over eight hours, we landed at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. As a Midwest girl, I think I've only been to one maybe once or twice in my life, but I do know people who would have been super excited. Once we sat at the table, Bret immediately reached for the Peg game. The entire staff tried "winning." I was able to get it down to two pegs, Bret always got three and I'm not sure about the coaches. It was just funny looking at their table and seeing all three of them just immersed in trying to figure it out. The best part? The little girl (probably about 4) at the table next to us definitely got it. (Maybe she had help from her dad?)

After breakfast, we had a ton of hotel issues that had to be worked out. Long story short, our whole travel party spent at least three hours in either the bus or one of the hotel meeting rooms. I was so ready for just a bed and pillow! Later in the afternoon we headed to practice at the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center (Bret was extremely thankful that they call it the SHM!).

Coach Brown, who both played and coached at South Carolina State, told us the origins of the name... I was shocked. Read more about it here.

Championship banners and an NCAA bid banner - both teams that Coach Brown was with

Athletic Trainer Randi Kaplan works to get Josh Bright back to health.

More Oklahoma photos

2011-01-04T14:48:00.019-05:00

Just a few more last photos from our Oklahoma trip!

The Lloyd Noble Center as we were pulling up for the game

Ryan Minor - manager of the Delmarva Shorebirds

Coach Nick Robinson goes over the scouting report before the game

Dishawn Bradshaw, JoJo Swift, Freddy Obame Obame, RJ Tucker, Tim Burns, Hillary Haley

Coach Allen talks before the guys head out to the court

Boomer (or Sooner?) Oklahoma had two identical mascots... Boomer and Sooner. If you want to know the reason behind this, shoot me an email, it's quite interesting.

National Anthem

Captain's meeting

Found this shirt at the airport. Usually I feel like airports have all the same stuff (you know those yellow and green cowtipping shirts that can be found in Milwaukee, Oklahoma, Iowa, Nebraska, everywhere!) but this shirt was quite unique and fun to read.

GAME DAY: UMES @ Oklahoma - Starters

2011-01-03T19:44:00.000-05:00

UMES -Maroon uniform
3 White
11 Burns
23 Bradshaw
24 Haley
32 Hines

Oklahoma - White uniform
2 Pledger
4 Fitzgerald
14 Blair
21 Clark
34 Davis

Behind the Scenes!

2011-01-03T15:31:00.032-05:00

As it seems everywhere we go, we are somehow linked to every single team we play. Here the commonality comes in the fact that Coach Brown use to play for OU assistant coach Ben Betts at South Carolina State. I've mentioned before to JB that I love the behind the scenes stuff at athletic facilities and seeing how different teams do things. Long story short, he arranged for Coach Betts to give me a tour of the men's basketball portion of the Lloyd Noble Center. Both the men's and women's basketball team are housed at the Noble Center and everything is just a mirror of the other side so everything is equal.

Many thanks and huge appreciation goes to Coach Betts for taking time out of his busy game day to do this for me!

Men's practice gym

Sooners locker room, custom lockers form a U and can close to hide belongings.

A TV screen in the lockerroom provides daily information for the team. Since it was game day, things such as shootaround, pre-game meal, tip time, etc. were shown. It also had reminders on the bottom about upcoming travel games and community service. This is a great feature that coaches can update on their computers.

The other side of the lockerroom is a lounge for the players that included a refridgerator, sink, microwave, TV, computers, couches, games, etc. It's definitely nicer than my apartment... when can I move in?

There was a wall outside of the lockerroom with jerseys of former OU players who have made it to the NBA.

Video room

Coaches' lounge... their lockerroom/lounge was similar to the player's but on a smaller scale. My personal favorite was all the family photos hanging on the walls (I guess that's my female side coming out?)

Coach Betts also took me into their offices, but I didn't feel right taking pictures of their staff at work. :-) The lobby of their office was definitely nice and warm feeling however!

Thanks again Coach Betts!

Lloyd Noble Center - Photos

2011-01-03T13:05:00.032-05:00

As the guys are in shootaround this morning, I decided to wander around a bit and take some photos. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do/did!

Part of the OU weight room

More of the weight room

When we arrived, the lower part of the scoreboard was down to the court as they were testing something. I joked that myself and trainer Randi Kaplan would be the only ones who would be able to play on this court since we could fit under it!

How's this for nice plush courtside seating?

There really didn't seem to be a bad seat in the house. In person, you are a lot closer than this photo makes it seem (and this was the very last row, in the corner).

The OU women's basketball team has been very successful in the past few years. They had photos and trophies displayed in the concourse - photos from this area follow.

Courtney Paris was a tremendous player for the Sooners. Paris was drafted seventh overall in the 2009 WNBA Draft.

The lobby of the Noble Center had a fun facts/history/game area.

The "dots" are actually foot prints so you can see how you measure up to various Sooner athletes!

Men's team photos and information in the concourse

Practice

2011-01-02T22:08:00.000-05:00

Some photos from tonight's practice at OU's Lloyd Noble Center:

Kevin White and Mark Robertson go through some defensive slides at the beginning of practice.

Some of OU's tournament banners (conference, national, etc.)

Stacey King and Mookie Blaylock's retired numbers

Hillary Haley has been on a kick of wanting me to take photos of him, so here's one of him doing "post moves" - ummm, Pop, isn't that just you dunking so I get a pic of you showing off? :-)

Rough travel day

2011-01-02T15:40:00.011-05:00

In case you were ever wondering, this is what it looks like outside of the Hytche at 2:30 a.m. You know, if there's just some odd reason you ever wanted to know.

Yeah, that's right, the itinerary said to arrive at the Hytche at 2:30 a.m. for a 3 a.m. departure to the airport this morning. As everyone arrived, you could almost tell who had decided to just stay up all night and who went to sleep for a few hours. Half were saying "good morning" and others were like, okay, it's time for me to go to bed. Either way, everyone was half asleep. I usually would have gone to bed but I figured if I went to bed at 10 p.m. I would either A: have a hard time sleeping or B: fall immediately asleep and have an impossible time waking up at 1:45.

Once we arrived at BWI, I was simply amazed at how many people were at the airport. We lucked out and got there just in time because after I checked in, the check-in line was literally out of the door. There had to be at least 200 in line. There was more in line than there was for security - I've never seen that before.

And what better way to continue a travel day than to have plane issues? We boarded our flight to Kansas City (which then was to connect to Oklahoma) and then found out that one piece of their communication equipment wasn't working (who needs that? ;-) ) so a technician had to come on board and first address what the issue was. Once he figured it out (apparently we needed a new piece?) then he had to replace it. Essentially, we were on the plane for over an hour and a half before the plane actually moved.

Hillary Haley was conked out before our plane trouble was even figured out!

And to make things better, since we were delayed at BWI, we caused our flight from Kansas City to Oklahoma City to be delayed. (Didn't we have this same issue last year?!) And even more, this is the flight that I had an "A" boarding pass for! So much for that, I was definitely center seat :-/

Statue/garden area outside of Oklahoma City's Will Rogers Airport

Apparently the OU football team, fresh off of a Fiesta Bowl title, arrived at the airport shortly after we did. The only difference? They arrived via charter plane and never even stepped foot in the airport.

Injuries

2010-12-31T13:57:00.000-05:00

After this last road trip, I feel the need to talk about some of our injuries. Unfortunately, senior Josh Bright sprained his right ankle during the game at Colorado and I couldn't feel worse for him. I cannot imagine how much pain he is after a LOOOOOONG travel day yesterday (Denver to Chicago to Baltimore then bus to Princess Anne - 12+ hours). Josh is such a trooper however and always in such high spirits. I don't know many details of the injury, but I'm hoping Josh can make a speedy recovery and misses minimal time in his last season as a Hawk.

Luckily we've only had two other players effected by the injury bug - junior Diyaaldin Kelley and freshman Kevin Williams. I'm also not sure how long either will be out, but hoping it's not long!

Unfortunately, I've personally experienced the injury bug as I missed my senior year of high school basketball due to an ankle sprain/messed up ankle bones. This is still an extremely sensitive subject for me (and it was almost eight years ago!!!). I really wouldn't wish any kind of injury on my worst enemy and really feel for our guys.

Look who's in Colorado!

2010-12-29T22:14:00.018-05:00

Baseball seniors Elliott Alston and Nick Wiggins both hail from Littleton, Colo. and are home on break, so they decided to come to our game and support their fellow UMES student-athletes. It was great to see them and I think it was neat for them to see UMES all the way out in Colorado.

