MC HOOP SCOOP
Inside the Maryville College Men’s Basketball Program January 2012 Edition
Welcome to MC’s Hoop Scoop
Welcome to the January issue of the MC Hoop Scoop! Everyone involved with the program has been extremely busy over the past month. The Maryville College Men’s Basketball team rang in the New Year in Tampa, FL as we competed in the Tampa Shootout along with host DePauw University, Fairleigh‐Dickinson University‐Florham, and State University of New York – IT. We went 1‐1 in the Shootout losing to FDU and defeaQng SUNY‐IT. The Scots returned to acQon the first week of January as we played host of the James C. Campbell Memorial Classic. The other teams included in the Classic were HunQngdon College, Rust College, and WiTenberg University. We once again came out with a 1‐1 record beaQng Rust College the first night but then falling to WiTenberg in the final contest. For our last game prior to entering conference play, we hosted Greensboro College in what ended up being the most exciQng finish to this point in our season. We fell behind by 21 points midway through the first half against Greensboro and were able to somewhat gather our composure and bring the deficit to within 10 by halXime. We needed the enQre 20 minutes of the second half to complete the comeback as junior Wes Lambert capitalized on an offensive rebound by draining the kick‐out 3 pointer with 3 seconds remaining to force overQme! We had our way in OT, outscoring Greensboro by 10 to earn a big 106‐96 come from behind win! Since the Greensboro game, we’ve entered the thick of our conference schedule. We opened up conference play with a convincing home win over Covenant 89‐64. We then traveled to Montgomery, AL to play HunQngdon College where we were dealt a tough loss 74‐87. We thought that aXer 2 solid wins over Greensboro and Covenant that our team was ready to make a push through the last month and a half of the season but we didn’t come ready to baTle and instead suffered our first loss to HunQngdon since 2006. In our most recent game, we went on the road to Demorest, GA to play Piedmont College. Our team put forth the required focus and intensity it takes to win conference games on the road and we prevailed with a solid 106‐68 victory. With this being our last season in the GSAC conference before moving into the USA South, we want to conQnue our strong play that has enabled us to be regular season GSAC champs every year in the conference’s existence and GSAC tournament champions 10 out of the 12 years! Our next game is Saturday, January 28th at home against conference foe LaGrange College. It is also Alumni day so please come out and support your Scots in providing a definite home court advantage!
Maryville’s basketball Scots rang in the new year in Tampa, Florida. Here is a photo from Tampa Bay as the team took a boat tour.
Coach Lambert’s Corner Dear Scots Roundball Fans:
NUMBERS NCAA Tournaments 1990-1991 1991-1992 1992-1993 1994-1995 1996-1997 1998-1999 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010
Sports are so humbling and coaching young people will keep you grounded for life. Just when you think you have got things figured out and your team begins to show you something, you give one away. We lost to HunQngdon on Saturday at their place. Now, I am not taking anything away from HunQngdon because they outplayed us in every category. They deserved the victory. I really thought we were primed and ready to make a run of consecuQve wins, but HunQngdon was not willing to cooperate. It is frustraQng because we are not playing up to speed on the road. We played fairly well during the first weekend of the season at the Webster tournament and we got two wins. Other than the first weekend in November, we have not played up to my expectaQons in any of our road games. AXer 36 years of coaching (32 years at MC), I sQll hate to lose. I am miserable for the next 48 to 72 hours aXer a bad game. My family knows to avoid me. My dog even stays away. You would think that sooner or later I would learn to cope with a loss. Believe me I have tried, but it just doesn’t sit well with me. My DNA won’t allow it. I will breakdown the game play‐by‐play for the next day or two in an aTempt to figure out why we lost. I will quesQon my approach from the pre‐game preparaQon to the game day rouQne to the in‐game decisions. Of course, I also aTempt to evaluate each player and their Qme on the floor. I like to look at the score when each player comes on to the floor and the score when they go off the floor. Did we gain points during their Qme of parQcipaQon or did we lose points? Did we build on a lead, lose ground on a lead, or get further behind?
