Coaches seeking upward mobility and more visibility might view Maryland-Eastern Shore in Princess Anne as a remote outpost on the national collegiate basketball map. But not Jeff Menday, the new head coach at UMES, who knows what remote really means.
"In 1982, when I was 26, I got my first head coaching job at !B Navajo Community College in the town of Tsaile in northwestern Arizona," said Menday, now a well-traveled 38 years old. "That was the year the movie 'The Blues Brothers' was real popular, and I felt like I was on a mission for God.
"Talk about being nowheres. If I didn't want to eat Indian food, the closest major food store was in Gallup, New Mexico, 90 miles away.
"When my fiancee first came to visit, she took one look and flew back to Seattle.
"But I learned how to win there. I had a 'United Nations team' -- four Navajos, five blacks, two whites and one Hispanic. The year I took over, the school had gone through 15 straight losing seasons. Two years later, we won a school-record 24 games."
That is why inheriting a veteran, winning (16-12) team at UMES and living in nearby Salisbury was so intriguing to Menday.
"To me, after working in Tsaile and later in Coos Bay [Ore.], Salisbury looks like a metropolis," said Menday. "And the people have made me feel real comfortable."
But Menday could feel pressure from the community after replacing charismatic Rob Chavez, who, in two years, transformed a near-moribund basketball program into a Mid-Eastern Conference title contender before losing to North Carolina AT&T; in the tournament semifinals.
Chavez, whose friendship with Menday dates to when they were coaching junior college in Oregon, offered to take Menday with him when he moved to Portland University this year. But Menday saw a bigger opportunity in being his own boss.
"Rob offered me a real good package, but frankly, I don't enjoy being an assistant," he said.
"The head coach gets to worry about game plans, wins and losses. I had to worry about doing the team laundry and ordering pizzas. The assistants do most of the recruiting, but the head guy gets the credit if the talent is there."
Menday's contributions to the Hawks' turnaround were not lost on athletic director Dr. Hallie Gregory.
"Sure, we hated to lose a bright, young coach like Chavez, but you expect that in this business," said Gregory. "But when you're the athletic director, you see how much the assistants do in the day-to-day operations of a team.
"I could see that Menday was a very hard worker, plus a fine recruiter. Hopefully, we'll be as good as we were last year."
But Menday's fellow MEAC coaches believe he will be fortunate to do so, picking UMES to finish sixth.
Chavez left a solid nucleus built around senior guards Terrell Harris and Andre Miller, senior forward Kenya Mobley and
sophomore shooting guard Aaron McKinney.
"All four of these guys were role players last year," Menday said. "Now they all have to take their games to the next level if we're going to stay competitive in the MEAC."
Gone are the Hawks' two top scorers from last season, guards Dale Harrison and Zack Allison.
Menday said he felt he had landed two recruiting plums in guard Shawn Penney, who was voted the top junior college player in Oregon last year, and Forestville (Md.) product Orande Clark. But a physical examination revealed that Penney had a congenital heart problem. He is presently undergoing more extensive tests. Clark, a Prop 48 student, decided to leave UMES before preseason drills began.
Two newcomers, guard Cryhton Langhorne from Willingboro, N.J., and forward Morris Conley, a transfer from Allen County (Kan.) Community College, are expected to be instant contributors.