I asked them both how they were enjoying break and what they were doing and got a similar response from both - "sleep until noon-ish, workout for a few hours, play videogames." Well, at least they're working out. :-)

Elliott joins Bret on-air during the halftime show - he did a great job!

GAME DAY! UMES @ Colorado - Starters

2010-12-29T20:47:00.000-05:00

UMES - Maroon uniform
3 White
11 Burns
23 Bradshaw
24 Haley
32 Hines

Colorado - Gray uniform
1 Tomlinson
5 Relphorde
10 Burks
11 Higgins
33 Dufault

More Colorado photos

2010-12-29T13:43:00.018-05:00

Some more photos from our trip to Colorado. I absolutely love this state and the beauty of it. I've always said that I want to live there some day. Below are some photos of CU's campus... all beautiful. The buildings all have similar architecture and I would love to see campus buried in snow or in the glory of a sunny summer day.

During last night's practice, Bret and I ventured out to stock up on water and Powerade for the team. Usually Coach Peery and/or Coach Robinson take on this task, but with a long flight and limited time, we decided to go and give them a break. You'd never think how much liquids it takes to keep 13 basketball players and six staff members hydrated! We pretty much cleared them out of Powerade (80 bottles). Just think what it takes for a road trip that is longer than two days and includes more than one game!

My cart was full of water - five cases to be exact.

Photos - Coors Events Center

2010-12-28T20:32:00.016-05:00

Chauncey's Kids Roundup - The Buffs are very proud of alum Chauncey Billups (current Nuggets guard). His brother, Rodney, is the Director of Basketball Operations with CU.

These last three photos are images of the new basketball and volleyball practice facility that is currently under construction. Apparently the construction of this new facility (which I'm told will be amazing) has caused some problems for CU - all entrances to the arena are closed except one and all the heat and hot water has been shut off! Luckily it wasn't too cold in the arena, but I was told that all the athletes cannot shower there as there is only cold water. I think it'll all be worth it in the end however!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T10:42:00.006-05:00

Merry Christmas to all of our fans, followers, families, student-athletes, students, staff and the list could go on!

I'm enjoying some time at home in Wisconsin and it's already going too fast! (And what's this with there being a blizzard in Maryland and not here? I LOVE snow!)

Hope everyone enjoys their day and their families and friends. Post your favorite gifts (that you've given or received!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DISHAWN!

2010-12-24T13:23:00.001-05:00

Happy 22nd Birthday to junior Dishawn Bradshaw!

I know he was extremely excited to get home for the holidays and celebrate his birthday with his family and friends that he hasn't seen for awhile.

Hopefully you have a spectacular day and break away from the court!

2010-12-23T15:19:00.001-05:00

It’s week three of Lasky’s Lounge and I feel like the season is flying by. It needs to slow down a bit so we can all enjoy more basketball. Before you know it, both basketball teams will be in full MEAC mode. Hey, as always, if you have any questions or comments for me, please feel free to email umesbroadcast@gmail.com. Talk to you all on the radio soon!

Shout out of the Week: I want to start this week with my shout out because the term student-athlete gets tossed around aimlessly and the student part is sometimes lost. Last Friday morning, Josh Bright of the men’s basketball team officially graduated from UMES. Josh stayed in Princess Anne on Friday and flew to Pittsburgh on Saturday morning. Josh is a business administration major at UMES. I think it’s important to celebrate academic achievement as much as athletic success. Josh is enrolled in graduate school at UMES and will begin his pursuit of a master’s degree this coming spring. Congrats Josh!

Trivia Time: In honor of Hillary Haley connecting on 13 free throws against Washington College, who is the last UMES player to hit at least 13 free throws in a single game? Keep reading for the answer.

Did that Happen?: Full disclosure, I wasn’t at the women’s game against Towson because I was in Pittsburgh. Here is a puzzling discrepancy from the box score. Towson shot 34 free throws in the second half and UMES shot eight. The Hawks were whistled for 20 fouls in the second half while Towson was called for just eight. The number of fouls is a bit skewed because the Hawks committed five fouls in the final 1:51 trying to come back. Towson shot just 44.1 percent (15-34) in the second half. They were 0-2 from the line in the first half.

Century Mark: It’s not often that a team hits the century mark in a game (100 points). Against Division III Washington College, UMES scored at least 100 points for the first time since a 3OT game against Albany during the 2000-01. The Hawks won 102-96. The last time UMES scored 100 points in regulation was during the 1996-97 season when they scored 112 against Centenary. Through 119 MEAC games this season, only three teams have scored 100 points. North Carolina A&T beat N.C. Wesleyan 100-66, Delaware State beat Philadelphia Biblical 103-41 and UMES beat Washington College 102-86.

Endorsement from Jamie Dixon: Following the UMES vs. Pitt game, Pittsburgh head coach Jaime Dixon uttered this message during the opening remarks of his postgame press conference (and I quote) …

“Maryland Eastern Shore is a good team. I think they’ll be at the top of their league at the end of the season; they just get worn down with all these road games at the start.” The only caveat that I feel obliged to mention is that Dixon said this after Pitt played Delaware State 10 days prior, “I anticipate that Delaware State is going to win their league and make it to the NCAA Tournament.” Not sure what to make of the statements. Is it just coach speak or did he think Delaware State was the best and then changed his mind after seeing UMES?

Jets: Raise your hand if you have stayed at the same hotel as an NFL football team. Yep, probably not many of you can claim that. Last Saturday, many of us (players, coaches, staff) were in the lobby of our team hotel in Pittsburgh waiting for the bus to pull up, when a gathering of people formed in the far corner. All of a sudden, Rex Ryan and the New York Jets begin to appear one-by-one. Oh yea, I’m taking LaDainian Tomlinson, Mark Sanchez, Santonio Holmes, Jason Taylor…all of them. They were checking into the same hotel as us to prepare for their game against the Steelers. Pretty neat to see how they travel and all the fine details that go into travel with an NFL team.

Jackson’s Improvement: Bria Jackson made 13 total 3-pointers in 26 games last season. She has seven after eight games this year. Take it a step further. Jackson scored 83 total points in 26 games last season. She already has 41 points in eight games this season. She has scored eight points in three of her last five games.

Trivia Answer: Ed Tyson is the last UMES player to hit 13 free throws in a single game. He did it on Feb. 2, 2008 on the road at Morgan State. UMES lost the game 67-52. Tyson poured in 28 of the 52 UMES points.

Five-Stars: Time to celebrate the best two players from last week. For the men, my “five-stars” go to Dishawn Bradshaw. The Charm City native poured in 33 points between Pittsburgh (12) and Washington College (21). More impressive in my book was that he handed out nine assists between the two games. He led the Hawks in assists in both games. He adds another dimension to his 3-point game when he puts the ball on the deck and creates for his teammates. On the ladies side, the senior Casey Morton is the recipient. Morton scored 26 points combined in the three games last week. She finished with 13 against ACC foe Wake Forest.

Numbers of the Week: 17 – the number of fast break points the men’s team scored against Washington College, by far the most of the season. In the other 10 games combined, the Hawks scored a total of only 26 fast break points. In the first ten games, the Hawks never totaled more than 4 fast break points. Nice to see the Hawks get out on the break. 94 – The Lady Hawks have hit a 3-pointer in 94 consecutive games. The last time that the Lady Hawks did not hit a 3-pointer in a game was on Nov. 14, 2007 against NCCU. The interesting thing about that game was UMES won by a wide margin, 54-32. That is impressive stuff.

Two for the Road: 1) The men’s team leaves for Colorado on Tuesday with their game set for Wednesday (Dec. 29, 9:00 EST). The Buffaloes have won 19 consecutive non-conference games at the Coors Event Center. Further, the last time UMES made the trek to Boulder was on Dec. 30, 1993. It will be just about 17 years from the day on Dec. 29, 2010. 2) The Lady Hawks are 0-2 all-time against Canisius. It will be the second meeting in Buffalo. The last meeting in Buffalo was on Nov. 17, 2006. Canisius won the game 48-44. Only one player in the whole game scored in double figures (Amanda Cavo, 10 points).

Have a happy and healthy holiday season. Good luck to both the men’s and women’s teams when they resume play.

GAME DAY - Washington College at UMES - Starters

2010-12-21T12:41:00.003-05:00

UMES - White uniform
3 White
11 Burns
23 Bradshaw
24 Haley
32 Hines

Washington College - Maroon uniform
4 Bernstein
20 Holcombe
25 Naymick
33 McShane
44 Breslin

More Pitt photos

2010-12-19T14:29:00.000-05:00

During halftime, the Little Panthers dribblers performed... boy were they cute. Their ages were across the board but there were definitely some 2-3 year olds in addition to middle schoolers. They did such a great job performing different dribbling tricks!