AXer evaluaQng the HunQngdon game, our weaknesses can be fixed. The reason that we lost that game and many others on the road and at home is our lack of paQence on the offensive end. We are not paying aTenQon to detail in our execuQon, i.e., Qming and changing of speeds on our cuts, using the post by entering the ball and working off of him, preparing for the shot before the ball gets there, and shot selecQon are all concerns. Defensively, we are making the same mistakes over and over, i.e., lack of communicaQon on the scramble, inability to know the strengths of who you are guarding, listening to the scouQng report, and a breakdown of defensive fundamentals are reoccurring mistakes. As a coach, you just work harder, conQnue to emphasize the system, and stay posiQve with your players. I know they get frustrated and overall their effort has been good. I just www.knoxivi.com need them to focus more mentally on game day preparaQon and to keep themselves and their teammates accountable for their play. Hopefully, you will see a difference in the next few days. Time is of the essence. I hope to see you at a game real soon.
MC Alumni Day Live Video at
January 28th 4:00 LaGrange
Sincerely, Coach Lambert
MC Basketball Alumnus of the Month Babatu Willingham Class of 1992 •••
What did you major in? What are you doing now? History with Teacher Licensure. Right now I am the Department Chair for the Social Studies Department and the Head Women’s Basketball Coach at Mundy Mills High School. I was the Boys Basketball Coach for a while.
Most valuable lesson you learned from Coach Lambert? When someone approaches you, you stand up, shake their hand, and look them in the eye. Addi>onal Informa>on:
I am happily married to Elisa Willingham and have three beauQful daughters, Eniwah, Kelsey, and Kree. I am very thankful that I came to Maryville. The best man in my wedding was a teammate. My best friends and closest friends today are those Most Memorable Game? that I spent Qme with at the college. I am thankful to We were on the road at Ferrum Maryville for teaching me the College. They were the #2 or #3 valuable lesson that everything is ranked team in the country. We not just black and white. That went down there and beat them everyone has in some way, on their home floor. I had 30 shape, or form something to points and about 14 rebounds. contribute. I am proud to be an InteresQng fact the night before, alumnus of MC. Ferrum had gone over their pracQce Qme making us wait a Career Sta>s>cs liTle longer than usual. We 14.1 Points per Game exchanged some words lekng 6.6 Rebounds per Game them know we didn’t appreciate 64% Field Goal Percentage that and used that as moQvaQon Senior Season 1992 Stats for the next night. 17.4 Points per Game Why did you choose Maryville? 6.7 Rebounds per Game 73% Free‐Throw Percentage Loved the great balance it had in 60% Field Goal Percentage academics and athleQcs. I was a Elite 8 Appearance liTle immature coming out of high school and needed discipline. Maryville was that place.
Babatu Willingham
Cooper Crazies by MC Sports Information
GARTH BALDWIN What years did you aTend Maryville College? What was your major? I aTended Maryville College from 2000‐2004, and I came back in 2006‐2007 to get my teacher licensure. My major was History with a minor in Religion, and I came back and received my teacher licensure for History/Geography in grades 7‐12. What made you want to become the leader of the Cooper Crazies?Basketball has always been my favorite sport, so that part was a no‐brainer. I also had the privilege to go to high school with several Scots that played during my tenure there, including MaT and Josh Ennen and Jeff McCord. Due to my long‐Qme friendship with the Ennens, I became acquainted with a lot of the players before I even got there. AddiQonally, during those days, the basketball team had a monopoly on Rooms 207 and 209 in Pearson’s, and a lot of the players hung around there, so that was another chance for me to get to know the guys. When I was a freshman, we had a great group of Crazies‐in my opinion, probably the best group. We had Dirty and Muddy Norman, Mike Williams, and Kevin Cable. If anybody reading this remembers those days, I’m sure they remember how raw Dirty and Muddy were. They brought a lot of enthusiasm and creaQvity to the table, and those were some really fun Qmes. That year, everyone wore overalls and camouflage shirts; like tacky red and yellow camo. To stand out, I broke out the costume I wore during my high school heckling days, and The Hamburglar was reborn. I heard The Cheer for the first Qme when I was a senior in high school and I came up to watch MC play Emory‐we thrashed them that night, something like 110‐60. I was instantly hooked. AXer Dirty graduated aXer my freshmen year, his younger brother Dusty came up and slid into his spot. As the other guys graduated, Dusty and I just sort of kept on, but we were joined by a great group of guys who actually came up with the first Cooper Crazy shirts. I can’t remember all their names, but I know that Bray Maxwell, Charlie Myers, and some dude named Hayden that played tennis were all a part of this group. We also had a strong Alumni conQngency of supporters like Greg Boyce and T.R. Robinson that helped fan the flame of fanaQcism. But back to the actual quesQon, I just loved the guys and loved the game, and I had a lot of school spirit. MC Basketball, as you all know, has a strong winning tradiQon, and all of us took a lot of pride in that. It was just my way of contribuQng to the program and supporQng my friends, and I gave it 110% every Qme I was there‐as I’m sure those of you who heard me were well aware.
