Photos from Howard

Bret & Nick's view from the press box during the women's game. Those stands were jam-packed for the men's game.

Bret interviews Coach Allen before tipoff of the men's game. The Burr Gymnasium had various different levels and you see here one of the many staircases. We had to go down a few hallways and stairs to find the locker room... it was like a maze!

You sort of see how packed the building was during intros. It was the last home game of the season/Senior Night for the Bison and the fans were there... loud and proud!

Lots of UMES fans drove up to D.C. for the game... they were also super loud and proud to support their Hawks! Here I snapped a quick pic of them during an OT free throw. The Hawks definitely sent their fans home happy!

Awesome OT win!

I'm still excited from last night's 68-66 OT win over Howard. They didn't have wireless in their building so I was unable to blog at all yesterday. I will update you today with photos and thoughts from the day and our journey to/from D.C.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COACH BROWN!

I just talked to him and he mentioned that he is spending the day doing such by pampering himself by treating himself to lunch, treating himself to a movie (Avatar), treating himself to a haircut and relaxing... by himself.

Do you notice a trend? The man is in love with HIMSELF.

(It's also my grandma's birthday. And I know she has no idea how to work a computer, much less know what a blog is, but Happy Birthday to her too! JB, it's not just YOUR day!)

COACHES' CORNER RADIO SHOW

Associate Head Coach G. Jamal Brown and sophomore Tyler Hines joined us for the Coaches' Corner joined us for a special Tuesday edition of the Coaches' Corner.

Coach Brown

Tyler Hines - MEAC Defensive Player of the Week

Coaches' Corner Details

Who: head coach Frankie Allen, players and other guests

What: Radio show, hosted on WGOP 540 a.m., live audio at www.umeshawks.com and live video streaming on www.umeshawks.com

Where: Hawks Nest (inside the Student Services Center on Campus)

When: Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to noon

NEW DATE - Coaches' Corner Radio Show

This week's Coaches' Corner has been moved from tomorrow to TODAY to accomodate a few schedules.

Don't forget to join us LIVE at the Hawk's Nest from 11 a.m. to noon and receive a great lunch special (Miss LaVerne takes care of us, so you know it's bound to be good!)

COACHES' CORNER RADIO SHOW

Today we're live with Coach Allen and redshirt freshman Mark Robertson.

Food Special: Wings and Chicken Tenders for just 99 cents! Also, grilled chicken breast sandwich and fries for $3.50. Mention the Coaches' Corner for your discount!

Coaches' Corner Details

Who: head coach Frankie Allen, players and other guests

What: Radio show, hosted on WGOP 540 a.m., live audio at www.umeshawks.com and live video streaming onwww.umeshawks.com

Where: Hawks Nest (inside the Student Services Center on Campus)

When: Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to noon

Apologies

I apologize for taking a blogging hiatus. As I've mentioned previously, once we're at home, I get pulled in so many other directions and don't have time to blog like I do on the road. Once I get a chance, I'll blog about my experiences preparing for our recent Take A Kid to the Game day and what we're doing to get ready for Homecoming on Saturday.

GAME DAY! UMES @ North Carolina Central - Starters

UMES - Maroon uniforms

00 Obame Obame

3 White

11 Burns

24 Haley

32 Hines

North Carolina Central - White uniforms

12 Wilkerson

21 Taylor

22 Sims

35 Chasten

42 Manns

Special Coaches' Corner: LIVE from shootaround

Just because we're on the road doesn't mean we're gonna cancel the Coaches' Corner Radio Show! Today we're LIVE from shootaround!

Coach Brown and Coach Peery work with the big men (Freddy Obame Obame and RJ Tucker shown) on post plays. Notice the sun shining through the windows, made for an interesting setting during practice.

Freddy Obame Obame was awesome with Bret and Nick, talking about Libreville, Gabon, his basketball experience, soccer, his role on the team and his French-speaking capabilities.

Hillary "Pop" Haley spoke with Bret about his connections with NBA stars Kevin Durant and Ty Lawson, where his nickname came from, his play this season and the small lineup that the Hawks produce.

Coaches' Corner Details

Who: head coach Frankie Allen, players and other guests

What: Radio show, hosted on WGOP 540 a.m., live audio at www.umeshawks.com and live video streaming onwww.umeshawks.com

Where: Hawks Nest (inside the Student Services Center on Campus)

When: Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to noon

Practice @ North Carolina Central

A few pictures as the guys practice this evening in preparation for their non-conference matchup against North Carolina Central.

The gym is very small and very old. Reminds me of the gyms that were in movies such as Hoosiers, etc. Hoping for a great atmosphere at tomorrow's game!

ESPN loves Tim Burns

Well how about my surprise when I go to breakfast this morning and see our very own Tim Burns on Sportcenter's Top 10! They featured his steal and 'circus' move in the first half of last night's game when he made the basket and was fouled.

I also just saw him on ESPN's SportsNation, that clip was a little bit longer.

I asked Tim about it not too long ago and he said he's Sportcentered out! "I've been watching and hearing about it all day..."