Pitt had a wide variety of gum lined up along the sideline for everyone's use. It sure was amusing to see.

Coach Allen's post game press conference

Pitt has an all-time 140-11 record at the Petersen Events Center... how's that for success?

GAME DAY - UMES @ PITT - Starters

2010-12-18T18:37:00.000-05:00

UMES - Maroon uniform
3 White
11 Burns
23 Bradshaw
24 Haley
32 Hines

Pitt - White uniform
5 Brown
14 Gibbs
22 Wanamaker
42 Zanna
52 McGhee

Game day shootaround

2010-12-18T12:05:00.019-05:00

We just got back from shootaround... a few photos from the morning.

Post-shootaround huddle

Coach Allen talks to Brooke Weisbrod and Rob King from ESPN Regional in preparation for the game

After shootaround, a bunch of the guys were having some fun doing some random dunks, they were definitely having a good time!

Hillary Haley brings one down after an alley-oop from Diyaaldin Kelley

Pop goes up for another dunk, this time with a pass from Dishawn Bradshaw

Coach Brown and his son, Gilbert, play one-on-one

Pop, going up for yet another dunk, this side from the other side of the court

Tyler now talks to Brooke and Rob about his brother, Kyle, their AAU team and some other interesting stuff bound to make it on the broadcast

Pitt Photos

2010-12-17T22:14:00.003-05:00

Photos from tonight's practice at Pitt's Petersen Events Center. It's a VERY nice facility, I'm excited to see it filled with fans tomorrow night.

Interview room

Coach Brown's son, Gilbert, enjoyed the comfy leather seats in one of the suites.

I quickly snuck a peek into their practice gym before we left, I was expecting a lot more photos and glitz/glamour, but it gets the job done!

Welcome to Pittsburgh!

2010-12-17T15:22:00.022-05:00

We just arrived in Pittsburgh after about a seven hour drive. Will get settled in to the hotel for a bit before heading to practice.

Poor quality photo but Coach Brown "won" a UMES "blanket with sleeves" at the holiday party yesterday. I say "won," because it was the present that he brought and he was determined to leave with it. He sure was the happiest man I've ever seen to own one.

Well hello, Westin!

The view from my room, doesn't look great, but I liked it. The Monongahela River is in the distance and except for the large building, it was a good view.

Athletic Trainer Randi Kaplan and myself took a walk around the city a little bit after we arrived. This is a photo of PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. I absolutely love baseball so this was a must stop/photo for me. The photo is taken from the Roberto Clemente bridge, one of the famous bridges in town. To the far left you can see a piece of Heinz Field, home of the Steelers.

As we're getting ready to order food for after practice this is the menu... ummm, what exactly are wedgies?! I mean, I know the obvious, elementary school definition, but I have never heard of food that's called this!

UMES Holiday Party

2010-12-16T16:40:00.009-05:00

Earlier today we had our staff holiday party. Most everyone brought a gift and we held a "White Elephant" exchange. There were some pretty good gifts in addition to some goofy, funny ones. After having the first pick, I think I "lost" my present at least 5-6 times. I finally ended the day with a Wal-mart gift card.

We're Worldwide!

2010-12-16T10:58:00.001-05:00

We started this blog almost a year ago (I believe it was right after Christmas) and it has been cool to see how it has grown. On the right sidebar, there is a tracker that locates where each visitor is from. I love this tool because it's really interesting to see where our visitors are from. Of course there are a lot of hits from the Delmarva/Baltimore/Washington D.C. areas, but it's surprising how many foreign visitors we have.

I try to check the tracker at least once a week, but sometimes I'll miss it and depending on the amount of visitors, I sometimes miss a lot of the locations. This really makes me curious as to where else we have fans or visitors that haven't been marked.

So far we have visitors from at least 18 states and six countries. Even though I have definitely missed some, this is still really cool. I know that some people have just stumbled across the blog and have no idea what UMES is, but I'm glad that we can then welcome them to the world of Hawk Athletics. Others come straight from our website (UMESHawks.com) and Twitter/Facebook accounts. Hopefully we can continue to grow our fan base through these outlets and through word of mouth.

I would also love to hear from our fans and supporters, so please feel free to leave us comments, visit our other social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, etc.) or email me at mlhayon@umes.edu. Is there anything else you would like to see from UMES Athletics? At games, online, wherever!

GO HAWKS!

Lasky's Lounge Week 2

2010-12-14T09:59:00.009-05:00

It’s week two of Lasky’s Lounge and I just returned from Evansville, Indiana with the men’s basketball team. This is your one stop shop for some interesting tidbits about UMES athletics, in particular, the men’s and women’s basketball programs. If you have any questions or comments for me, please feel free to email, umesbroadcast@gmail.com. Talk to you all on the radio soon!

Did that Happen?: It was relatively easy to find something that screams “Did that Happen?” this past week. The Lady Hawks were locked in a dandy against LIU on Wednesday evening. With the score tied at 49, there was a 30-second timeout called by LIU. Ashley Palmer was ready to inbound the ball from the sideline near her team’s bench. Palmer was up against the 5-count, panicked and called a time out. However, LIU was out of time outs. Technical foul. The Hawks weren’t able to capitalize and win in regulation but it brought back memories of Chris Webber. Let’s take you into the time machine. It was April 5, 1993 and Michigan was playing UNC for the NCAA title. Michigan is trailing 72-69 with 46 seconds left when they call their last time out. Then, Webber scores after a UNC turnover to trim the deficit to 72-71. UNC’s Pat Sullivan is fouled and he makes the first and misses the second free throw. Webber grabs the rebound (gets away with a travel) and brings the ball into the forecourt. He then gets trapped and calls a timeout. Technical foul. UNC’s Donald Williams hit both free throws and UNC seals the title. Williams was the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. (Kansas and Kentucky were the other two teams in the final four in case you were wondering).

10 Second Violation: During the LIU broadcast, one thing that Dave Byrd and I discussed was the missing 10-second violation in women’s college basketball. It puzzles me that the men’s game enforces a 10-second count in the backcourt but the women’s game doesn’t. I understand that the men’s game is played at a different speed but still. You mean to tell me that Bria Jackson, Casey Morton and Amber Cook can’t get the ball across in 10-seconds? I don’t buy that for a second. The only thing the lack of a 10-second count affords the ladies is a chance to casually bring the ball across. Sometimes late in games you’ll see the point guards dribble in the backcourt and evaporate the clock. They could do the same thing in the frontcourt right? Also, I feel that at least 95% of the time, they get the ball across in under 10 seconds anyway. I’ll have to get coach Batchelor’s thoughts on this. Maybe he has a profound explanation. What are some of your theories? Should the 10-count be enforced?

Two Good Reads: I was doing my homework on coach Frankie Allen and his dominance in the Old Dominion state of Virginia before the ODU game and I stumbled upon this article. It’s a really interesting read about coach Allen’s time at Roanoke and some of the obstacles he has overcome in his career. http://spec.lib.vt.edu/archives/blackhistory/timeline/frankie_allen.htm

On a sad note, the 33^rd anniversary of the horrific 1977 Evansville basketball team plane crash was yesterday (Dec. 13). Since the Hawks just played Evansville, I have read quite a bit about the incident. For those that were born after 1977, you might not remember a lot about the tragedy. Here is one of the many articles I found. http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/local/article_0bb7d4e2-e7b8-11de-8314-001cc4c03286.html

Trivia time: Who is the only UMES basketball player (men’s or women’s) to make at least 100 3-pointers in a single season since the 2002-03 campaign?

Shout(s) out of the Week: I have multiple so let’s start.

Adobi Agbasi for stepping to the forefront and making the coaching staff look like geniuses for diagramming the biggest two plays of the game (against LIU) for her. Agbasi tied the game with a lefty lay in with 57 seconds left. She is tough to guard when moving to her left and turning over her right shoulder.
Kevin White for chasing a ball in the second half against Evansville (when they Hawks were down big) that was destined for his own bench and diving full-extension after it to try and save it. It wound up being out of bounds off the Hawks but it’s those types of hustle plays that will be paramount come conference play. Kevin really asserted himself in the second half.
Tyler Hines for recording his third career double-double against Evansville (11 points, 11 rebounds). Hines ripped down six offensive rebounds. He is a tireless worker.

