Something rather extraordinary happened in the 2014 MEAC tournament. The top seed, North Carolina Central, won the automatic bid. The MEAC had, during the prior three seasons, been a source for crazy upsets, as the top seed had been knocked out in the quarterfinals by the 8 seed in both 2013 and 2012, and in the semifinals by the 4 seed in 2011. The Eagles, who have only been a full Division I member since 2012, made their first ever NCAA tournament, losing to Iowa State in the Round of 64. The MEAC also put two teams into the CBI, Hampton and Norfolk State.
This year, the MEAC should once again come down to a battle between NC Central and Hampton. The Eagles have one of the conference’s top frontcourts, but have holes to fill in the backcourt. Hampton is the opposite, with a solid backcourt but question marks down low. In the end, our call is for superior guard play to beat out superior low post play and the Hampton Pirates to take this year’s crown. Delaware State and Howard could also figure in the title mix, especially with Howard having arguably the MEAC’s best player in guard James Daniel.
One team that will not figure in the title race this season is Florida A&M. The Rattlers are on the APR postseason ban list and will be ineligible for the conference and NCAA tournaments. On top of that, virtually every player from last season’s roster is gone either via graduation or transfer, giving new head coach Byron Samuels a huge rebuilding project. We here at HOOPS HD annually give out the “Centenary Award” to the worst team in Division I. FAMU is our preseason pick to take home that title this year.
Predicted Order of Finish:
1. Hampton: Deron Powers and Brian Darden anchor one of the conference’s best backcourts. If they can find some answers down low, the Pirates could be dancing this season.
2. North Carolina Central: Jay Copeland and Jordan Parks help make up a solid frontcourt. If they can find the pieces to fill in for offseason losses in the backcourt, a repeat could be in order.
3. Delaware State: Kendell Gray may be the best big man in the conference and should help the Hornets vastly improve on last year’s 9-21 record.
4. Howard: In addition to Daniel, the Bison return all of their starters and most of the bench. In fact, they were the second youngest team in the country (behind only Kentucky) last season, and the experience that was built should make them a legitimate contender this year.
5. South Carolina State: The Bulldogs appear to be heading in the right direction, and may be even better next season with most of the team being juniors or younger. JC transfer TaShombe Riley is worth keeping an eye on this year.
6. Norfolk State: With three starters gone from last year’s team, the Spartans need Jamel Fuentes and Boston University transfer Malik Thomas to step up in order to remain in the upper division.
7. Bethune-Cookman: Mikel Trapp and Clemmye Owens should pace their scoring this year, but the Wildcats have too many holes in the roster to contend.
8. Coppin State: For the first time in what feels like forever, Fang Mitchell is not the head coach at Coppin State. Michael Grant takes over and has his work cut out with the top two scorers gone from a team that lost 20 games.
9. North Carolina A&T: Bruce Beckford is the top returning player, but another long season seems to be in store.
10. Savannah State: With only one returning starter, this looks like a rebuilding year. Jeremiah Hill may be the best talent on the team.
11. Morgan State: This could be a long season for head coach Todd Bozeman, though Atlantic City, NJ native Jahleem Montague is worth watching.
12. Maryland-Eastern Shore: With every starter gone from a 24 loss team, only the woes at Florida A&M may keep the Hawks out of the conference basement.
13. Florida A&M*: Two words — Centenary Award. Byron Samuels will need to rebuild this program from the bottom up.
*Florida A&M is ineligible for postseason play due to low APR scores.