MD-ES

Jon Teitel's Coaches Interview Series: Former UMES Head Coach Kirkland Hall

Jon Teitel — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 01:48:15 -0400

In the most recent installment in his coaches interview series CHN writer Jon Teitel spent some time with former UMES basketball coach Kirkland Hall. Hall has contributed to the school in a number of ways and ranks third in school history with 79 wins. Coach Hall also managed the baseball (school's all-time wins leader) and softball (third in school history in wins) teams during his career at UMES.

Jon Teitel: You lettered in both baseball and basketball during your time at UMES. Which sport did you enjoy more, and which one were you better at?
Kirkland Hall: I lettered in basketball for three years. I enjoyed both sports but my greatest thrills came in basketball, playing with and against so many great players. I believe that my best sport was baseball because my size (5'8") did not prevent me from having the little success I enjoyed, as I made the All-MEAC baseball team in both my junior and senior years.

JT: How did you get into coaching, and what did it mean to you to become coach at your alma mater?
KH: I was fortunate that many of my uncles were managers and coaches for a semi-pro Negro League baseball team called the Oaksville Eagles that was started in 1910 in Somerset County, MD. As I observed them managing/coaching, I knew that was what I wanted to do in life. While in college I coached baseball in the county little league and coached basketball for a youth team during my senior year. It was the greatest thrill in my life to be invited back to coach at UMES. It was only four years after the school appeared in the NIT, and the basketball team had begun to struggle, so when I when I was offered the position of head coach I was really excited to have the opportunity to rebuild our program.

JT: You did not have any scholarship players. How were you able to recruit players, and how could you compete with teams who did offer scholarships?
KH: Unfortunately the institution was undergoing serious financial woes and I was told that scholarship money was out of the question, but that did not deter me from working hard and spending countless hours attempting to build a respectable program. I basically contacted former teammates, opponents, and as many coaches as I could urging them to send their players to us. I also served as an instructor in the Physical Education department, so academics were a high priority that I kept in mind when recruiting. We were blessed that we were able to bring in players who were considered borderline athletes but ended up being great players. During my own playing tenure at UMES I was not a scholarship athlete, but through hard work I had a pleasant career. The players we recruited just seemed to develop chemistry with each other, and they all stayed in school until they graduated.

JT: Your 125 wins are the most by a baseball coach in school history. What made you such a good baseball coach, and do you think anyone will ever break your record?
KH: It was a struggle but I must give credit to the student-athletes who chose to come to UMES. These students were responsible for their own expenses but did not make any excuses. We basically spent 4 days in practice working on fundamentals and learning the game of baseball. We presently have a guy at UMES whom I consider to be a great baseball coach, and I believe that he will eclipse my record very soon. My success was not just limited to baseball, as I also have the distinction of having the third most wins by a basketball coach with 79 and the third most wins by a softball coach with 102.

JT: You served as the softball coach at UMES. What is the biggest difference between coaching men and women, and what is your favorite sport to coach?
KH: Most of my life has been devoted to coaching males; therefore I was forced to use a different approach when coaching females. I believe that I accepted more excuses while coaching females. My favorite sport to coach was not softball or baseball, but rather basketball. In basketball, numerous strategies can be used to hide the less-talented players on the team, but it is difficult to win games in softball unless you have a great pitcher.

JT: You have the longest tenure of any coach in school history. What is the key to sticking around for so long, and what do you hope to do in the future?
KH: I feel that I was blessed with the ability to coach a number of different sports, and had a certain degree of success in each of them. Most of the teams that I coached were competitive on the court/field. I credit my longevity to the undergraduate classes I took (especially the class in the coaching of sports) and the coaches who I came into contact with as I matriculated at UMES. During my years as a coach I also served as an instructor in the Department of Physical Education, and I am now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health and Exercise Science. Most of all I enjoyed what I did, and I would love to coach basketball again on some level. After 6 years of coaching basketball and then becoming the interim director of athletics of UMES for five years, the school decided to combine the position of director of athletics and director of physical education. The following year the basketball coaching job became vacant and I applied, but it was thought that I had been out of coaching that sport for too long in order to have any success, thus I was denied the second opportunity.