Road Warriors: We had a Thursday afternoon departure with the men’s basketball team for Norfolk, Virginia. The hotel in Norfolk might be one of my favorites for three reasons…1) It’s literally right across the street from the Ted Constant Center. We left the hotel and walked across the street – can’t beat that for convenience. 2) Breakfast provided a wide variety – eggs, sausage, fruit, yogurt, oatmeal, bagels, muffins, waffles, pastries, juice and more. 3) Complimentary tea and honey…for a broadcaster suffering through a winter cold, that is as clutch as a free throw with seconds left to ice a game. We awoke at 6:30 a.m. to catch our flight to Chicago (we transferred and caught a flight to Louisville and then bused to Evansville). One thing I found interesting on the aircraft was the food the flight attendants handed out. Everyone was offered a “Newtons Fruit Crisps” bar. Whatever happened to pretzels and peanuts? I guess I’m just old fashioned. Nothing out of the ordinary in Evansville except for the constant change of the time zone we were in. We flew to Chicago (central time) then transferred and flew to Louisville (eastern time) and then bused to Evansville (central time). Easy trip though. Kudos to Curtis Peery and the coaching staff for taking good care of everyone. It’s a lot harder than you think to travel with a group of 19 people, especially when there are practices, games, laundry to be done, food to buy, scouting reports to finalize, flights to catch and so on.

Number(s) of the Week: 406 – the number of points Tim Burns has scored since arriving on the UMES campus. Burns scored 10 second half points against Evansville to cross over the 400 points marker in his career with the Hawks. Burns has 640 college points (two seasons at High Point). 15.2 – the percentage that the Lady Hawks are holding the opposition to from beyond the 3-point line. Through five games, opponents are 12-of-79 from 3-point range against UMES. Syracuse sputtered to a 1-for-23 night from deep and LIU shot 1-of-7 from deep. 41 – The number of bench points that Fred Batchelor received last week against Manhattan and LIU combined. The Hawks scored a total of 107 points. Therefore, 38% of their points last week came from the reserves.

Five Stars: Time to crown the crème de la crème from the last week. Ladies first. She sometimes reminds me of watching a game on West 4^thstreet in the cage or at Rucker Park with her razzle-dazzle shake-‘n-bake dribbling style but she has a silky smooth jumper that will splash the net from NBA range. Kwinnyata Mercer had a “Five-Star” type of week. Mercer poured in 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the two games last week. She made the two technical free throws late in the second half to give the Hawks a brief lead vs. LIU. She nailed a three-pointer early in overtime to give the Hawks a 54-51 lead. She also made two free throws in OT. It was a challenging week for the men’s basketball team so it took some thought to decide who would receive the award. I’m giving “Five-Stars” to Tim Burns this week. He scored ten points (all in the second half) against Evansville. In the four UMES games prior, Burns had only scored six total points. Burns has lost a lot of playing time of late (8.0 minutes per game in the four games prior to Evansville) and maybe his performance against the Purple Aces will get him back in the thick of the rotation. Remember, Burns started 21 games last season and averaged 33.1 minutes per game (second most of the team). He was also second on the Hawks in scoring (11.2).

Two for the Road: Next up for the men’s team… the Pitt Panthers. Here is a little nugget to digest about Pitt. Before Tennessee tripped them up on last Saturday, they had won 58 consecutive non-conference games in the city of Pittsburgh. Bucknell downed Pittsburgh on Jan. 2, 2005 (last loss before Tennessee). The Lady Hawks next two opponents are Towson, Saturday Dec. 18, and Wake Forest on Monday, Dec. 20. The Lady Hawks have never beaten Towson (0-7 all-time). It has been 23 years since the UMES women’s basketball team has faced Wake Forest. The ‘Deacs beat UMES 73-61 in 1987.

Trivia Answer: If you guessed Toni Kennedy of the women’s basketball team, you are correct! Kennedy knocked in exactly 100 3-pointers during the 2005-06 season. Kennedy made 157 3-pointers in two seasons with the Lady Hawks.

If you have any questions for me, please feel free to contact me at umesbroadcast@gmail.com.

This week’s broadcast schedule:

Thursday – Coaches’ Corner 7-8 @ Peaky’s Pub (WGOP 540 AM, 100.7 FM)

Saturday – Men’s basketball @ Pittsburgh (95.5 The Sports Animal)

Louisville Airport

2010-12-13T13:06:00.023-05:00

I love traveling and seeing different airports. When we got off the plane in Louisville on Friday, one of the first things I noticed was the Louisville Slugger store. The huge baseball fan I am, I got really excited and knew this was going to be my first stop when we flew out on Sunday.

Of course things were overpriced, but I am very proud of myself for not buying a single thing!

The absolute tiniest baseball mitt I have ever seen. My first nephew was just born and it took all of my strength to not buy it as it was $30.

There of course were other things that I wanted to buy, but I also really want to attend the actual Louisville Slugger store and will buy a ton of things there :-)

We must be in Louisville, there were also tons of horse sculptures and artwork everywhere.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEVIN!

2010-12-12T13:06:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday to freshman guard Kevin Williams!

Due to a recent injury, Kevin has been unable to travel with the team so he is not currently on this trip with us. Hopefully he enjoyed his weekend and his 19th birthday! (That makes me feel old... he's still a baby!)

GAME DAY - UMES @ Evansville - Photos

2010-12-11T19:54:00.000-05:00

Gotta love the old-school striped warmups

If you look very closely (and even then I don't think you can) you'll see Bret setting up for his broadcast. He's in the very first lit suite on the top left.

The catwalk to Bret's radio booth

The view of the court from the very very corner of the building, from the catwalk going to the broadcast suite.

The view from Bret's broadcast booth

If you ask any of my family or close friends, they will tell you I have a weird obsession with mascots. (Heck, I've probably even mentioned it here before.) I just happened to mention this and the fact that Ace Purple is sorta creepy looking to Bret and Coach Brown and next thing I know Coach Brown disappears and Ace shows up. Yes, I was a little weirded out, but he was very gracious and nice.

Outside the Evansville locker room

A very gloomy day, a photo from my hotel room. Hopefully tonight's game is the exact opposite of this!

GAME DAY - UMES @ Evansville - Starters

2010-12-11T19:37:00.003-05:00

UMES - Maroon uniform
00 - Obame Obame
3 - White
23 - Bradshaw
24 - Haley
32 - Hines

Evansville - White uniforms
2 - Lacey
11 - Ryan
32 - Harris
34 - Holmes
41 - van Tongeren

Practice at Evansville

2010-12-11T12:23:00.002-05:00

Last night we had a late practice on the campus of the University of Evansville after traveling all day. Following are a few photos from the practice facility.

Lobby of the basketball offices

1999 Missouri Valley Conference Championship trophy

It was a tough practice for the guys after traveling all day and it was very hot and humid in the gym but hopefully they got all the frustrations of the Old Dominion game out and are ready for tonight's game!

GAME DAY - UMES @ Old Dominion - Starters

2010-12-09T18:38:00.001-05:00

UMES - Maroon uniform
00 - Obame Obame
3 - White
23 - Bradshaw
24 - Haley
32 - Hines

ODU - White uniform
3 - James
20 - Cooper
21 - Hassell
24 - Bazemore
35 - Finney

GAME DAY - UMES @ Old Dominion

2010-12-09T18:04:00.000-05:00

Lasky's Lounge - Week One

2010-12-07T09:35:00.004-05:00

Welcome and thanks for stopping by my weekly column dedicated to UMES athletics, in particular the men’s and women’s basketball programs. This will be your one-stop-shop for all the behind the scenes information that doesn’t make the previews/recaps that our sports information guru’s post before/after each game. I hope you enjoy and if you have any questions, comments or concerns, please email me at umesbroadcast@gmail.com. Talk to you on the radio soon!

Did that Happen?: I’ll start each week by throwing out something that I’m really puzzled by. I was sitting courtside at Memorial Hall in Dover on Saturday broadcasting the UMES men’s basketball game when Dishawn Bradshaw drove down the right lane line and was fouled hard by Casey Walker. Then, I faintly heard Frankie Allen say to G. Jamal Brown, “that’s our first trip to the line.” The head coach was as shocked as I was. It took the Hawks exactly 29 minutes and 51 seconds to earn a trip to the free throw line. They didn’t shoot their first free throws until 10:09 left in the SECOND HALF. I have never seen that before. Believe it or not, UMES actually shot more free throws than Del. State (10 to 9). Only 24 total fouls were called in the game. For comparison, in the Hawks game against Navy, there were 41 fouls called.

Trivia time: Ok, who is ready for some trivia? When is the last time the women’s basketball team beat a team that hails from the great state of New York (either at home or on the road)?

