Florida A&M

Detroit Grabs First Bid Since 1999: Tuesday's Quick Hitters

Raphielle Johnson — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 23:09:23 -0800

When Western Kentucky fired Ken McDonald on January 6th few envisioned the young Hilltoppers earning a bid to the NCAA tournament. But they did just that, beating North Texas 74-70 in the Sun Belt title game.

1. Another team playing their best basketball at the right time is Detroit, who pulled away to beat top-seed Valparaiso on the Horizon League title game.
Ray McCallum Sr.'s Titans struggled offensively in the first half of thir contest with top seed Valparaiso, shooting just 29% from the field. But they trailed by just three points thanks to their effort on the defensive end, forcing the Crusaders into 11 first half turnovers. Things would change for Detroit in the second half, as Ray McCallum Jr. took control of the contest and as a team the Titans shot 57.7% while limiting Valpo to 31.8% from the field. The end result was a 70-50 win for Detroit, who has now won ten of their last eleven games heading into the Big Dance.

McCallum Jr. finished with a team-high 21 points to go along with six rebounds, four steals and three assists. Jason Calliste added 17 points and LaMarcus Lowe 14 and ten rebounds, and three of Valparaiso's four best players were kept in check. Will Bogan, Ben Boggs and Erik Buggs combined to score just five points, shooting a poor 1-for-12 on the night. Depending on their seed Detroit is more than capable of throwing a scare into a high seed, and with the amount of talent at McCallum Sr.'s disposal it likely wouldn't be a stunner if they were to pick up a win next week.

2. South Dakota State caps the five-year trek with an NCAA bid, beating Western Illinois in overtime to win the Summit League.
To become a full-fledged Division I member schools have to go through a five-year provisional period, meaning that while they can compete in conferences and win regular season titles they're ineligible to compete in NCAA championship events. That five-year wait for the South Dakota State Jackrabbits was likely a rough one in that regard, but they were able to make up for Nate Wolters' off night to beat Western Illinois 54-52 in overtime.

Wolters shot 5-for-22 from the field, 4-for-17 from beyond the arc due in part to WIU's play defensively. But others stepped up, most notably Griffin Callahan, as he scored ten points and grabbed six rebounds to help lead the charge. If the Jackrabbits are to have any shot at a tournament win next week Wolters will need to have one of his best games of the season, but it will help matters if his teammates take advantage of their opportunities as well.

3. Princeton knocks off rival Penn, which gives Harvard their first NCAA tournament bid since 1946.
Rivalry games with a title on the line can be tricky affairs, especially if one team no longer has a shot at the title. That's exactly what Penn had to deal with on Tuesday night, as they visited rival Princeton looking for the win that would result in sharing the regular season title with Harvard and setting up a one-game playoff. Penn came out of the gatest slow, scoring just 17 points in the first half of what would become a 62-52 Princeton win. Zack Rosen scored 19 points to lead the Quakers, but he also had seven turnovers. Shooting would be the bigger issue for Jerome Allen's team as they shot 38.6% from inside of the arc, squandering an opportunity to take advantage of 20 Princeton turnovers. Add in a nearly unstoppable Ian Hummer and it becomes rather simple to figure out why the Crimson were able to wrap up an outright Ivy League title despite not playing. .

Quick Hitters

1. Day one at the Big East Championship didn't provide much in the way of drama as all four games were decided by at least 14 points. But most importantly both Connecticut and Seton Hall advanced, and they'll both have good opportunities for quality wins on Wednesday. UConn, who beat DePaul 81-64, takes on eight seed West Virginia in the first game of the day. Seton Hall will look to follow their 79-47 win over Providence with a win over seven-seed Louisville, and it's safe to say that both the Huskies and Pirates need to do the bare minimum and keep winning.

2. The home teams held serve in the first round of the Atlantic 10 tournament, with all four winning to advance to Atlantic City. This development also set up what will be a huge quarterfinal between four-seed Xavier and five-seed Dayton, as both teams are in serious need of wins at this point. The Flyers beat 12-seed George Washington 67-50, limiting the Colonials to 17 first-half points.

