By Michael Weiss w Wayne Viener
I moved back to my hometown of Hagerstown (Maryland) last April and was excited to finally be back in Garyland after many years away. I moved back from North Carolina where every Terp game was huge. I lived smack in between a Carolina and Wake flag. Both neighbors waved them proudly.
When I arrived back in HTown I got in touch with a friend I went to high school with who is the 2nd assistant for the Mt St Marys basketball team. I watched the final few games of the Mount last year as they made their run to the Tournament (lost to UNC in round 1). He invited me to the Bryant game back in November and offer me second row seats behind the Mount bench (his seats). I took my fiancé Jen who I have dragged all over the east coast to watch the Terps (including our first valentine’s day at Clemson).
The trip to Emmittsburg is a short one from both Hagerstown and the DC area. Only 15 minutes north of Frederick on Route 15, it is far enough from the city but not too far. When the Mount opened it’s new basketball arena, Maryland was their first game. Now 20+ years old, the arena is still very nice and modern.
Mount Saint Mary’s is a small college that is in a conference that has an automatic bid for the NCAA tounament. The same NCAA tounament that Maryland is trying to get into. In fact, the Mount has played at Maryland for the past few years in a mid-December game.
As the game began I was shocked at how fast it moved. I think it was because I was so close but also because these guys play hard and with heart. It was phenomenal basketball! There coach is a young energetic coach named Milan Brown (Howard ‘93) who has built a solid team with a ton of young talent. My buddy Kevin is the 2nd assistant and is in charge of recruiting.
The stud on the team is a junior named Jeremy Goode from Charlotte. Can you say lightning quick? This kid is unbelievable on offense and defense. My favorite player is a Sophmore named Jean Cajou a real slashed and dasher. They have a kid by the name of Kelly Beidler who is a solid rebounded who can put up 20 any given night. They have a few guys who come off the bench (Shawn Atupem, Will Holland, Pierre Brown) who can put up 5-10 any given night.
Their recruiting has improved drastically over the last 2 years. The Mount landed a solid kid out of Baltimore named Raven who I sat next to last Saturday night. We witnessed a 30 point win over St Francis, Pa. Goode had 21, Jean had 19 and Kelly had 18. It was senior night ( 2 seniors Sam and Marcus) and they announced the Mount All Century Team including legendry coach Jim Phelan and former NBAer Fred Carter.
To make a long story short I have now been to 5 games and am all about Mt St Mary’s basket. Its exciting, fun and these guys can play! All I can say is if you get the chance to make it to Emmittsburg check them out. They are the 2nd seed going into the NEC Tournament and may just make the NCAAs again this year.
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