Shout out of the Week: My shout out of the week goes to the UMES students, fans and supporters that made the haul across Route 13 to Memorial Hall for the men’s game on Saturday night. Even with my headset on, there were numerous times when I could hear “defense” chants echoing through Memorial Hall when Delaware State had possession. I saw many familiar faces in attendance including AD Keith Davidson and several members of the women’s basketball team including Amber Cook, Chelsea Sanders, Bria Jackson and Casey Morton. The support is awesome and definitely noticed.

Road Trip Happenings: Each week, I’ll provide some road trip insight. Our destination last week was Syracuse, N.Y. with the Lady Hawks. The departure time left most of us with bags under our eyes (how does 5:30 a.m. sound to you?). The trip up to central N.Y. was easy, especially when the best bus driver in America (Mo) is behind the steering wheel. On Tuesday night, we all had a chance to catch the Syracuse men’s basketball game against Cornell. We sat in the upper deck of the Carrier Dome and watched the ‘Cuse win. It was neat to see former UMES men’s basketball assistant Mike Blaine in action again. Coach Blaine is now an assistant at Cornell. The following day was gameday (Wednesday). We hopped on the bus for shootaround late in the morning and it wasn’t snowing. We left shootaround an hour later and it was snowing (welcome to Syracuse, I guess). The Lady Hawks showed a lot of grit to hang tight with the ‘Cuse. Remember, they were only down 17-14 at the 11:46 mark in the first half. Also remember that Syracuse has dominated teams this year. They beat Delaware State recently by 70 points if that gives you some perspective. After six games, Syracuse is winning by an average margin of 38.7. UMES lost by 23.

Number(s) of the Week: I have two this week, one of the men and one for the women. 22: The number of offensive rebounds that hard-nosed Hines (Tyler) has pulled down so far this season. He ranks fourth in the MEAC in total offensive rebounds. For the women, 85: The number of wins Fred Batchelor is eyeing with one more win. He has accumulated 84 (through 4 games this year) in his seven years at UMES, the most of any women’s basketball coach in program history. Kudos to a great coach and an even better person; just ask his players.

Birthday Fun: Caitlyn Dillard of the women’s basketball team celebrated her 22^nd birthday in style on Dec. 1. She had the chance to play at the Carrier Dome. Caitlyn went to Cayuga C.C., which is in Auburn, N.Y. (less than 30 miles from Syracuse). After the game, this is what Caitlyn told the Auburn Pub about the experience: “I felt I had a big opportunity to play where I dreamed of playing,” Dillard said. “It’s amazing to finally get on this court and play against Syracuse.” The next day when we returned, Caitlyn was our guest on the “Coaches Corner” radio show live from Peaky’s restaurant (I must admit that it was coach Whitley’s idea to bring the birthday girl on the show). She did a great job on the show and even got a birthday cake courtesy of Peaky’s.

Five Stars: I’ll hand out my stars of the week. For the men, it’s probably easy to just pick Hillary Haley for his 32 point gem against Navy and his team high 16 vs. Delaware State, so I’m going in a different direction (sorry Hillary). The men’s recipient of this coveted prize is Mark Robertson. After playing a grand total of seven minutes against American, Kean and NIU combined, Robertson stepped up big against both Navy and DSU. Against the ‘Mids, he played 20 minutes and tied his career high with six rebounds. The real testament to Robertson against Navy is this: He checked in at the 15:47 mark in the first half and the Hawks were up two points. When he was subbed out (8:36), they were up seven. ‘Nuf said. Against DSU, Robertson had a season high 11 points and hit three 3-pointers. Let’s go deeper. Robertson checks in at the 10:42 mark in the first half and DSU is up 13-10. He was subbed out at the 5:03 mark and UMES was up 23-18 (seven point swing). ‘Nuf said. For the women, my star of the week goes to Amber Cook. She’s just so efficient in every area. Cook had 11 points, three steals, two rebounds, an assist and countless hustle plays that don’t make the boxscore. I didn’t realize this at the time, but Cook scored 9 of the first 11 UMES points. ‘Nuf said.

1 for the Road: As I bid you farewell this week, here is something to look forward to. The UMES men’s team is playing ODU on Thursday. One of ODU’s stars is Ben Finney. He is third on the team in scoring (11.7) and second in rebounding (6.4). Does his last name ring a bell? It should, he is the older brother of Sha-Kiyla Finney of the UMES women’s basketball team. We’ll see how the Hawks handle Finney.

Trivia Answer: November 17, 2007 when the Hawks dumped Niagara University 67-60 at the Hytche Athletic Center. Tiffany Reid led the Hawks with 17 points. April McBride had 16 and Casey Morton had 12 points. Since that game, the Lady Hawks have lost 11 straight games against teams from N.Y. Let’s hope the trivia question is no longer worthy after Wednesday’s game against Long Island.

If you have any questions for me, please feel free to contact me at umesbroadcast@gmail.com.

This week’s broadcast schedule:

Monday – Women’s basketball vs. Manhattan

Wednesday - Women’s basketball vs. Long Island

Thursday – Men’s basketball @ ODU

Saturday – Men’s basketball @ Evansville

Lasky's Lounge

2010-12-06T08:27:00.000-05:00

Starting this week, we'll have a new segment weekly called "Lasky's Lounge." Bret will highlight the men's and women's basketball teams in addition to trivia, road trip happenings, broadcast information and other fun stuff. Make sure to stick around for this cool new feature!

GAME DAY - UMES @ Delaware State - Starters

2010-12-04T18:28:00.003-05:00

UMES - Maroon uniforms
00 - Obame Obame
3 - White
23 - Bradshaw
24 - Haley
32 - Hines

Delaware State - White uniform
4 - Threatt
5 - Washington
21 - Stowe
22 - Walker
32 - M. Oliver

GAME DAY - Northern Illinois at UMES STARTERS

2010-11-24T12:27:00.002-05:00

UMES - Gray uniforms
00 - Obame Obame
3 - White
11 - Burns
23 - Bradshaw
32 - Hines

Northern Illinois - Cardinal Red uniforms
1 - Hall
5 - Toler
12 - Rucker
13 - Silas
24 - Landers

GAME DAY - Northern Illinois at UMES

2010-11-24T12:22:00.001-05:00

It's an early tip-off today... 1 p.m. against the Huskies of Northern Illinois. Will post photos and more coming up.

GAME DAY - UMES @ American - Starters

2010-11-17T19:10:00.000-05:00

UMES - Maroon Uniform
oo - Obame Obame
3 - White
11 - Burns
23 - Bradshaw
32 - Hines

American - White Uniform
3 - Brewer
14 - Moldoveanu
21 - Hendra
22 - Luptak
32 - Lumpkins

GAME DAY - UMES @ American - Photos

2010-11-17T18:59:00.002-05:00

GAME DAY - UMES @ Columbia

2010-11-15T18:44:00.000-05:00

UMES - Maroon Uniform
00 Obame Obame
3 White
12 Kelley
23 Bradshaw
24 Haley

Columbia - White Uniform
1 Ampim
2 Grimes
5 Frankowski
10 Barbour
44 Craig

GAME DAY - UMES @ Columbia - Photos

2010-11-15T18:35:00.003-05:00

Apologies from Maggie

2010-11-15T16:54:00.002-05:00

Like Tyler mentioned in a previous post, I too have been slacking on my posting. I apologize tremendously for those of you who are avid readers and fans. It's no excuse, but I've definitely been busy getting ready for the season from both the sports information and marketing side, in addition to many other tasks. My goal from now on is to post at least once daily from practices, travel spots/airports/buses/hotels/etc., arenas, shoot-around and anywhere else that might be of interest for UMES fans.

New York Part II

2010-11-14T22:59:00.004-05:00

Let me declare this right away, I am a city girl, but in no offense to anyone from New York or who loves New York, but this place just isn't for me. I was here for the first time a few years ago when my best friend interned at MTV for the summer. I spent the week with her and it was the beginning of July so needless to say it was extremely hot and humid. I don't deal with heat and humidity very well, so I just assumed this was mostly why I didn't like NY on my first trip.

I'm slowly learning that I am a very patient and calm person and NY really overwhelms me. Not many things rattle or overwhelm me, so this is definitely a change. A lot of the people are very overwhelming and impatient and that makes this a very unique city that tons of people love.

Another thing that is very overwhelming about NY is the prices! I snapped these pics tonight from our in-hotel room service guide.

Fruit for $11?!?! I better get the whole banana tree or grape vine!