3. The fans will get what they wanted to see in the Big Sky: round three between regular season champion Montana and runner-up Weber State, as both won their semifinal matchups on Tuesday night. Mathias Ward scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the Grizzlies' 74-66 win over Eastern Washington but it was Kareem Jamar who left his fingerprints all over the game, accounting for 18 points, 13 rebounds and two steals. Damian Lillard put up 22 points, four assists and four steals to lead Weber State to a 69-63 win over Portland State. The home team won both meetings during the regular season, but that tends to go out of the window in tournament finals.

4. Back to the Big East for a second, as it is important to point out how critical the offseason will be for Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights ended their season with a 70-49 loss to Villanova on Tuesday, and while the addition of Kansas State transfer Wally Judge will help those youngers who were thrown into the fire this season need to improve if Mike Rice's team is to make a move in the Big East.

5. A lack of familiarity can spark some interesting (and unexpected) happenings, which was the case in Florida A&M's 74-72 win over Coppin State in the first round of the MEAC tournament. FAMU trailed 43-28 at the half and by six with 4:38 to go, but an 11-3 run put the Rattlers in the driver's seat. The only other lower-seeded team to win in Winston-Salem was Howard, who beat North Carolina A&T 51-50 on a Calvin Thompson layup with 46 seconds remaining

MEAC Basketball Preview: 08-09

CHN — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:54:55 -0800

Conference Rank: 30th

Conference Page

All-MEAC Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	Tywain McKee	Coppin St	Sr
G	Reggie Holmes	Morgan St	Jr
G/F	Corey Lyons	Norfolk St	Sr
F	Marquise Kately	Morgan St	Sr
F	Jason Johnson	So. Carolina St	Sr
CHN Award Winners		Returning Leaders
none		Points: Tywain McKee 16.6 Rebounds: Jason Johnson 7.5 Assists: Joe Ballard (FAMU) 3.8

MEAC Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

126	Morgan State*	MEAC	1	NCAA
167	Hampton	MEAC	2
197	Delaware State	MEAC	3
240	Norfolk State	MEAC	4
254	South Carolina St	MEAC	5
283	Florida A&M	MEAC	6
301	Coppin State**	MEAC	7
310	NC A&T	MEAC	8
317	Howard	MEAC	9
319	Bethune-Cookman	MEAC	10
339	UMES	MEAC	11

*Click on links for full Top 144 team preview

** returning conference champion

Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the MEAC?

Other MEAC Content

Conference Media Poll

Other

Rise & Fall: MEAC

State of '08: Florida

Shawn Siegel — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 09:48:10 -0700

HTML clipboard

Duke or Carolina? BC or UMASS? Gonzaga or Washington.. or Washington State? What is the best program in each state? While there's not much competition in Hawaii.. there are great debates to be had in loaded regions like California, North Carolina, and Texas. The State of '08 is a ranking of every program in every state.. based mostly on recent success (the last five years) mixed in with subjective factors such as conference prestige, historical success, and overall program direction.

Up today: Florida For more info, check out the State of '08 introduction.

FLORIDA

FLORIDA - Obvious choice at the top of the Sunshine state. Before last year, Billy Donovan's Gators had made 9 NCAA Tournaments in a row.. including back to back national titles. Hart to top that.

MIAMI - Since Frank Haith took over four years ago, Miami has made two NIT trips and one NCAA Tournament. But in the five years before last, Miami hadn't reached the Top 60 in RPI, and they've still never finished above .500 in the ACC. Fans are certainly expecting a big ACC finish this time around.

FLORIDA STATE - The 'Noles perpetually seem to be on the verge of something big, but they can't seem to get over the hump. This is basically the story of Leonard Hamilton's career. In the last six years, FSU has hovered between 41 and 81 in the RPI five times.. but have yet to reach the Big Dance.

