flight of the hawks(CH2K8 UMES )

[kcarr]

The Hawks shock the MEAC by signing the youngest head coach in D1 basketball

Princess Anne, MD: After a dismal 4 wins last year the Eastern Shore AD realized a change had to be made. That change came today with the announcement that coach Karl Carr will be taking over as the head coach of the hawks this season.

Despite only being 25 years old coach Carr has had some success coaching at the high school level. He is known as a tough diciplinarian as well as a great teacher of the game.

Our Tom Robbins caught up with the coach.

Tom: Welcome to the area.

Carr: Thank you. I am very excited for the opportunity.

TR: What are some of the challenges facing you? Are you worried about the lack of depth, especially in the frontcourt, as a lot of your past success has came from pounding the ball inside?

CC: As a highschool coach at a small school i learned to work with what talent was there. Really the big challenge i see is adapting to the idea of having to recruit my talent. coaching highschool ball our school averaged 55 students per year. Anyone who could play did play. It was just my job to teach them the game. This is a far different challenge.

TR: Have you met your players yet?

CC: Yes and they seem to be a great bunch. This is a very young team with only 1 senior and 3 freshmen, 2 who are likely starters so there is a real unknown factor surrounding this team.

TR: Thank you for your time and good luck this season.

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Re: flight of the hawks(CH2K8 UMES )

Hawks season preview

Coaches
Head coach: Karl Carr- Coach Carr is a good teacher who expects disciplined fundamental basketball. He is unproven at this level.

Assistants: Lewis Reduce- Lewis brings experience to the table at 59 years of age. He has seen enough good players to know talent when he sees it.

Gerry Doss - Gerry is a good offensive coach and looks to bounce back after head coaching struggles by matching on to a team with nowhere to go but up

Players
Starters: PG: Brendon Straight(fr)- Brendon is a quick pg who can run the court and finish on a drive but struggles to create for teammates.

SG: Alphonso Wheless(Jr)- He is a good scorer and the leader of the team. Can't do it alone though

SF: Klaus Parker(so)- one of three European players on the team he is a decent shooter but more naturally a SG than SF.

PF: Walt Spaulding (fr)- at 6'5" he is short for the post but could end his career as the best team from this original roster. Solid score.

C: Piotr Lukasiak(Jr)- the tallest starter by 5 inches the polish big man will have to control the paint

Backups
PG: Bernard Pulice (fr)- in a tough spot behind straight as they are basically the same player but he is a valuable reserve

PF: Dell Rand(Sr)- the only senior will back up both the 4 and 5 spots. He is a tough player underneath but won't provide much offense

SF: Danijel Zoric(so) the 3rd foreigner is tall at 6'8" which can create dispatches but he has shown nothing on the court.

PF: Henry Wilder(Jr)- probably will only play garbage minutes despite lack of depth. Yep, he is that underskilled.

Projected finish: 7-25 12th in the MEAC

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Re: flight of the hawks(CH2K8 UMES )

conference preview

Hampton: senior SG De Fletcher sets the pace while sophomore pf's lamarcus Tudeme and Noel Hornsby control the paint

Morgan State: SF Jesus Udezue is a tough defender while SG major Tripplett adds offensive firepower and can excite the crowd. SF Maury Ewing is thought to be the best freshman in the conference

Florida A&M: senior pg dedric zimmerman is a great shooter and will be among conference scoring leaders

North Carolina A&T: Ugonna Conroy, a senior guard, could be the best shooter the conference has seen in a while

Coppin State: Senior pg Ernest crosswhite may be the best player in the conference but he is only one man

Winston Salem: Damon Hull is a great leader and passer at the point but beyond that the team has questions

South Carolina State: a pair of upperclassmen guards, winked and content can handle the rock and create for themselves or others

Bethune -cookman: Bernie Norton, a 6'4" SG is the unquestioned leader. They hope for middle of the road.

Norfolk State: senior SG Dennis mills is a 1 man team. Without him they could challenge for last place.

Delaware state: brendon Perry is one of the most well rounded sf's around but he will have to take over

Howard: young squad a year or two from competitive

UMES: Nothing worth noting. Start 2 freshmen and relying too much on players that young is tough unless they are truly gifted. Straight and Spaulding don't appear to be

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Re: flight of the hawks(CH2K8 UMES )

VCU Walks All Over Hawks

5 rams players scored in double figures led by guard Aliou Moliva with 19 as VCU proved too much for UMES. The game was never close. The rams jumped out to a 14-4 lead and that was the last time the game was within 10 points.

Wheless and Spaulding each scored 17 for the hawks but were not nearly enough to keep this one competitive

VCU 100
UMES 76

coach Carr: we really looked like we did not belong here. I don't know what happened to the squad i have been coaching these past couple weeks but this did not look like them.

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Re: flight of the hawks(CH2K8 UMES )

Hawks fall in nailbiter

In their home opener UMES showed that they are not as inept as had been thought after the first game. After taking a 40-39 lead into the half it was thought that they might even get the win.