JT: You and your wife Betty have raised a total of 10 children. How do you like having a big family, and is it harder to be a coach or a father of 10?
KH: Having a household of 10 was not in our original plans. However, my wife and I are both divorcees and each brought five children into our second marriage. Those early years together were some of the most enjoyable of my life. Since all of our children are now adults, we have adopted three additional children: Damon is 14, Catherine is 6, and Sheryln is 4. It is definitely more difficult to be a father than to be a coach because all of my kids call me an old man!

JT: In the 1990s you got the ACLU involved in the right to vote in municipal elections on the Eastern Shore. How did you get involved with that, and how happy were you with the outcome?
KH: The issue was that out-of-state property owners were not only allowed to vote in municipal elections, but were also allowed to vote in the area in which they resided. We were opposed to citizens having voting privileges in both the county and in municipalities during elections, as we believed that everyone was allowed to vote once and only once. The ACLU agreed and supported us in the courts, and we were victorious. In 1991, a veteran civil rights worker approached me and encouraged me to devote more of my time to the community and the issues it confronted. That same year I was elected President of the Somerset County Branch NAACP, and have been involved in civil rights issues ever since. In 1993, the NAACP and the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the State of Maryland to ensure minority representation in the state house in Annapolis. We were happy with the results, and have won several victories in the civil rights arena since.

JT: You currently serve as president of the Somerset chapter of the NAACP. Why did you want to become president, and what have you been able to accomplish so far?
KH: I was convinced to take part after speaking with a number of seniors who wanted to see a change in Somerset County, and the urging of my children to get more engaged in their education pursuits. In 1990 the NAACP was not active, and I was elected to serve as its president. We have filed four lawsuits so far, and are in the process of filing another one very soon with the Department of Justice against the Somerset County government and their faulty hiring process.

JT: When people look back on your career, how do you want to be remembered the most?
KH: I want people to remember me as someone who was always willing to help people in need, to make them the best student athlete they could possibly be, and who always did the best that I was able to do.

Coach Hall is also on Jon's list of best coaches in MEAC history.

Bethune-Cookman: Clifford Reed (2001-present) 104-153
Coppin State: Ron "Fang" Mitchell (1986-present) 379-343, four NCAA Tournament appearances, 10 conference titles, six-time conference Coach of the Year
Delaware State: Greg Jackson (2000-present) 157-148, one NCAA Tournament appearance, three conference titles, one-time conference Coach of the Year
Florida A&M: Mike Gillespie (2001-2007) 90-94, two NCAA Tournament appearances, two-time conference Coach of the Year
Hampton: Steve Merfeld (1997-2002) 90-57, two NCAA Tournament appearances, two conference titles, one-time conference Coach of the Year
Howard: Frankie Allen (2000-2005) 52-93
Maryland Eastern Shore: Kirkland Hall (1976-1984) 79-131
Morgan State: Chris Fuller (1995-2001) 53-115
Norfolk State: Charles Christian (1973-1978, 1981-1990) 319-95, seven conference titles, four-time conference Coach of the Year
N.C. A&T: Don Corbett (1979-1993) 254-145, seven NCAA Tournament appearances, seven conference titles, six-time conference Coach of the Year
South Carolina State: Cy Alexander (1987-2003) 276-200, five NCAA Tournament appearances, six conference titles, three-time conference Coach of the Year

Jon Teitel's Interview Series: Maryland-Eastern Shore Legend Talvin Skinner

Jon Teitel — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 13:42:21 -0400

In the most recent installment of his series of interviews on players who are among the best pros to come out of their particular schools, CHN writer Jon Teitel spent some time with UMES great Talvin Skinner. Skinner was the leader of a UMES squad in 1974 that led the nation in scoring with an average of 96.7 points per game without the benefit of a three-point shot, and they also became the first HBCU to take part in the NIT.

