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LU
C/3
SPORTS
INSIDE MOREHOUSE, FEBRUARY 2011
Young Maroon
Tigers Helping
Rebuild Morehouse
Roderick Williams (left) and Joshiah Anabraba (right) have led the Maroon Tigers this season
Basketball
By ADD SEYMOUR JR.
RADY BREWER ’80 held
his hand up and spread all
five fingers wide apart.
Then he tightly closed his fingers
to form a strong fist.
That’s the lesson he’s trying to get
his young basketball team to learn.
“Five individual players on the
court at one time who are talented,
but we’ve got to bring it all togeth
er as a fist to where we can knock
people out and win together as a
team and win games,” he said.
“We’ve got athletes,” Brewer
added. “We’ve got guys who can
play. But they haven’t played
together, and this is a team sport.”
It is one of the lessons for his
young team to learn. But for Brewer,
teaching the 2010-11 Maroon Tigers
basketball team is a labor of love,
especially this year. This is a team
that he says can lay the foundation
for a return to the glory years of
Morehouse basketball.
Morehouse has won 17 SIAC
championships (four of them from
2001 to 2004), been to the NCAA
tournament four times and the
Final Four once in 1990.
Brewer - who played for the
Maroon Tigers in the 1970s - is in the
midst of rebuilding the program and
returning it to those winning ways.
Legacy
“Morehouse has always been
known to have a good basketball
team,” he said. “I’d like to bring
that legacy back.”
Three seniors lead this year’s
team - Jelani Figures, Joshiah
Anabraba and Rod Williams.
Williams led the team in rebound
ing and scoring during the first
half of the season while Anabraba
has been solid on the boards.
Figures was the team’s leading
scorer last season and a preseason
All-SIAC pick this year.
Brewer raves about freshmen
Austin Anderson, Marek Legorce-
Ross and Matthew Taylor; believes
Temple transfer Christopher Clark
will be a big-time player and
returns last year’s team rookie of
the year, Shawn Allen.
“I tell this team all the time
that they might be the most talent
ed team that I’ve seen since I’ve
been at Morehouse,” Brewer said.
“But talent does not equate to wins
unless you play together.”
Brewer wants the Morehouse
community to witness the teams
maturation this season, one in
which they’ve already defeated
SIAC leader Stillman.
“Everybody wants to be asso
ciated with a winner,” he said. “So
you have to win to get people in
the stands. We haven’t done that
in the last three years, but we’re
going to get there.
“That’s the mystique of a
Morehouse man - rising above it
all, regardless of the adversities,”
Brewer said. “So eventually we’re
going to get it back where we
want it to be, and that’s winning
the SIAC championship, going to
the NCAA championships and
eventually winning the national
championship. As Benjamin E.
Mays said, we have a crown above
our heads. We’re going to wear
that crown. But we’re going to
have to have patience, and we’ve
got to be willing to work to get to
that point.” ■
SPRING SPORTS
TRACK, TENNIS AND GOLF TEAMS LOOK TO DEFEND SIAC TTTLES
By ADD SEYMOUR JR.
Morehouse's track and field, tennis and golf
teams have started new seasons as each
looks to defend Southern Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference titles, while the baseball
team is looking for a successful season.
Here is a preview of each team;
TRACK AND FIELD
Track and field coach Willie Hill is clear
about his Flying Maroon Tigers' goal this year.
"We're looking to repeat as conference
champions and regional champions," he said.
"We have a lot of good people returning and
we have a big class of seniors, so we are def
initely looking to repeat."
Last year, they won their fifth consecu
tive SIAC title, along with the NCAA Division
II South Regional championship.
Hill is looking to seniors such as 100-
meters champion and academic All-American
Mario Bland, shot putter Turner Coggins and field
athlete Matt Tuffuor to lead this year's team.
"Were really got some good young men
returning and we've had some good guys walk-
on, so everything is looking great," Hill said.
BASEBALL
The news is good and bad for head
coach Robert Mitchell and his Morehouse
baseball team.
The bad news is they lost seven of nine
starters from last year's team and will heavily
rely on freshmen this season. But the good
news is that this group of freshmen can be
special, Mitchell said.
"I think we have the best crop of fresh
men that we have had over the past few
years," he said. "Potentially, they can get to a
point where we can be very competitive."
But a trio of experienced Maroon Tigers
will lead the squad this season - senior pitcher
Dennis Bronson and two juniors, catcher Bryan
Butcher and outfielder/pitcher David Harvey.
"I'm heavily dependent on these three to
help carry the load this year," Mitchell said.
Wrth a big win over Tuskegee last week,
Mitchell feels good about his young team and
the future for Morehouse baseball.
"Things are looking up," he said. "We
expect good things out of this group."
GOLF
The Morehouse golf team had a big sea
son last year, winning their second consecu
tive SIAC championship, along with the PGA
National Minority Title.
Coach Bill Lewis said they return most of
their players this season, though they lost their
most consistent player, Phillip Allen, to graduation.
"They are looking pretty good for this year,"
Lewis said. '1 think we can be as good as last
season's squad, but it is going to be tight"
Returning to lead the team will be senior
Olajuwon Ajanaku, the 2010 SIAC Player of
the Year.
"He can shoot low scores," Lewis said of
Ajanaku. "You can depend on him."
The Morehouse golf team tees off the
2011 season on Feb. 23 in Columbia, S.C.
against Paine College and Benedict College.
TENNIS
The Morehouse tennis team has won the
last two SIAC tennis titles and 28 of them
since 1977. Head coach Terry Alexander's
team many of the pieces from last season's
squad that can help them to win another.
The team's captain, senior Tory Martin,
returns as the team's No. 1 singles player,
while senior Mario Ecung and junior Michael
Thomas are the Maroon Tigers' top returning
doubles pair. ■