If you missed it, check it out on our YouTube page...

http://www.youtube.com/user/UMESHAWKSATHLETICS#p/u/0/uvn2oDS_TIk

I believe Bret is also going to interview Tim at some point, so stay tuned for that!

UMES 62, NCAT 52 - FINAL

Well that was exciting! And what a showing on ESPNU! Great job guys!

Let's continue this on Wednesday at NCCU. Go Hawks!

GAME DAY! UMES @ NCAT - Starters

UMES - Maroon uniforms

00 Obame Obame

10 Bright

11 Burns

24 Haley

32 Hines

NCAT - White uniforms

3 Alston

5 Joshua

23 Coleman

31 Witter

34 Johnson

Coach Allen shook up the starting lineup a bit tonight for various reasons. Hopefully this can give us a spark?

GAME DAY! ESPNU Coverage - UMES @ NCAT

ESPNU is covering our game against NCAT tonight. The guys are very excited to show the nation what they can do.

Camera crew in the locker room during the pre-game speech

Stan Lewter and Charlie Neal were the commentators for the night

Santa Jack

I have to make a post about our bus driver, Santa Jack. I hadn't even gotten out to the bus on Friday and Bret announced to me that Santa was our bus driver. I'm like umm, okay? He proceeded to tell me that the guy looks like Santa and is a legend to teams in the area.

I met him when I got on the bus and he mentioned how he knows Bret from driving the Delmarva Shorebirds and he also splits some of his time driving for the Wilmington Blue Rocks (in northern Delaware) and has driven for other Minor League Baseball teams. When Coach Allen and Coach Peery got on the bus, they knew him from Roanoke!

Apparently Santa Jack is a legend! Not only does Santa Jack look like a real Santa, he is Santa during the holiday season! I better watch myself around this guy :-) I'm glad that he's been able to be with us on this long road trip, he's super nice. Very courteous and talkative. Wish we could have him "full-time!"

I'll try to get a picture of him/post it before he leaves us on Thursday.

Practice

The guys are currently practicing at North Carolina A&T. After practice, I overheard the coaches ordered over 350 wings for everyone and we're going to watch the Super Bowl. Man, these boys can eat!

Greensboro, N.C.

Just arrived to Greensboro and this might possibly be the best hotel of the season. Rooms are spacious and comfortable and the beds look amazing. (edit: They ARE amazing!) Wireless is iffy, but there is an ethernet, so that'll work. I guess that'll force me to do work at the desk and not in bed.

It's nice to be here a day earlier (arriving immediately after our last game instead of waiting until the next day to leave). It means we have a night to ourselves essentially and some time 'off.' Hope to grab a 'decent' dinner and get some sleep before tomorrow.

Norfolk State 64, UMES 62 - FINAL

Well that was rough and heartbreaking. We really should have been able to pull this one out. Now we get to jump on a bus for four-plus hours to Greensboro, N.C. I have a feeling it'll be pretty quiet and everyone'll catch up on some sleep while our driver, "Santa Jack," trudges his way through some sleet and snow. I guess he's use to this stuff though?

GAME DAY! UMES @ Norfolk State - Starters

UMES - Maroon Uniforms

3 White

11 Burns

24 Haley

32 Hines

34 Pitt

Norfolk State - Yellow Uniforms

1 Hampton

2 Deloach

3 Pauline

5 Zephyr

10 O'Quinn

Warmups

GAME DAY! UMES @ Norfolk State

Today's pre-game schedule got a little thrown off with the tip-off time moved up to 2 p.m. instead of 6. Shootaround was axed and pre-game meal turned into breakfast. Nothing major however. It was actually kind of nice to get up, shower, eat and get to the arena instead of having a bunch of down time.

Hopefully it pays off in about an hour and a half-two hours when we tip off against the Spartans.

GO HAWKS!

Sleeper bus = trouble

Since this road trip takes us to North Carolina, we have a sleeper bus. Immediately when I got on the bus I thought, "uh oh, trouble." Somehow I saw fighting over the couches and who gets to sit where. Surprisingly, nothing really seemed to faze them, they were actually excited to have the couches and try to scrunch into the tiny sleeper beds on the top. Kevin White was the first on the bus and since he's one of the smaller guys... he fight very nicely into the top beds. And then proceeded to hide from all his teammates. It's safe to say that he scared a good 75% of them as they got on the bus. It was actually quite hilarious, I wish I would've had the video camera out.

Like usual, he wanted me to take pictures. I'm pretty sure he loves his pics plastered all over the blog.

A pic I held off on taking was the one of Hillary Haley sleeping under one of the couches. How he fit his large body under there is beyond me, but he was so cute, looked liked a little kid all curled up in a tight spot.

NORFOLK STATE GAME TIME CHANGE

Just an FYI...

