Coach Fang Mitchell and his Coppin State Eagles are used to being in this position.
Once again, the Eagles are the consensus pick to win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and roll on to their third NCAA tournament. No wonder. Coppin State has maintained a stranglehold on the MEAC, having gone two straight regular seasons -- 32 games -- without losing to a conference opponent. What's more, every starter is back from last season's 22-8 team.
But a sense of unfinished business is looming over the Eagles. At last year's MEAC tournament, Coppin State became the first top seed ever to fall in the opening round, when the Eagles lost to eighth seed Morgan State. The loss broke Coppin State's 16-game winning streak, and cost the Eagles their shot at an NCAA tournament bid.
The Eagles are back with all of their familiar weapons. In addition, they've added senior forward Tariq Saunders, who was academically ineligible last season after an outstanding sophomore season. But Coppin State is preparing for the season -- and the toughest nonleague schedule in its history -- with enough handicaps to concern Mitchell.
Injuries are piling up like Keith Carmichael three-pointers. Last season's starting five has yet to practice together for a week.
Senior forward Stephen Stewart, the reigning MEAC Player of the Year, missed 10 days with a broken nose. Saunders injured his back on the first day of practice and just rejoined the team last week. Junior swingman Kyle Locke missed a week after suffering a concussion. Junior center Mario McGriff sprained an ankle and then hurt his hand. Senior point guard Sidney Goodman missed a week with a mild hernia. Senior center/forward Michael Thomas has been bothered by a sprained ankle.
"No question, this has been the worst preseason," Mitchell said. "They're not in prime shape. We just got everybody back together for the first time on Thursday. With our schedule, we don't have room for injury problems. And we can't use them as excuses."
A full-strength Eagles team would have its hands full with the first month of the schedule, which includes dates at Oklahoma, St. John's, Kansas, Missouri, Kansas State, LSU and Michigan State.
The player who sets the tone for Coppin is still the 6-foot-6 Stewart, last season's leading scorer, who is as soft with his outside shot as he is rugged inside. On a squad of fierce competitors, Stewart is the nastiest.
"He [Stewart] feels he can score every time down the floor, and he feels he can win the game every night," Mitchell said. "He came in in the best shape of his life, but the injury set him back."
The faster Stewart gets back to full speed, the better off Coppin State will be. But his frontcourt support is still a question mark.
Thomas and McGriff combined for 14.0 points and 10.3 rebounds a game last season. Thomas, 6-8, is a tremendous leaper and a superb offensive rebounder. McGriff is an enigma. Despite his agile 6-9, 285-pound frame, McGriff rarely has put together strong, back-to-back games.
"Mario has as much potential as anyone I've ever brought into the program," Mitchell said. "I've been able to reach most of my players as far as motivation is concerned, but I haven't been able to reach Mario yet. He hasn't lived up to our expectations."
If Saunders, 6-6, lives up to the expectations he created two years ago, when he averaged 13.0 points and 5.7 rebounds, the dTC Eagles will be in good shape up front. But Saunders' back continues to bother him.
One area where the Eagles can't improve much is in their starting backcourt, where Goodman and Carmichael were runaway All-MEAC first team last year.
Carmichael is the premier outside shooter in the conference, and he made huge strides on defense last season. Goodman (14.5 points, 4.0 assists) has no glaring weakness, although he went into a shooting slump late last season, which carried over into this year's camp. For a while, Mitchell demoted Goodman to the second team. He has regained his starting job, but he is being pushed by improving Allen Watson, whose outside shot has come a long way.
Rounding out the team is versatile guard/forward Locke, another excellent outside shooter. After averaging 4.1 points and 2.7 rebounds in 1993-94, Locke could be primed for major improvement this winter.
Injuries aside, this could be the deepest team Mitchell has had.
"With Tariq, we have 10 players we can go to," Mitchell said. "Our second team now beats our first team in scrimmages."
COPPIN STATE AT A GLANCE
Coach: Fang Mitchell (143-91), ninth season.
Affiliation: Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
1993-94 record: 22-8, 16-0 in the MEAC.
Radio: WOLB (1010 AM).
Starters lost: None.
Outlook: The Eagles return 11 players and every starter from last year's 22-8 team, which ripped through the MEAC regular season undefeated before getting upset by Morgan State in the conference tournament. This is Mitchell's most seasoned Coppin State team, and he has assembled the toughest nonconference schedule the Eagles have ever faced. A lack of size up front could hurt Coppin in some of its nonconference games, but the Eagles have excellent balance. Forward Stephen Stewart, the reigning MEAC Player of the Year, leads a talented frontcourt that includes Michael Thomas, Kyle Locke, Mario McGriff and Tariq Saunders, who is nursing a bad back. The backcourt of Sidney Goodman and Keith Carmichael is the class of the league. Goodman is the league's top point guard, Carmichael its best outside shooter. Coppin State has won 32 straight regular-season MEAC games.
Returning players
D8 Name ........... Yr. .. Pos. .. Hgt. .. Fast breaks
Sidney Goodman .... Sr. .... G ... 6-3 ... All-MEAC point guard
Keith Carmichael .. Sr. .... G ... 6-3 ... 15.3 ppg, MEAC's top 3-pt. shooter
Stephen Stewart ... Sr. ... F/G .. 6-6 ... 1993-94 MEAC Player of the Year
Kyle Locke ........ Jr. ... F/G .. 6-6 ... Versatile player, good outside shot
Michael Thomas .... Sr. ... F/C .. 6-8 ... Fine leaper, needs to score more
Tariq Saunders .... Sr. .... F ... 6-6 ... 13 ppg, 5.7 rpg two years ago
Allen Watson ...... Jr. .... G ... 5-10 .. Much-improved backup at point
Mario McGriff ..... Jr. .... C ... 6-9 ... When he's on, imposing inside player
Marcus Robinson ... Sr. .... G ... 6-3 ... Averaged 3.3 ppg in a
reserve role
Jerry Wysinger .... Sr. .... C ... 6-8 ... Walked on last year, offers bulk inside
Xavier Fuller ..... So. ... F/G .. 6-3 ... Capable swing man off the bench
Terry Martin ...... So. .... G ... 6-1 ... Should see more playing time
Newcomers
Trent Nicholas .... Jr. .... F ... 6-8 .... Transfer from Harford CC