Jon Teitel: In the spring of 1973 you played for the USA (with Marvin Barnes and Coach Bob Cousy) in a series of games against Russia (including Alexsander Belov, who made the game-winning shot in Russia's famous upset of the USA in the 1972 Olympic gold-medal game). What was it like to play against Russia/Belov, and what was it like to play for Cousy?

Talvin Skinner: The team that we played was the Russian touring team. They put myself and Marvin Webster on the team when they came to Baltimore for attendance purposes, but neither of us got to play. It was kind of disappointing because we lost that Baltimore game.

JT: In 1974 your team went 27-2 and you were named conference tournament MVP. How were you able to play your best when it mattered the most?

TS: Now you are starting to get serious, because the team that we played for the championship was Morgan State, which was Marvin Webster's team (which is kind of touching, because we lost Marvin in 2009). They had beaten us earlier in the year when we were 20-0, and had just became nationally ranked as the #20 team in the AP poll as a Division II school. We played a hard road through North Carolina, DC and back to Baltimore (four games in five days), which is something that I do not think that many basketball analysts or fans are not aware of.

When we played that game against North Carolina Central (coached by former Celtic Sam Jones), we were down by three points with about 30 seconds remaining; they were all celebrating. I stole the ball and scored but the referee disallowed the basket. I went to the free throw line and make the first one. I looked at Rubin [Collins] and we had a connection so I missed the second, and he got the rebounds and laid it in. We go into overtime and win the game. The next game (North Carolina A&T) was supposed to be on campus but because around 10,000 people wanted to see it they moved the game to Greensboro Coliseum.

The game was even moved from 7 PM to 4 PM; all of a sudden we were dealing with unfamiliar surroundings on short notice. From there we drove the bus up from North Carolina to DC to take on Howard. A seven-hour trip all day on Sunday with the game on Monday night. The AP poll came out Monday morning along with the UCLAs, North Carolinas and Notre Dames. In fact, some of the Morgan State players were in the crowd scouting us; they were pretty much lying in wait for us. That game (Tuesday night) was moved off campus to the Baltimore Civic Center and 12,000 people showed up.

Basketball history, baby; I do not know if that has ever happened before. The game at the end of that stretch was Morgan State and we lost by just two points. As a team, we were determined that they would pay and pay dearly. We beat them twice in 2 weeks by convincing margins, and took the championship. It was not just me; our team does not get the credit that it deserves. We did something that may never be done again in any level of basketball (leading the nation in scoring with 96.7 PPG despite no three-point shot), and they did not even give us an invite to the NCAA tourney. I guess to answer your question: my teammates needed me to play my best.

JT: You played for Coach John Bates, who was the first coach to take a Historically Black College to the NIT. What was it like to play for Bates, and how big a deal was it to go to the NIT?

TS: Going to the NIT was okay by me as a senior, as well as for the other five seniors on the team. Our eyes were on the BIG dance; we had already proved that we belonged by playing in the then-64 team NAIA tourney in Kansas City and going to the 1973 national championship game against Guilford College (who had World B. Free & ML Carr: you know their legacies). Although we lost by three points, we felt that we could play with anyone in the country, and our records spoke for themselves. Rubin Collins, who was one of our top scorers on that team, played the Tournament with a broken foot (suffered in the MEAC Tournament) and still made the All-Tournament Team (he and Joe Pace). The next year he and Joe both were NAIA All-Americans. Also, I set an NAIA record as the eighth all-time best rebounding average of 15.6 rebounds per game in the tournament (led that tournament in rebounding). Dennis Rodman came along and shattered all of those records.

