March 15, 2010

It has been 24 hours since walking of the floor vs. Morgan State in the MEAC basketball tournament finals. As a coach I've always ask myself what I could have done to help my team be more success full. Looking back I know I pushed every button and pulled every trick I knew to get our team to reach their full potential this season.

The most important attribute that I feel any good team "must have" is great senior leadership. We had that this season in Jason Folklore. Jason bought in to what I was selling and that was leading by example and not just talking the talk. We could not have the run this season without his constant positive attitude and never give up mind set. I am honored to have coached him and I will really miss having him a part of the team next season.

Looking back at this season we did some things I had not done in many years and that was play zone. We tried to hide our lack of size inside along with our lack of bulk in the low block area by playing zone. When we shot the ball above 43 percent we normally won. We led the league shooting from the foul line and we usually rebounded well.

Carrio Bennett was not able to play in the championship game due to a groin injury suffered the night before vs Delaware State. This was tough on him, he is a tough competitor and it hurt him not being out there. Also Jodd Maxey was not able to play due to a severe stomach virus suffered after the first tournament game vs. Maryland Eastern Shore.

Well its time hit the road and see if we can finalize our recruiting for next year.

Two straight winning seasons, players graduating, maybe next season we can top it of with a championship.

Go Bulldogs.

February 16, 2010

The Bulldogs beat a great Morgan State team on their court tonight on National TV. I have had many nice road wins but this may be one of if not the best road wins I have had as a head coach. We stunk up the joint two nights ago at Coppin State playing the worst 40 minutes of basketball since my tenure at SCSU. The beat writer from the Baltimore Sun asked me after the game how do you go from playing the team with the worst record and loosing to playing the team with the best record and winning. My response was if I had the answer I would try to stop it from happening. Basketball is a funny game, one that as a coach just when you think you have it figured out you get put flat on your back.

This team is really over achieving. When you consider we are playing down the stretch with 6'5 Flagler and 6'5 Arsenio on the block we really don't have a lot of room for error.

We just finished the second game of a brutal road schedule. At NC A-T on Wednesday and then at Georgia State on Saturday, (ESPN Bracket buster) and then to finish up on the road at Norfolk State on Monday the 22nd.

For those of you wondering what happened to our National TV game vs. Georgia State on Saturday the 20th, we found out ten days ago that we would not get a TV game due to our RPI not being low enough. What a joke, had I known when the game was offered to us that there would be a RPI stipulation I would have never consented to playing in it. We gave up a home game to play on TV just to have this happen.

It is brutal this time of year for coaching staffs, lots of film, recruiting and games. We don't see much of our families and it tough to get much rest.

Again I am very proud of where we are as a team and I hope and pray we can stay healthy, keep playing unselfish basketball and stay focused on three things. School work, basketball and getting proper rest.

Go Bulldogs.

November 19, 2009

It has been an extremely busy fall for our basketball staff. We spend quite a lot of time on the road recruiting in September and October. What made this period even more difficult was having to do this with one less fulltime assistant. Assistant coach Lorenzo Watkins made the decision to accept another coaching position in mid October. We want to wish him and his family good luck with their new adventure. Trying coach get another assistant this late in the process could have been a disaster but we landed on our feet and hiring a great addition to the Bulldog basketball family. Hiring Shawn Golden from Greenville SC area will really help in our in state recruiting along with keeping strong ties in the Georgia area as well. Shawn comes to us after two years of doing radio and tv in the Atlanta area and SC. Shawn's dad is the legendary Louie Golden, one of the best coaches to ever coach in the state of SC. I could not be happier with Shawn joining us.

On the recruiting trail we were able to sign 6'9 Dante Wooten from Panola Community College. His home is Philadelphia, PA. We also signed 6'7 Joe Ikhinmwin from Seminole Community College. Joe's hometown is London England. We are elated to have both of them. We have one scholarship left and we are going to try to sign one more big guy.

What a great job Coach Buddy Pugh and his staff have done. Undefeated two years in a row in conference play. What they have done is really special. Congrats Buddy Pugh and the Bulldogs.
 

August 20, 2009

Without a doubt, the past two months have been very busy along with very challenging. The month of July is normally one of the busiest times for division one coaches around the country. This July was no exception for me. I had to replace assistant coach's Kyle Perry and Hank Harris. Its not unusual to replace one coach but two can become a challenge. We went into the summer knowing that we needed our jr college center recruit to have a good summer academically. Unfortunate for us he did not make it. We lost our best freshman Jimmy Williams to a junior college. People ask me why would he leave a division one program to go to a junior college. My response is he felt if he went to a junior college for one season he could play and get re recruited and be able to go to a higher level program. In some cases that might be true, in this case had we had him on campus attending summer school like he wanted we don't loose him. We felt that with the additions we made to the roster and Jimmy's return we would have definitely been in the hunt in the MEAC. All is not lost but it will be a challenge.

Jason Johnson is in the final stages of negotiations with two overseas teams. I really hope he will get the best deal for himself. Jason gave us two great years, he always played with passion. Most important is he got that degree before he left. Josh Jackson is also in the same boat as Jason.

We are trying to get all of our guys in classes that don't disrupt our practice time. Its very hard to get everyone on the same page when it comes to practice and classes.

I'm getting use to this twitter thing. Kind of fun to get small hits from people I like to hear from.

Hired Dwight Evans from Central Florida University. He has tons of contacts in Florida. We really need to get a foot in Florida recruiting wise.

See ya later.

Tim Carter
Head Men's Basketball Coach
South Carolina State University

June 25, 2009

Calling all Bulldogs, calling all Bulldogs...

Please spread the word that if you have ever been a member of the SCSU Men's Basketball program that I am personally inviting you to be my quest and to be recognized at halftime of one of our upcoming home games. Along with being recognized I am also inviting you into the locker room just prior to the tip and my pre game talk. We have a very rich tradition in men's basketball and this is my way of saying thank you for what you have done. Just contact the sports information office or call the men's basketball office at least 24 hours before the game and we will do the rest. In the future I hope to be able to put together a reunion of players and former coaches.

I am going to attempt to do this twitter thing for all of you who do it. So far I am having a tough time getting it to accept my cell phone number. I will keep trying though.

Big Time Congrats to Bill Hamilton on his induction into the COSIDA Hall of Fame. Bill really deserves it.

Staff update: Assistant Kyle Perry has move on to USC UpState, he did a tremendous job helping the Bulldog basketball program get turned around. I have had many good assistants but I can honestly say that Kyle might be the best recruiter I have had and believe me I have had some good ones over the years. I am close to filling his spot as this blog goes out. Thanks Kyle and good luck.

We are very close to finalizing our schedule with one spot to go. I am looking to get something done that will be a positive first for the program.

Well I am going to try to take some time off this week since July recruiting period is just around the corner. The July recruiting period is our busiest and most hectic time of the year when it comes to recruiting. We will be looking to replace Jason Flagler and Arsenio Williams, both play the power forward spots for us.

Finally, congrats to Jason Johnson and Josh Jackson. Both completed their classes in summer school and graduated. Hopefully both with hook up with a good overseas pro team and make some money. Welcome to the real world Jason and Josh.

Become a SCSU Men's Basketball Insider:

Want an inside view of the Bulldogs. Join the Insiders. Get weekly updates once the season begins, get a scouting report of each opponent prior to our game, be an honorary coach for one home game. This is a great way to help the men's basketball program. Cost $100.00. Email me and I will be more than happy to speak with you about helping the program.


My Best, Coach Carter.
Tim Carter
Head Men's Basketball Coach
South Carolina State University