GAME DAY: UMES @ NCCU - Starters

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

UMES @ South Carolina State - Starters

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.

Photo Day 2

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

Photo Day

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!

Summer at UMES

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