As far as Coach Bates is concerned, I have nothing but respect for him as a man and as a person, because he understood talent and he trusted us. He did not try to restrain that "something special" that he knew we had; as a matter of fact he pushed the envelope. However, I can honestly say that he loved us as people: we were not some meal ticket to him who he was trying to exploit for his future. The funny thing is that it just worked out that way for him: it could not have happened to a better person. He is genuinely a good and honest human being, and we all love him.

JT: What are your memories of the 1974 NIT (your beat Manhattan by three points in the first round before losing to Jacksonville [featuring four future NBA players] by two points in the quarterfinals)?

TS: Well that is pretty easy. The Manhattan game was nationally televised, and I think that everyone on the East Coast was watching. We were pitted on TV against NC State, who was playing in the NCAA Tournament at the same time. In fact, on that very same day David Thompson went up for a alley oop and came down, hitting his head on the backboard then taking a tumble. We said to one another before we took the floor that no matter what, we were going to WIN that day. The first three or four shots they took, Joe Pace and I blocked each of them. From there I think they realized that "these guys can play". Even if we did not win another game, we felt that we were playing for all the historically Black colleges around the country.

It was a bitter pill to swallow; the NCAA basically told us that we had to be perfect in order to be selected. The NCAA Tournament at the time was 32 teams and UCLA was the only team that was undefeated. Guess what you have now: the NCAA, with all those schools being accepted on the Division I level, and our team played a major role in that. As far as losing to Jacksonville, that hurt, but the fact that we had given the Black community something that they had been longing for was okay. The thing that I really remember is that there were about 11,000 fans at Madison Square Garden, and I was told that two-thirds of the people at that game came from HARLEM just to watch us play. They took notice after that first game and came out to support us. Also, Morgan State had won a different tournament in Evansville (NCAA Division II championship) and then showed up at the Garden to cheer for us. I thought it was very classy of Nat Frazier (Morgan State head coach) to do that. Even though we lost, when you get New York City to notice, you know you have arrived.

JT: In the summer of 1974 you were drafted in the 3rd round of the NBA Draft by Seattle (4 spots behind George Gervin) and in the 4th round of the ABA draft by New York. Did you ever consider going to the ABA, or was your heart set on playing in the NBA?

TS: It was really a tough choice and I was torn because of the choice between Bill Russell (coach in Seattle) or Dr. J (star player in NY): talk about decisions! I had the chance to play in NYC on a nightly basis, but Spencer Haywood (another of my all-time favorite people) played for Seattle; it was quite a struggle for me to decide. When it came down to making the call, it was about security, and the Sonics offered me a signing bonus that was twice as much as the Nets' offer. In the long run, the Sonics really offered me a better deal, and the NBA was a more stable league to play in.

JT: You had two teammates drafted in 1974 as well (Rubin Collins in the 2nd round to Portland and William Gordon in the 4th round to Seattle). Did you see that as a validation of what a great team you played on at UMES?

TS: The truth of the matter is that I still do not think that our team as a whole received all of the credit that we deserved. Four of our five starters were drafted into the pros (in addition to myself/Collins/Gordon, Joe Pace transferred from UMES to Coppin State and ended up winning a title with the Bullets in 1978). Had Tommy Nelson not gotten into trouble just before the NIT, believe me, he also would have been drafted. We were the only historically black college basketball team ever to be ranked in the Top 20 in Division I (there should be a banner hanging in the school gym for that, as well as for playing in the NAIA Tournament- runner-up banner for 1972-73). That NAIA Tournament is a great tournament and a tough one as well. There have also been some great players to come through it; the likes of Zelmo Beatty, Travis Grant, Wrold B. Free, Dennis Rodman etc.