Alphonso Wheless definitely gave his all in this one pouring on 44 points along with 2 rebounds assists and steals. Spaulding added 13 points and parker had 12 with 5 boards. Freshman point guard brendon straight played efficient with 12 points 4 assists and no turnover.

In the end though stony brook had enough balanced scoring with all their starters in double figures to slip away with the win.

Stony Brook 95
UMES 92

Coach Carr: this was a better performance but not good enough. Alphonso can't do it all himself. Another real option needs to emerge

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Re: flight of the hawks(CH2K8 UMES )

Nichols drops 20 off the bench for Bradley

on the road again UMES seemed to fall into the same trap as we saw against VCU. they rushed shots, forced passes, and could not keep up on defense.

Bradley scored 58 in the first half and straight looked overwhelmed with 8 of the teams 18 turnover. Senior backup Dell Rand was one of the few bright spots with 11 points and 7 boards. Wheless was held to a season low of 11.

Bradley 104
UMES 70

Coach Carr: as we go through this season we will face tough crowds. If this is how we react then we may never win a road game. we need to find a way to handle these situations and fast.

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Re: flight of the hawks(CH2K8 UMES )

Carr gets win number 1 in a shocked

From the start this game seemed different. USES came out very in control. The crowd did not seem to effect them and where they had 18 turnover last game in this one they only had 4. their defense held Iowa to 26 in the 1st half and they took advantage of their chances.

Wheless was once again the star of the show pouring on 37 while Spaulding added 12. lukasiak had 5 points and 8 boards and played good defense challenging several shots in the paint.

UMES 77
Iowa 64

Coach Carr: this was a great win. We were in a spot where we really needed it and a lot of guys stepped up and delivered.

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Re: flight of the hawks(CH2K8 UMES )

South Pare Island Tourney starts off with a bang

It took 2 overtime and a total of 203 points but a winner was determined in the opening game between valparaiso and UMES. Both teams had 34 at the half and it was a battle throughout the 2nd until klaus Parker and Alphonso Wheless took over to build an 8 point lead.
It looked to be going the hawks way until driving to the hoop wheeler slipped and pulled a quadricep. Without him UMES tried to hold out but Valpo fought back to tie it up and send it to OT.

Wheless reentered the game but fouled out and UMES could not pull it out.

Valpo 102
UMES 101

Coach Carr: we fought hard and were not effected by the crowd. It was nice to see parker step up with 35 points and poitd lukasiak's 14 boards were great but without Wheless noone was able to fill in

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Re: flight of the hawks(CH2K8 UMES )

UMES is alive and kicking

the hawks squad that has looked so down to this point this year got a boost with a consolation win in the South Pare Island tourney. All of their starters scored in double figures led by parker's 17 and they beat Florida Gulf Coast.

UMES 74
FGCU 69

Coach Carr: finally in a game Wheless struggled the rest of the team came through. Now i. A weird twist we have to face the same team tomorrow on our home court.

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Re: flight of the hawks(CH2K8 UMES )

FGSU proves it is tough to beat a team back to back

Wheless scored 19 despite playing hurt and Spaulding added a double double but gulf coast proved too much for UMES to handle.

FGCU 91
UMES 77

Coach Carr: the boys have had a tough week playing 4 games, 3 in 3 days but i think we are better for it

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Re: flight of the hawks(CH2K8 UMES )

#20 West Virginia overpowers Hawks

3 Mountaineers starters topped 20 points while they held Maryland Easter Shore to 58 points. This has been the worst beat down experienced by the Hawks to date.

West Virginia 106
UMES 58

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Re: flight of the hawks(CH2K8 UMES )

UMES starts off with a winning record in conference play

Walt Spaulding took over the game scoring 29 points while Poitr Lukasiak handled the defensive side of the ball with 5 rejections. When it came down to the wire though it was sophmore serbian Danijel Zoric who hit a 10 foot jump shot to give the hawks the win.

UMES 81
Delaware State 80

Coach Carr: It is great to get a win to start conference play. This is the kind of game that really lifts the spirits of the team knowing we can win the tough ones

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Re: flight of the hawks(CH2K8 UMES )

Non Conference wins continue to be few and far between

Pulice scored a career high of 19 and Spaulding had 18 boards but other than that this game was pretty one sided.

George Washington 92
UMES 72

Coach Carr: Well only a few more games and we can play some conference games. These bigger schools are too much for our current team.

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Re: flight of the hawks(CH2K8 UMES )

Alphonso Wheless hits a season low as Hawks fall again

For the first time all year Wheless is held to single digits. With noone else capable of dominating Old Dominion rolled to victory

Old Dominion 88
UMES 59

Coach Carr: They just showed the world how to beat us. Stop Wheless and we won't score. Hopefully the MEAC did not take notes

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Re: flight of the hawks(CH2K8 UMES )

Where did that come from

Going into the game against Kennesaw State UMES was struggling but behind a 29 pount effort by Wheless and a double double from Spaulding they crushed the owls

UMES 83
Kennesaw State 64

Coach Carr: It was great to finally get a comfortable win. This was some of the best team basketball we have played