Tomorrow's game against Norfolk State has been moved up to 2 p.m. due to impending weather. For more information, visit umeshawks.com

Recruiting Day 2 (More work, less travel)

As I entered day 2 of a whirlwind blitz for UMES Basketball, I realized how fortunate I am in a lot of areas. First and foremost this morning, I realized how fortunate I was to snag one of the last rooms at the Holiday Inn South Kingstown. With 29 different schools competing at the National Prep School Invitational, hotel rooms around the University of Rhode Island are at a premium! A 6 AM wake up call leads to a quick workout and allows a couple more hours to watch film on North Carolina A&T. In scouting, you have to be as prepared as you can for any possible contingency and watching as many game films as possible gives you a chance to see a lot of the finer details in a team’s approach. The extra time before our 10:00 AM tipoff proved to be most valuable.

The order of the day was evaluating talent, and fortunately at an event like this, there was plenty! NCAA rules prohibit me from publicly commenting on a prospective student-athlete before he signs a National Letter of Intent. What I CAN tell you is that I saw a lot of good young basketball players that could be excellent future Hawks!

After a busy day in the gym, I jumped back in the car to begin making my way back to Princess Anne before our Friday departure for Norfolk State. I’m very fortunate to have a brother and sister that live in New York City, which dramatically shortened my drive home last night!

Here’s some facts and figures from Day 2…

Tipoff of Game 1: 10:04 AM

Number of Basketball Games Watched: 8

Number of Trips to the Concession Stand: 3

Number of States/Countries Represented by Competing Teams Yesterday: 9 States and 1 Foreign Country (New Jersey, Maine, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Arizona, and The Canary Islands)

Final Buzzer of Game 8: 10:23 PM

Departure Time: 10:29 PM

Miles Traveled: 175.7

Water Consumption: 40.0 fl. oz

1^st Radio Song of the Night: U2, Vertigo

States Traveled Through: 3 (Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York)

Shell Gas Station Fill Ups: 1

Number of Billy Joel Songs that were heard on the radio: 3 (Piano Man, My Life, You May Be Right) – New York LOVES Billy Joel!

View of the Day/Night: The lights of New York City at 12:30 AM as I crossed the Whitestone Bridge

Last Radio Song of the Day: Usher, Papers

Food Suggestion: No great culinary experiences here, but the concession stand workers at Keaney Gym were very hospitable, and it’s always great to find a McDonald’s right before your exit to I-95!

Arrival in Brooklyn, NY: 1:17 AM

Tomorrow brings an early rise and a full day of driving ahead! More stories from the road coming soon…

-Coach Blaine

Coach Blaine on the road

Today begins a very busy 7 days for the UMES Hawks. With a stretch of 3 away games in 5 days looming on the horizon, it's a busy time for our program. However, during the stretch run of our season, recruiting also takes a high priority for the staff as the spring looms and we are a little over two months away from the spring signing period. As such, we take every opportunity we can to combine practices, games, team travel, and recruiting to be as efficient and effective as we can be as a coaching staff.

With a day off from practice today, I took advantage of the time to make my way up to Kingston, Rhode Island a day early to prepare for the National Prep Invitational. Ordinarily this might be a trip that I would make a plane flight for, but with time being such a pressing issue for us over the next few days, and many more recruiting trips ahead of our staff this week, it was in our best interest for me to drive, thereby allowing us the freedom to make travel adjustments along the way.

Here's some early information about the 1st day of a busy week ahead!

Departure Time: 7:45 AM

Miles Traveled: 427.9

Water Consumption: 69.7 fl oz

1st Radio Song of the Day: Garth Brooks, Friends in Low Places

States Traveled Through: 6 (Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island)

Number of Times "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga was heard on the radio: 7

Starbucks Stops: 1

Number of Different U2 Songs that were heard on the radio: 6 (I Will Follow, Bad, The Sweetest Thing, One, With or Without You, Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own)

Shell Gas Station Fill Ups: 1

View of the Day: Looking into New York City as I crossed over the George Washington Bridge on a clear afternoon

Last Radio Song of the Day: Kid Rock, All Summer Long

Food Suggestion: Upon the recommendation of a Rhode Island native and friend of the UMES basketball, if you ever find yourself in Wakefield, RI, you must make your way over to Mews' Tavern. The large neon shamrock on the top of the restaurant makes it hard to miss! Ask for Sandra, who provided prompt and efficient service, and try the Shepherd's Pie. It's a great classic and a staple of their menu!

My night ended with some film study for our upcoming game against North Carolina A&T. They will be a tough test, especially on the road. Make sure you tune in and check it out Monday night on ESPNU! Time to get some sleep and be ready for a busy day of basketball tomorrow!

-Coach Blaine

Recruiting Trips

Coach Blaine left today for a whirl wind of a recruiting trip. He will be posting details hopefully nightly of his CRAZY week.

COACHES' CORNER RADIO SHOW

Don't forget to join us live today for a daily food special only for our listeners!

Today's Guest: Josh Bright

Coaches' Corner Details

Who: head coach Frankie Allen, players and other guests

What: Radio show, hosted on WGOP 540 a.m., live audio at www.umeshawks.com and live video streaming on www.umeshawks.com

Where: Hawks Nest (inside the Student Services Center on Campus)

When: Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to noon

GAME DAY! Hampton @ UMES

Just stuck my head into the gym to check on something and the guys just wrapped up shootaround in preparation for tonight's game against Hampton at 7:30.