Cereal for $7? I can buy TWO boxes of cereal AND a gallon of milk to last me a week or two for $7.

I guess I can say I'm semi-use to ridiculous dessert prices since they seem to jack these up everywhere, but the ice cream and milk and cookies for $9 really caught my eye. Again, if I spent this much at the grocery store, I'd probably be set for a few weeks!

Needless to say, this girl didn't order any of this food!

Another crazy part of NY that overwhelmed me was the traffic. Yes, you hear about the traffic all the time when people talk about NY, but it took us probably an hour and a half to two hours to get from practice tonight back to our hotel (I think it should have been about a half hour, but I'm not positive). I'm curious how many stoplights, honking cars and pedestrians we encountered.

Welcome to New York!

2010-11-14T22:50:00.001-05:00

On our way to New York, Coach Nick Robinson goes over the Columbia scouting report with the team.

Look what welcomed us to practice this evening...

Coach Brown first spotted him and it was actually after practice, but startling none-the-less. We joked around about it, but in reality, Columbia's Levien Gymnasium is a great facility. They've been doing some construction and the lobby that we entered through has been completely redone with marbling!

I've heard from some little birdies that we are expected to have a large contingent of UMES alumni from the Tri-State area in the arena tomorrow night. Hoping to see all the maroon and gray that can cheer the Hawks on to victory!

IT'S GAMEDAY! Tulane @ UMES

2010-11-12T18:56:00.002-05:00

Again, lack of posting due to crazy schedules, but trust me, I will back track and get everything up to date.

Tonight is the regular season opener and we're hosting Tulane! It's been a great experience all day with radio shows and whatnot.

Today's Starting Lineup:

UMES - White Uniforms
3 - White
11 - Burns
12 - Kelley
23 - Bradshaw
31 - Robertson

Tulane - Green Uniforms
23 - Mayhane
2 - Booker
0 - Richard
5 - Callahan
22 - Timmons

First game - Tulane

2010-11-10T15:27:00.002-05:00

It's less than two days until our first official game of the season - this year against Tulane University from Conference USA. I can't wait... I'm getting chills just writing about it.

As a team we are working hard on and off the court. We know the first game is the most important because it sets the tone for the year. Trust me, we are ready.

Come to the Hytche and support us on Friday at 7:00 p.m. It's going down!

Hawk UP!
--Tyler

Sorry to all

2010-11-08T11:24:00.003-05:00

Sorry to everyone that keeps up with my blogs, I've been so busy with practice, class, school work and just trying to get some rest that I haven't had much time to blog. However, that is definitely the life of a student-athlete. My goal is to write two blogs a week to keep the fans up with Hawk Basketball. Just know that we appreciate your support and we won't let you down!

Hawk UP!

--Tyler

Bowling

2010-10-30T13:16:00.004-04:00

Yesterday we had the opportunity to take on the bowling team for the second year in a row. We did this last year and it was really a great time so I'm glad the coaches arranged this again this year.

Our entire team was talking trash to the ladies all day but since they beat us so badly last year, this year we really believed we could get them. (Maggie's edit: men's basketball had no chance.)

I started out with two strikes, but just know that I lost every game afterward. (I do still believe that I am the best.)

We also got a chance to watch Freddy dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller, which was definitely the treat of the day. I don't want to say exactly what happened, but just know that Freddy ended up on his butt and it was quite hilarious. Sorry, Freddy, we still love you.

--Tyler

Coach Blaine

2010-10-25T11:15:00.002-04:00

As many already know, our assistant coach, Mike Blaine, has received another opportunity at Cornell University. We had a team meeting where he broke this news to us and as a team, hearing the news was very tough for us, in addition to me personally.

I spent three years with Coach Blaine and he taught me a lot in that time. While we run sprints as a team, I can still envision him throwing up his hand and saying, "didn't touch the line!" or "face cut Hines!" I'm glad he did this as this made us better as a team and as men.

I know I can speak on behalf of my teammates and myself in saying Good Luck to Coach Blaine... you will always be a Hawk.

--Tyler

Hawk Hysteria!

2010-10-17T14:08:00.002-04:00

Basketball season is officially upon us as Hawk Hysteria was a huge success on Friday night!

What also made the night so special was that UMES introduced the new pep band, the Thunderin' Hawks. It was a packed house as the fans, staff and teams celebrated the beginning of men's and women's basketball practices. The women's volleyball team also beat Hampton the same night (great job ladies!). Harry The Hawk also celebrated his birthday with many of his mascot friends and UMES family.

Now the season is FINALLY here. Good luck to the men's and women's basketball teams and also the volleyball team as their season winds down.

--Tyler

Thought for the Day

2010-10-13T10:23:00.001-04:00

UMES Basketball Thought for the Day: "Focused On Excellence"

HAWK HYSTERIA

2010-10-13T10:10:00.009-04:00

Hawk Hysteria is just two days away!!!! There has been ton of preparation for this big event, which kicks off basketball season!

The night is just jam packed with fun and entertainment. The evening begins at 6 p.m. as the volleyball team takes on Hampton. These ladies are fun to watch, so make sure you get here early to see them! Before the end of the volleyball game, the men's and women's basketball teams will be signing autographs (and their 2010-11 posters will be revealed! I know a lot of people are excited about this).

Once the volleyball game is over, the night continues with introductions of the brand spankin' new Pep Band, the Thunderin' Hawks! After this we will honor the 2010 Outdoor Track & Field National Championship participants for their hard work.

In addition to it being Hawk Hysteria, we will also celebrate our wonderful mascot's, Harry T. Hawk, birthday! We have about 10 local mascots confirmed to appear, so it's bound to be hysteria! (Oh, and there'll be FREE cake!)
After Harry's birthday celebration, we'll host contests (for fans and the teams!) before the introduction of the men's and women's teams.

I've heard a lot of rumblings about what song each player is coming out to (in addition to various dances) and I'm very curious to see this. Knowing this team, it's bound to be hilarious.

Overall, it's pretty much a night that you shouldn't miss. So much is going to happen that I haven't even described... it really is going to be hysteria.

Mid-term week

2010-10-12T09:20:00.002-04:00

Ah, the time of year that I do not miss from my college years... it's mid-term week! Best of luck to all UMES students and student-athletes as they turn in papers/projects and take mid-term exams.

Thought of the Day

2010-10-11T11:53:00.000-04:00

UMES Basketball Thought of the Day: Stay Focused!

Last 'free' weekend

2010-10-10T17:34:00.002-04:00

This weekend marks the last "free" weekend that the guys will have until the end of the season as practice begins next Friday. Until April (hopefully!) everyone will be busy with practices, travel schedules, games, etc.

A lot of the guys took this time to go home and spend some downtime with family and friends before they really hit the grind (not that they're not already doing that!). I know Coach Blaine (Florida) and Coach Brown (Texas) were out of town recruiting and Coach Allen spent the weekend in D.C. with his wife and attended the Redskins-Packers game (which I do not want to talk about as the resident Cheesehead). Coach Robinson also headed home to Baltimore and hit up the Ravens game while Coach Peery went home to Roanoke.

A few of the guys decided to stay on campus and kudos to them for coming out to the Hytche and supporting the volleyball team as they defeated Morgan State (Friday) and Delaware State (today).

Hopefully everyone is now well rested, I know they're all anxious to get the season started!

Congrats Pop!

2010-10-07T12:08:00.003-04:00

Earlier this week, the MEAC released their pre-season honors and rankings. The Hawks were projected to finish 7th in the conference and that is all I will say about that.

Hillary "Pop" Haley was also named All-MEAC Preseason Second Team. When I asked him what he felt about this, he just kind of shrugged it off and said, "well, obviously I'm honored, but I'd be much more excited if this guaranteed a MEAC ring at the end of the season." These guys are definitely about the team and the end goal, not thinking about themselves. It's refreshing to see that as I see the opposite so many times.

http://www.umeshawks.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/100510aab.html

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

2010-10-06T11:09:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday to redshirt sophomore guard/forward Mark Robertson!

(He's currently in the middle of workouts, so hopefully he can enjoy this day as much as possible!)

Relay for Life

2010-09-26T14:45:00.007-04:00

Friday night was the annual Relay for Life event. We had a great turnout from all teams! I'm attaching some photos that I took with my phone, but will definitely post the links to the story and photo galleries that we will make on the main web site (www.umeshawks.com). I'll also see if any of the guys took some photos and I know for sure that Tyler will want to post a recap. Maybe some of the other guys will join in on the discussion?