I think that because of what we achieved, they are now inviting the smaller colleges/universities to play in the Division I tourney. We paved the way for that change, and we should have been invited to that tourney. We led the nation in scoring (97.6 PPG) before the existence of a three-point line (and no dunking), and our record over two seasons was 53-7. We had proven that we belonged: we lost the NAIA championship to Guilford the year before (who featured World B. Free & ML Carr). Then-Kansas City Chiefs WR Otis Taylor was at the Slippery Rock game the night before and took us to his restaurant afterward. He was expressing his appreciation and then took us out to Arrowhead Stadium. I thought that was incredible. I still think that it would make for a great movie; maybe I should contact Spike Lee or Tyler Perry about "The Greatest Team You Never Heard Of"!?

JT: From 1974-76 you played two years for Seattle and made the playoffs each year. What is your favorite memory from your NBA career?

TS: My most favorite memory is kind of weird. We were in Milwaukee playing against Kareem, the ball went into the post, and he beat Tommy Burleson to the hoop. There was only me between Kareem and the basket, so of course I was not going to just let him dunk the ball without trying to stop him. I went up and tried to block it, and got as high as I could. When I could not block it, I just grabbed both of Kareem's wrists. I never knew how strong the big men in basketball really were, but he just gently took me and the ball and went over to the rim with me hanging onto him and laid it in the basket.

Everyone in the arena was laughing; I felt so helpless. When we got into the locker room, my teammate Slick Watts was like "Man, you are really crazy to even attempt to get into his way", but Fred Brown and Leonard Gray came over to me and said "You did the right thing". At least I tried to block it rather than just letting him score, because Burleson just let him go. That let me know that no matter what else happened, I always tried to play the game the way that it is supposed to be played.

In a game at Boston Garden I'm guarding John Havlicek and they call the "3" play, which was supposed to result in him getting a jumpshot behind a double screen. He runs around Dave Cowens and Paul Silas. Me being a rookie, I'm thinking I'm going to shoot the gap and run between them; I've never been hit so hard in my life. The both put an elbow in my ribs and shook their heads as if to say, "no rookie, go around". They were laughing and asked me afterward if I was OK; it was pretty much my initiation to the NBA.

JT: Slick Watts told a story in his book "Tales from the Seattle Supersonics" about how Coach Bill Russell called you gutless after one practice and almost made you cry, only to insert you into the starting lineup that night and watch you record a double-double. What was it like to play for Russell, and what did you think about his motivational techniques?

TS: That is not exactly how it happened. What really happened was that just before a game against Milwaukee in 1976, Russell came into the locker room and was giving his pre-game speech. We had just lost four games in a row, and as he was making his speech, he singled me out and said that with the way that I had been playing, I would be lucky if I ever got to play again this season. Of course, it kind of shocked me and got me rattled, so when we were going through warm-ups my mind was only half into it because I was still focusing on what did I do and what I had done to cause him to say that.

When we went to the bench I was talking to one of my teammates, and they started introducing the starters and called my name. I was not even paying attention, so I did not even hear my name called. About 10-15 seconds went by and everyone was looking at me as if to say "What are you waiting for? Go ahead; they called your name!" I looked over at Russell, and he had a huge grin on his face, and the whole bench was just cracking up. I turned around and just felt so silly but it motivated me, and of course I went out and had one of the best games of my career. As a matter of fact he left me in the starting lineup for the rest of the year (Leonard had torn his ACL).

JT: After attending every Seattle Storm home game since their inaugural season in 2000, you were hired in 2003 to aid in player development. How do you enjoy your job, and how does female player development compare to male player development?

TS: It is funny that you should ask because when VP Billy McKinney asked me to do it, I was just coming off of Achilles tendon surgery. I had been asking him to give me a chance for about a year, and he was doing the TV commentary for the Sonics and pulling double duty as general manager with the Storm. He was unable to always be there for the players that were coming in early, so one day I received a phone message from him asking me if I was still interested in working with the team, and that is how it all got started.

