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Hampton may be better second time around
LUT WILLIAMS Head coach Steve Merfeld's troops were led by three outstanding seniors then and were favored to win the MEAC. The shock was their success in the Big Dance. "These are two different teams," said Merfeld Tuesday explaining the contrast between the old and the new. "The upset of UNC in Chapel Hill allowed this team to establish its own identity. The win was great for our program and was a confidence-builder for this team. It allowed them to separate themselves from last year. These are new players with a different style of basketball." Different styles and different players however are producting similar results. The Pirates, who finished the regular season last year on top of the conference with a 14-4 mark, are off to a 10-0 start this season. Picked to finish third in a preseason poll of MEAC coaches, the Pirates have won all but three of their conference games by double-digit margins while rolling to the top of the BCSP rankings. The star of this year's team appears to be senior guard Tommy Adams. After playing a supporting role last season, Adams, who has started and been a double-figure scorer throughout his four-year career, has stepped into the spotlight as the team's leading scorer at 19.6 points per game, third best in the MEAC. He also leads the conference in three-pointers per game (3.53) and is third in free throw percentage (78.3%). Merfeld says Adams is "stepping up as a senior," just as 2001 MEAC Player of the Year, Tarvis Williams did a year ago. "If you look at their statistics, Tarvis and Tommy had similar numbers in their first years and really turned it on as seniors. That's what we expected from Tommy." But the upswing in Adams's play is not nearly the only factor fueling the Pirates' run. Six-five swingman Isaac Jefferson, also a starter last year but often overlooked in the team's success, is making it impossible to discount his contributions this year. The junior from Columbus, Ohio, has become a stat sheet stuffer, averaging
a double-double at 10.1 points and 10.0 rebounds per game, the latter the second
best mark in the conference. He also leads the league in assists (4.42) and is
second in field goal percentage (71-119, .597). "Isaac is just a complete player," said Merfeld. "He just has a feel for the game." Six-seven sophomore center David Johnson, who Merfeld says benefitted from practicing against Williams last year, and freshman swingman Devin Green, have perhaps been the biggest surprises. Johnson has become a force down low averaging 8.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game while leading the league shooting at a 75% clip (69 of 92) and placing third in blocked shots (1.16 bpg.). At six-foot, six-inches, and capable of playing guard or forward, Green has been a delight for Merfeld and a headache and match-up problem to opponents. He's scoring 15.1 points per game, shooting 47% (104 of 117) from the field and often is used to handle the ball and look to score when the Pirates spread the floor. He's won the league's Rookie of the Week award four times. "We figured he'd (Green) have to have the kind of year he's having to accomplish our goals," said Merfeld. Senior Mackel Purvis (6.3 ppg.) and sophomore Barry Hairston (11.5 ppg.) have alternated at the other starting spot. As for the penchant of MEAC teams to tear through the regular season only to be felled in the tournament, Merfeld says that's not his focus. "It's too early in the season for that," he said. "We talk about everyday how the teams we face are going to be playing their best basketball in February. But what we're trying to do, whether we win or lose, is get better each game. And right now, I feel good about our progress." © 2002 Azeez Communications, Inc.
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Shock
was the optimum word again early this season when the Pirates, with a relatively
new cast of players, went into Chapel Hill and stunned the UNC Tar Heels. The
win established the Pirates as a force to be reckoned with both inside the conference
and on the national scene.