Mark and Tyler

You can't really tell, but that's a long stretch of UMES Athletics teams and supporters in their pink camo shirts.

Coach Blaine holds the infamous "Spirit Stick." Anytime someone would walk around the track they needed to carry this and a passport in order to get spirit points.

Each tent had various candle torches with names of people who were either being honored or memorialized by that team. Here is Coach Brown's wife's torch. It was great to have her on board in addition to the numerous other ones we had at our site (additionally, Coach Brummell and a ton of family members and friends).

Thought for the Day

2010-09-25T09:50:00.000-04:00

UMES Basketball Thought for the Day: "Mental is to physical as four is to one."

Thought of the Day

2010-09-23T10:38:00.001-04:00

UMES Basketball Thought for the Day: "3 C's. Concentrate, Communicate, and Compete!"

Relay for Life

2010-09-22T08:39:00.000-04:00

Relay for Life is going to be a special day for me as this is a time that the community can fight against cancer by walking laps and being involved in various activities. Our team participated last year and I know I can speak for everyone in that we really had a blast. We met people from the local high schools and other students and student-athletes from Salisbury University.

(Oh and the funnel cakes... to die for. If you attend Friday night, I highly suggest that you buy at least one!)

This day will be even more special for us (and myself) because there are numerous people in our lives that have survived cancer. Coach Brown's wife and Coach Brummell will be on hand at the Shorebirds Stadium and we will honor them as survivors as they beat cancer. It is also a year ago today that my mom-mom was diagnosed with cancer and in May my mother was also diagnosed. Both are survivors that fought hard.

My grandmother on my father's side is currently fighting for her life with pancreatic cancer. This is a very hard topic for me, but I know that everything will be okay.

Having loved ones that are affected by cancer makes this day a lot more amazing to us than others.

Please see our team's web site for more information on how you can help UMES Athletics fight cancer. (http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?pg=team&fr_id=25997&team_id=750118)

Also, if you attend Relay for Life Friday night, please stop by our tent and say hi! We'll have plenty of goodies on hand and we love to meet our fans and the community!

-Tyler

Thought of the Day

2010-09-21T13:54:00.001-04:00

"Every time you help your teammate, you help yourself."

Relay for Life

2010-09-20T15:51:00.006-04:00

This coming Friday UMES Athletics will be participating in the annual American Cancer Society Relay for Life event.

Representatives from every team (if not all team members) will be there throughout the night, make sure you stop by and say HI! We'll also have schedule cards, Harry The Hawk autographed cards, temporary tattoos, stickers, and MORE!

I'm posting a few pictures from last year's Relay... the guys definitely had tons of fun and cannot wait for this Friday.

Fighting cancer is a team effort. The impact we can make together is much greater than what any of us could do alone.

At the American Cancer Society Relay For Life, our team will camp out overnight and take turns walking around the track to raise money and awareness to help the American Cancer Society save more lives from cancer. By joining or donating to our team, you will be a part of a life-changing event that gives everyone in the community a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against a disease that takes too much.

Please make a donation, or join our team and help us create a world where cancer can no longer claim another year of anyone’s life.

Fighting Hawks Teampage: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?pg=team&fr_id=25997&team_id=750118

If you're on Facebook, be sure to check out and RSVP to Harry T. Hawk's event page: UMES Relay for Life Wicomico County

Team Pictures

2010-09-19T19:41:00.002-04:00

Every year we have a few days devoted to taking pictures - headshots, poster photos, team photos, locker room shots. This year's theme is "Ruling the Court." On Friday we went to the courthouse in Princess Anne to take out poster picture. We wore our new white home jerseys and they're really nice.

In the picture, Coach Allen was dressed as a judge while all the other coaches looked like attorneys and lawyers in their black suits.

The picture turned out really nice, we can't wait to see the poster.

Get ready for UMES basketball as it's going to be a great year. We really will "Rule the Court."

-Tyler

Thought of the Day

2010-09-18T11:24:00.001-04:00

"Teamwork is the essence of success."

Schedule Poster

2010-09-17T14:05:00.000-04:00

Earlier today the team and I headed to the courthouse to take the picture for this year's schedule poster.

The team's theme is "Ruling the Court." Let me just say that we got some cool shots of the guys and also a bunch of Coach Allen dressed like a judge. I'm excited to see how this looks printed.

I know the team had a great time, especially Coach Allen. I think he mentioned that he was going to use some of the photos for his Christmas card this year. :-)

Photo Day 2

2010-09-16T16:15:00.004-04:00

The uniforms did not arrive from Russell until earlier this week so the guys weren't able to take their uniform head shots until this morning.

They also took a team photo on the bridge, which is now the new header of the blog.

Josh Bright poses for his head shot

Louis Bell, JoJo Swift, Mike Spence, Kevin Williams

Thought of the Day

2010-09-13T12:02:00.000-04:00

"It's supposed to be hard. If it was easy everyone would do it. The hard... The hard is what makes it great."

Pre-season workouts

2010-09-09T15:22:00.002-04:00

Right now is the most important part of the season as we prepare for the long road ahead. Two and a half months of morning runs, pick-up games, battling in the weight room and building team chemistry.

All the hard work we as a team put in now, we will always look back to in March when we are playing in the MEAC Championships. That is when all the hard work will pay off and we will remember that.

If you don't believe me when I say how hard we're working, come to the Hytche between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and you'll see that it is no joke.

-Tyler Hines

Happy Birthday Tim!

2010-09-08T10:15:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday to redshirt senior Tim Burns! Have an excellent day!

Coach Allen on the radio

2010-09-07T15:10:00.001-04:00

Earlier today Coach Allen and I went over to the WESM studios on campus to tape a public service announcement that will be airing the rest of the month.

Coach taped about a one minute segment discussing prostate cancer in preparation for a free screening and education event on Sept. 29 at the Peninsula Regional Medical Center.

Coach sure is a pro at this kind of stuff! He didn't want to do a dry run or anything, "let's just do it."

Tryout Meeting

2010-09-03T11:29:00.000-04:00

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team invites current UMES students to attend a tryout meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 7.

The meeting will be held at 6 a.m. in the front lobby of the W.P. Hytche Athletic Center and is open to those who are serious in trying out for the team.

This will be the only meeting for tryouts this year. If you have any questions, please contact assistant coach Mike Blaine at (410) 651-8155 or mblaine@umes.edu.

9/02/10

2010-09-02T09:10:00.005-04:00

This has absolutely nothing to do with basketball, but Happy 9/02/10 Day! Yeah, don't get it? 90210... like the TV show! I thought this was funny :-) If you knew me, you'd understand. I do enjoy the newer version of the show, but it's definitely all about the old-school episodes! (Yeah, I was about 5 when this show came out - you can thank my older sister for engraving it into my brain.)

(I have a weird feeling Coach Mike Blaine might like this too.)

Workouts

2010-09-01T16:25:00.001-04:00

Today is the first official day that the guys can work out. I checked them out in the arena while they were doing some plyometrics (which I'm pretty sure I'd kill myself doing) and then headed over to the weight room. They're looking good... definitely getting stronger.

The guys rotated between doing ropes exercises and jumping/footwork drills

This is posted in the weight room - the vertical jump heights of some NBA (former and current) players

Tim Burns

Tyler Hines

Mark Robertson

Coach Peery tapes freshman Kevin Williams for an upcoming strength/weight conditioning video

Coach Blaine's Words of Wisdom

2010-09-01T09:42:00.001-04:00

With the start of the new season approaching, Coach Blaine is deciding to post a daily words of wisdom - or something that comes out of the team/individual practices/workouts. This man always has some sort of quote or wisdom, so this will definitely be an interesting addition to the blog.

The first words of wisdom:

"It is not always enough to simply do your best, sometimes you must do what is required." Winston Churchill

In other words, there are standards of doing things and sometimes simply doing your best isn't good enough.

Move-in Day

2010-08-30T12:52:00.000-04:00

Hello my Hawk family, I know I've been gone for a bit, but I'm back to writing in full effect. I had a very good summer, but now we're all back.

Last Thursday was the official day that all Hawk Student-Athletes came back to campus to get ready for the upcoming school year.

As I arrived to UMES, the first person I saw was Mark Robertson. Behind him was Kevin White, Mike Spence and Freddy Obame Obame. We all couldn't stop smiling because we were all excited to see each other and be back together.

Moving in was rough as I had to unload everything in my truck and then get everything out of storage. It was a long day, but I'm happy to finally be back and reunited with my UMES family.

-Tyler Hines

First day of classes

2010-08-30T09:05:00.001-04:00

Today marks the first day of classes for UMES students. Best of luck to all in their courses this semester. Now is your time, make it count.