CENTRAL FLORIDA - Despite lacking the profile of a Miami or FSU, UCF is a consistently solid team that deserves more attention. Long time coach Kirk Speraw has led the Knights to four NCAA Tournaments, and helped them make the transition to the more competitive Conference USA. Since joining the CUSA before 2006, the Knights have finished .500 or better in league play each season.

SOUTH FLORIDA - The Bulls haven't had much success since joining the Big East, but the program does seem to be gaining momentum. Last year, USF beat three Top 60 teams including FSU, UAB, and Syracuse.

6. FLORIDA A&M - The Rattlers are always one of the better teams in the MEAC. In fact, 2001 was the last time FAMU finished below .500 in league play. Although the MEAC is the 2nd worst league in the country, the Rattlers have taken advantage of the weak competition by making the Tournament in 2004 & 2007.

7. FLORIDA ATLANTIC - After a shocking Tourney run in 2002, the Owls haven't sniffed postseason play. In fact, FAU has only won two SB tournament games in the past six seasons, though they've been competitive in the last three seasons. It will be interesting to see if new head coach Mike Jarvis can regain some his former glory, after his tenure at St. John's came to an embarrassing end.

8. JACKSONVILLE - The Dolphins are coming off one of their best campaigns in recent memory, finishing 2nd in the A-Sun, making it to the conference title game, and finishin with an RPI of 164. That's pretty heady stuff for a program that was 1-26 in 2006 (only managing to knock of UNF). This is the 2nd season in a row that JU led its Florida rivals (Stetson, FGCU, and UNF) in the A-Sun.

9. STETSON - The Mad Hatters have hovered around 250 in the RPI for the past couple years, but are coming off a decent campaign that included an 11-5 Atlantic Sun record. This is the second time Stetson has won 11 league games in the past three seasons.

10. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL - FIU is consistently overmatched by its Sun Belt competition. The Panthers haven't finished above .500 in league play since 2000.. and really haven't come close since. At least things have improved since 03 & 04 when FIU was one of the worst teams in the country, winning just 10 D1 games those years.

11. BETHUNE-COOKMAN - The Wildcats continue to struggle, finishing 3rd to last in the lowly MEAC in back to back seasons. 2000 was probably the last time there was any legitimate hope of making a run in the conference tournament.

12. FLORIDA GULF COAST - In their first full D1 season, FGCU had decent success, winning 10 games, including 6 in the Atlantic Sun. At the very least, this already puts them ahead of North Florida.

13. NORTH FLORIDA - Despite a decent nickname (the Ospreys), UNF hasn't had even the slightest success since joining D1 in 05-06. UNF has won an amazingly small 7 D1 games in the past three seasons, and only beat winless NJIT in the RPI last year.

Last: D.C. - Next: Georgia

State of '08: The Introduction

FAMU Fires Mike Gillespie

Ed Matisik — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 07:29:06 -0700

Florida A&M University announced on Tuesday, August 14th that men’s head basketball coach Mike Gillespie was immediately relieved of his duties. Gillespie had been placed on paid administrative leave by Florida A&M in May after his arrest for misdemeanor stalking of a former girlfriend. Gillespie was arrested on May 25th after he was observed driving past his former girlfriend’s house after having received repeated warnings from the Tallahassee Police Department for making several unwanted visits to her home and workplace. Gillespie, who is married, has been on paid administrative leave since his arrest.

University president James Ammons said in a statement released by Florida A&M on Tuesday that “This employment action is in the best interest of the Men’s Basketball Program and the University.” While Gillespie’s termination is effectively immediately, the University indicated that he will remain on paid administrative leave through November 2nd. Athletic Director Nelson Townsend stated that Florida A&M will immediately form a committee to hire a new coach “early in the fall.” The school did not indicate what would happen to Gillespie’s assistant coaches, including his son Mike Gillespie, Jr., who served as his father’s top assistant.