Most memorable moment as a Cooper Crazy? That’s a hard quesQon. There were a lot of memorable moments as a Crazy. One of the most memorable moments during my Qme happened during the GSAC Tournament my freshmen year. MC was hosQng, and we were playing Piedmont in the first ever GSAC Final on a Saturday night. Boydson Baird Gymnasium was packed‐the student secQon, as it always was in those days, was strictly SRO (standing room only). In fact, that enQre gym was basically SRO, including the area where the parents usually sat. It was a great back and forth game, and Piedmont was up 3 with something like five seconds leX. A lot of the students were disappointed, and some had even started filing out of the gym. We inbounded the ball under Piedmont’s goal to Jeff McCord, who took about three steps to the free throw line and heaved a shot from the opposite foul line‐AND IT WENT IN! The enQre gym erupted‐students, parents, alumni‐everyone was screaming and celebraQng. This Qed the game up and sent it into overQme, and the Scots scored all the points in OT (I think it was 8) while Piedmont preTy much just gave up; I don’t think they scored in OT. When we did The Cheer that night, the ENTIRE home side was up and doing it with us. It was deafening. If you don’t believe me, go back and watch the tape of that game. McCord’s shot was unreal, it was a legiQmate 65 footer. That was my most memorable memory for the team. InteresQngly enough, my most memorable moment of me was the next year against‐yep, you guessed it‐Piedmont. Piedmont was hosQng the GSAC Tournament that year and we were playing Piedmont at their house in the opening round on Friday night. I made the trip down there for the Tournament, and I was basically the only student, aside from a few of the girlfriends. I walked into Piedmont’s gym decked out in full Hamburglar regalia, and it was on like Donkey Kong aXer that. I got preTy rowdy that game, as it was me vs. the enQre Piedmont student secQon. We ended up absolutely crushing them last night, due in large part to Big MaT Ennen dominaQng their squad. AXer trashing them on their own court and doing my best job to hold my own against their fans, I decided that victory such as that needed an extra special ending. As far as I know, no one had broken out The Cheer in someone else’s gym before. But who was going to do it with me? I couldn’t do it by myself. There weren’t many students to speak of, so I turned to MC’s strongest and most reliable fan base‐the parents. I was prepared to beg, borrow, and steal to get the ‘rents to do it with me, but all it took was me asking them, and they responded with an absolute “YES”. So, as the seconds Qcked away in the second half, Coach Lambert called a “strategic” Qmeout. I saw my opening and took it. I stood up, and with all the volume I could muster, began The Cheer. “Is that not the winning team?” And the parents roared behind me “Yes that is the winning team!” and so on‐I’m sure you all know how it goes. As I looked over to the bench, the boys, the coaches, the radio guys‐everyone was really enjoying it. As we finished The Cheer, Piedmont’s fans dejectedly walked out of the arena. Nothing made me prouder than to break out The Cheer in an opponent’s home gym. That was easily one of my most memorable moments of me. But really, anyQme I got to lead The Cheer was a memorable moment. People hated coming to MC to play, because they knew that at the end of the game, they were going home “THE LOSING TEAM”.
GARTH BALDWIN What are you doing now? I’m sQll supporQng the Scots’ Basketball program. Who was your favorite player during those >mes? That’s truly a tough quesQon. There were so many; Big MaT Ennen, Josh Ennen, Jeff McCord, Kris Sigmund, Teaun Winton, Benny “The Bull” Jackson, Jacob “The Real” Diehl (you might want to check the spelling on that), Paul Reed (another former roommate), Josh Tummel‐ask him about the Qme he dunked at Rust and cleared out the gym, Ruben Gonzalez, Walden BuTram (his ’04 GSAC Tourney Performance was legend), “Jumpin’” Joe Ballard, “Psycho” Sid Ellis, Monte Calloway, and of course, Raul “Salsa” Placeres. I remember the game that Raul had like 16 assists. And even though I never saw them play, I heard that Coach Lambert and Rodney Nelson were some real ballers. They’re my two favorite coaches ever, so I couldn’t exclude them from that list. Really, I was a fan of any player that could help the Scots win. I love the program and the guys associated with it. There’s a lot more that I failed to menQon, but The Burglar’s got love for them too.