Photo Day

2010-08-27T15:03:00.001-04:00

Today was photo day for the team and of course I forgot to take camera shots until the end! Man, some of those boys were cheesin' hard! Wish I would've gotten some shots of that.

Freshman Louis Bell poses for his first official UMES photos!

Coach Nick Robinson doesn't smile in photos. I feel like all 10 of his head shots looked the same, but according to him there were vast differences. Uh huh, Coach Nick.

Kevin White was definitely the diva of the day... wanting to see his photos immediately after they were taken to make sure they were good and then picking the exact one that will be used this season! I told him he was worse than some of the volleyball girls.

Before photos, we had the team's first meeting of the season. I talked to the guys about safety and rules regarding UMES' Social Media Policy that we developed. It's really important that the guys and our student-athletes in general (and anyone else!) follows the guidelines because social media can be a dangerous (yet extremely helpful and AWESOME!)

Today is also my birthday, which I usually don't highly publicize, however the men's team caught wind of this (I have very good inclinations as to who) and they all sang Happy Birthday to me! It's good to have "family" away from home! Thanks guys! It's a good thing I love them all, otherwise the season would be extremely difficult since I pretty much have to spend 24/7 with them!

Outrageous Olympics

2010-08-26T18:50:00.003-04:00

Earlier today we held the annual Outrageous Olympics. You can read more about it here. There is also an entire photo gallery on there... with some hilarious shots. I've included some below (first four courtesy of Lloydlee Heite).

Coach Brown shows off his hula-hooping skills. (He'll probably kill me for posting this picture so shhhh, don't tell him!)

Freshman Mike Spence shows off his gear for one of the wacky games of the day.

Mike and Tyler Hines pose for a quick photo.

Coaches Nick Robinson and Curtis Peery (in addition to men's baseball assistant coach Eric Armstrong) spent all day manning the grill, preparing hot dogs, burgers and chicken for after the games.

Move-in Day!

2010-08-25T11:24:00.001-04:00

Today marks the day that freshmen and newcomers move into their dorms at UMES! The students are returning as the school and things are crazy on campus.

The men's team is hosting their first team meeting of the season on Friday and I will go talk to them about media and social media policies... it's bound to be a great time! After their meeting they will have their first round of head shot photos. They'll take their uniform head shot photos later in September when the uniforms arrive.

Welcome to all new students! Best of luck in your time at UMES.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!

2010-08-16T09:44:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday to senior guard Josh Bright!

Enjoy your day!

Summer at UMES

2010-08-06T15:12:00.005-04:00

After spring semester I had a chance to go home for a month and a half. Over Memorial Day weekend, I was able to take my first vacation in almost five years. A couple of my childhood friends and I went to Miami and we had the best time ever. I stayed for four days and didn't want to leave, but I had to get back to New Jersey to start my summer workouts.

While I was home, I was waiting for my brother, Kyle, to come home from Italy. He plays professionally overseas and his team was in the Italian League playoffs. He wouldn't be home for another three weeks, which felt like forever.

After the Fourth of July holiday it was time for me to head back to UMES and get ready for summer classes. I was excited to get back and see my teammates and coaches.

Our summer schedule included class in the morning for two hours, workout (weights) and play pickup ball at night. It was fun, especially getting a chance to meet newcomers Louis Bell and Kevin Williams. I really like them a lot and playing with them made me even more anxious and excited for the upcoming season.

-Tyler

UMES Night Out with the Delmarva Shorebirds

2010-08-04T10:11:00.002-04:00

Click on flier for clearer details

We're excited about this upcoming event...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RJ!

2010-07-28T23:12:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday to senior center RJ Tucker! Have a great day!

UMES Night Out with the Shorebirds

2010-07-20T14:32:00.002-04:00

We're currently in the process of planning a "UMES Night Out with the Shorebirds," planned for Friday, Sept. 3. We're hoping to have student-athletes, coaches, alumni, students, faculty and anyone and everything UMES related at the game. It's sure to be a fun night that you can celebrate and mingle with the UMES community.

Stay tuned to UMESHawks.com for more information.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUG!

2010-07-09T08:55:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday to the Hawks' All-Time Season Assists Leader - Kevin "Sug" White! Ask him sometime about his nickname :-)

Hope you're having a fantastic summer! (And working hard for this upcoming season!)

Happy Fourth of July!

2010-07-04T10:24:00.002-04:00

Happy Fourth of July to all UMES staff, faculty, students, student-athletes, fans, parents, supporters and everyone else!

Please be safe on this great holiday and enjoy great American food, parades and fireworks! This is one of the best parts of summer!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER!

2010-06-27T11:23:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday to junior forward/center Tyler Hines! (Also our very awesome guest blogger)

Hope you're enjoying your summer... we look forward to your posts this upcoming season!

No Off-Season

2010-06-23T14:16:00.002-04:00

In athletics, especially at the collegiate and professional levels, there really is no such thing as an off-season. School may be out and the student-athletes are not taking classes, but this is the time that they really win the games.

This is the time of year when there are extra workouts put in and the players need to work harder than their opponent. When I was growing up, I remember one of my coaches telling us, "The summer is when individual players are made... the rest of the year is when the team is made."

I think this is a great motto. In the summer, you have to work on your own personal game and strength and conditioning. Then, in the fall when practice starts back up, is when all of those individuals combine their summer efforts to make the team as a whole better.

Before the school year ended, the coaches handed out the perfect shirts. On the front they said OFF SEASON with a huge mark through it. Nope, there definitely is no off season.

Art Shell Golf Photos

2010-06-21T09:07:00.008-04:00

Here are some photos from last week's Art Shell Celebrity Golf Open and Legends Reception. Again, sorry for the poor quality, they're from my phone.

Cool UMES crab mallets

Registration table

Event sponsors

Oceanside decorations

Art Shell hat that was given to all the celebrity golfers

Art Shell golf towel and hat

Autographed Art Shell golf bag on the auction table

UMES Athletics auction basket

NFL autographed golf bag (auction item)

Autographed Fernando Guerrero boxing gloves (auction item)

Reception tables

UMES Athletics gift shop (if you see anything you like here, give me a call at 410-651-8075 or email mlhayon@umes.edu... we have all of it for sale!)

Harry's friend Poe, from the Ravens, even came to help celebrate!

Welcome sign at the golf course

Golf Course

Art Shell Golf Outing

2010-06-19T13:54:00.006-04:00

Earlier this week we held the Art Shell UMES Celebrity Golf Classic to benefit student scholarships for the university's PGA Golf Management Program.

This was a great event that included a junior tournament on Tuesday, which was followed by a Legends Reception pairing party. There were a bunch of NFL greats and UMES alumni on hand for a night full of Maryland-style cuisine (including hard crabs), live entertainment and a silent auction.

Wednesday was the Celebrity Golf Classic, which was held at Great Hope Golf Course in Westover, Md., followed by an awards dinner at the SSC.

NFL Hall of Famers that were in attendance include:

Art Shell (Oakland Raiders 1968-81, Los Angeles Raiders 1982, UMES Class of 1968)
Elvin Bethea (Houston Oilers 1968-83)
Bobby Mitchell (Cleveland Browns 1958-61, Washington Redskins 1962-68)

College Hall of Famers that were in attendance include:

Roger Brown (Detroit Lions 1960-66, Los Angeles Rams 1967-69, UMES Class of 1960)
Emerson Boozer (New York Jets 1966-75, UMES Class of 1965)

"UMES, my alma mater, continues to reach students, many of whom are first generation college students and for whom college may have been out of reach due to limited resources," said Shell. "This is why, in times like these, it is important as ever to rally together to support students who desire more, and who can achieve more, if just given the opportunity."

You're probably wondering what this has to do with UMES basketball. Coach Allen attended the Legends Reception and was also joined by myself and Coach Blaine on Wed. for the golf outing. The men's team is great supporters of this event and really anything that helps promote UMES and bring scholarship money to students. Despite storms threatening on Wednesday, the golfers had perfect weather and never had to leave the course.

Game-worn jerseys for sale

2010-06-17T11:11:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago I spent at least two days sorting, organizing and inventorying game worn jerseys, shorts, warmups, etc. from the past decade. It was a tedious and tiring process, but now they are ready for sale! It's crazy how many different styles there were (there are men's and women's available). We'll have them online for sale hopefully by the beginning of the basketball season. We're also hoping to have them for sale at EVERY home game this season! Make sure to keep your eyes open for them because once they're gone... they're gone!