Florida state prosecutor Gina Cappleman has stated that she intends to offer Gillespie probation with certain currently unspecified conditions at a case management hearing scheduled to be heard on August 29th. Gillespie has been wearing an ankle monitoring bracelet as a condition of his release from custody in May.

During his six seasons with the school, Florida A&M compiled a record of 60-64, won two Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championships, and made two NCAA tournament appearances in 2004 and 2007. This past season he led the Rattlers to their first 20-win season since 1989-1990. Prior to his tenure at Florida A&M, Gillespie was the head coach of a community college in Tallahassee and Division II power St. Leo’s College (Fla.).

Court of Justice: FAMU Coach Arrested

Ed Matisik — Mon, 28 May 2007 17:22:13 -0700

Florida A&M men’s head basketball coach Mike Gillespie, Sr. was arrested Friday, May 25th on a misdemeanor stalking charge by officers of the Tallahassee (Fla.) Police Department.

In the arrest report issued by the Tallahassee Police Department (TPD), the arresting officers stated that an unnamed woman had complained several times to the TPD since early 2005 about Gillespie’s alleged stalking behavior. She called the TPD again on May 15, 2007, and stated that Gillespie had made unwanted “advances” toward her, but she refused to file formal charges in the hope that Gillespie would stop contacting her. Gillespie had been contacted by the TPD on several occasions over the past two years regarding the women’s allegations and he was warned to stop his behavior.

Police arrested Gillespie Friday morning after the woman called the TPD and stated that Gillespie had tried to contact her at work on Thursday and, again, at home early on Friday. David McCranie, a spokesman for the TPD, stated that the police decided to arrest Gillespie on Friday after he refused to “tell his side of the story.” Gillespie was released by the TPD late Friday afternoon on a $1,000 bond after a judge ordered him not to attempt to contact the woman and required him to wear a GPS-monitored ankle bracelet.

Tim Jansen, Gillespie’s attorney, denied the woman’s charges, stating that, “It didn’t happen.” Jansen claimed that the TPD had acted prematurely by failing to contact and question prior to the arrest. McCranie denied Jansen’s allegations, and stated that Gillespie simply refused to speak with them and that, “This was a clear case of stalking.”

The relationship, if any, between the woman and Gillespie is presently unknown. Gillespie, 56, is married and has two adult children, one of whom, Mike Gillespie, Jr., serves as his top assistant coach.

Florida A&M University (FAMU) released a statement over the weekend in which it stated that the university’s general counsel and president would meet with Gillespie and review the charges against him.

The FAMU men’s basketball team finished the 2006-2007 season with a 21-14 record. The Rattlers finished second in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular season standings and won the MEAC tournament, but lost to Niagara University in the opening round of the 2007 NCAA tournament.

Gillespie, who just completed his sixth season at FAMU, has had a measure of success in turning around the FAMU men’s basketball program. Gillespie has a overall record of 90-94 at the school, but he has led the team to two MEAC championships and two NCAA tournament appearances. In addition to their appearance in this year’s NCAA tournament, the Rattlers defeated Lehigh in the opening round of the 2004 NCAA tournament before losing to #1 Kentucky, 96-76.

MEAC Preview

CHN — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 10:47:07 -0800

Conference Previews | Top 144 | 06-07 Preview Home

MEAC Preview

Conference Rank: 30th

Conference Page

All-Conference

Player of the Year - Jahsha Bluntt, Delaware St, G/F

Twain McKee, Coppin St, G

Brian Mason, South Carolina St, G/F

Rome Sanders, FAMU, F

Jason Wills, NC A&T, F

Nat'l	Team (Click for Preview)	Conf	Tourney
140	Coppin State	1	NCAA
178	Delaware State	2
213	Norfolk State	3
222	NC A&T	4
237	Florida A&M	5
256	Hampton	6
275	South Carolina St	7
298	Howard	8
316	Morgan State	9
329	Bethune-Cookman	10
334	UMES	11