We became best friends; it was a position that he created. At that time I don't know if any other WNBA team had ever done it before, and because of it we won a title. The difference between the two genders is the physical ability of the players. The men can dunk and most of the women cannot, but other than that the women are much better because they have to rely on their intelligence to game-plan assignments. They actually think about the game, whereas the men rely on their physical ability.

JT: When people look back on your career, what do you want them to remember the most?

TS: That no matter where you come from, or what school you attend, if you put in the time and hard work it will eventually pay off because the NBA will find you if you have the talent.

Talvin is also on my list of best pro players in MEAC history

Bethune-Cookman: Carl Fuller (1971)

Coppin State: Larry Stewart (1992)

Delaware State: Emanual Davis (1997)

Florida A&M: Clemon Johnson (1979)

Hampton: Rick Mahorn (1981)

Howard: Larry Spriggs (1982)

Maryland Eastern Shore: Talvin Skinner (1975)

Morgan State: Marvin Webster (1976)

Norfolk State: Bob Dandridge (1970)

North Carolina A&T: Warren Davis (1968)

South Carolina State: Frank Card (1969)

MEAC Basketball Preview: 08-09

CHN — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:54:32 -0500

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

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Rise & Fall: MEAC

State of '08: Maryland

Shawn Siegel — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:40:37 -0400

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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.

For more info, check out the State of '08 introduction.

MARYLAND

MARYLAND - The recent struggles of the Terps under Gary Williams are well documented, but as far as the Crab Cake State goes, Maryland dominates..

LOYOLA - Considering how epically bad Loyola was from about 2000 to 2005, the program has come a long way. Jimmy Patsos deserves credit for turning around a program that was 1-27 the year before he arrived in 2005. The past two seasons, Loyola has won 37 games, and gone 24-12 in MAAC play. The next step is doing some damage in the league tournament.

UMBC - 2008 was a banner season for Randy Monroe and the Retrievers. They won 24 games, dominated the America East with a 13-3 record, rolled through the conference tournament, and faced Georgetown in the NCAA Tournament. Plus, UMBC was 85th in the RPI, just 3 spots behind ACC member Maryland.

MOUNT SAINT MARY'S - The Mount returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999, beating in-state rival Coppin State in the play-in game. This was the culmination of a nice rebuilding job undertaken by 6th year coach Milan Brown. Now that the Mount returns star Jeremy Goode, a return trip is certainly not out of the question.

COPPIN STATE - The Eagles were arguably one of the worst NCAA Tournament teams of all-time last year. They finished under .500 in the lowly MEAC and only had one Top 250 win going into the conference tournament. They also set a record by being the 1st tourney team with 20 losses. But with the exception of a brutal 2002 campaign (316 RPI), Coppin has consistently been one of the better teams in the MEAC since 1997, the year of their epic win over South Carolina in the NCAA Tournament.

6. NAVY - Like many of its Maryland counterparts, Navy has also improved a lot in the past couple of years. When Billy Lange took over, the Midshippmen were struggling to win 5 games a season. Last year though, they won 16 games overall and finished 2nd in the NEC. Lange is trying to return Navy to its former glory days of the 80's and 90's when the program made 8 NCAA Tournaments in 16 seasons between 1985 and 2000.

7. MORGAN STATE - Todd Bozeman has done a solid job in his two years at Morgan State. Last year, the Bears won 22 games, captured the MEAC regular season title and made the NIT. Not bad considering the Bears went 4-26 in 2006. The program still needs a couple more successful seasons before it passes Coppin or Navy on this list.

8.TOWSON - Although Towson plays in a better league (CAA) than many of its in-state counterparts, there's been little success over the last decade. Since joining the CAA in 2002, the Tigers have yet to finish .500 in league play, a trend that I expect to continue in 08-09

9. UMES - The Hawks are in the midst of a horrible dry stretch. They've only won 24 games in the last five seasons. There's nothing positive to add.

Last: Louisiana - Next: Massachuesetts

State of '08: The Introduction (& State list/links)