Favorite team or opposing coach you enjoyed heckling? My favorite team that we played was any team that we beat. That
being said, I always enjoyed the games against Piedmont and Fisk. I also really enjoyed any of the games where we played SCAD. Cazzie Russell was coaching SCAD at the Qme, and for those of you who don’t know, he’s a legiQmate, bona fide, pedigreed basketball legend. He played at Michigan and led them to two Final Four appearances in the 1960s, and was the College Basketball Player of the Year in 1966. Cazzie was also the #1 pick in the NBA DraX in 1966, and won an NBA Championship as part of the legendary 1970 New York Knicks, and conQnued to play in the NBA unQl 1978. This guy played in Madison Square Garden, the Mecca of pro basketball, in front of (arguably) the rowdiest basketball fans in the world. So when he’d bring SCAD to MC, I definitely tried to get under his skin. Anyway, during 2003 or 2004, we really put it to SCAD at home, and I dedicated The Cheer to Cazzie. AXer the game, as he was walking back to the locker room, he stopped in front of me and said, “You’re one of the loudest and rowdiest fans I’ve ever heard.” He also said some other things, but to me, the fact that a legiQmate basketball legend took note of my heckling and unyielding support of my team made me feel preTy good. Anyway, like I said, any team that we beat was my favorite team to cheer against, especially when we got to do The Cheer. I cherished my Qme as a Cooper Crazy; the MC Men’s Basketball
program is where I developed some of my strongest friendships that I’ve ever had and sQll have today. I urge everybody that reads this to come out and support the Scots in any way you can, any Qme you can. GO SCOTS! IS THAT NOT THE WINNING TEAM? YES THAT IS THE WINNING TEAM!
AJ BENNETT What years did you aTend Maryville College? What was your major?
nothing beTer than beaQng Carson‐ Newman. What are you doing now?
2004‐2008, History and Economics
I am currently the Head Boys What made you want to become Basketball Coach at Gatlinburg‐ the leader of the Cooper Crazies? PiTman High School. I am finishing up my Administrator’s License this Well, I had always played basketball spring and will be beginning to work and football, so I never got a chance on my Ph.D. in EducaQon in the fall. to be involved in a student secQon. When I got to Maryville, I really Who was your favorite player enjoyed the atmosphere the Crazies during those >mes? created at the basketball games. People don’t understand how much Well that is hard to say because of an advantage it really does give a Maryville has never been about just one player. The “team” my home team. I have never been afraid to take the lead, so I wanted freshmen year with Ellis, Calloway, Placeres, Blair, Golden, Mason, and to make sure the Crazies would conQnue to be an advantage for the Bradley was really fun to watch. basketball teams. Unfortunately, it They knew how to play the game. They would have made it to the has been disappoinQng to see the lack of student parQcipaQon at the Sweet 16 if the NCAA had not have athleQc events this year. Maryville taken away the Cooper Crazies’ swords aXer we beat Methodist in has always been known for having students who are passionate about the first round. I will never let that go! being FighQng Scots! Most memorable moment as a Cooper Crazy?
Favorite team or opposing coach you enjoyed heckling?
It would have to be the Carson‐ Newman game at home our senior year. We came out on fire and put up over 50 in the first half. The atmosphere was absolutely electric. In fact, almost half of the bleachers on the far side were nothing but MC students. It was a night where you could feel how proud everyone was to be a Scot. In any case, there is
Josh Burr from Oglethorpe. He was averaging over 20 pts/gm. We had him so frustrated that he only scored 2 pts. His teammate came over to the student secQon aXer the game and said you all were awesome. Josh also played baseball. When they came up to play MC, he recognized me and came over to talk and said we completely took him out of that
game. Nice guy, but the Cooper Crazies always have the last laugh!