N.C. A&T head men’s basketball coach Jerry Eaves hopes his seven seniors can take him to the NCAA Tournament

Three years ago North Carolina A&T’s head men’s basketball coach, Jerry Eaves walked into the locker room at Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem down 60-28 at halftime to a Wake Forest team that featured future NBA star Chris Paul and All-ACC performers Justin Gray and Eric Williams and told his team they could win.

Eaves was referring to outscoring the Demon Deacons in the second half. He wasn’t trying to find a fancy way to surrender. He was trying to build a program. The Aggies did outscore Wake Forest 48-38 in the second half and Eaves has improved the N.C. A&T program.  

But there was a time when he had to base winning by scoring 50 points, forcing 20 turnovers in a game or holding a team to a certain shooting percentage. “In sports it’s very important that you deal in reality,” said Eaves.

“You can come in and deliver a lot of lip service, but it still won’t be real. When I came in and saw what I had to work with, I had to be a realist. My first year here we had one game where we scored 37 points. The next game I told the guys ‘If we score 50 points we’ve won.’ You can’t come in and take a one-win team and evaluate them on wins and losses because if you do they’ll stop competing for you because there will be more losses than wins. Well, now we have a chance to win. So we will be talking about winning a little bit more this year.”

When Eaves came in the Aggies were coming off of a one-win season. In his first year he won three games. In year two under Eaves the Aggies won five games, and in his third season they won six times. In season four, the steady improvement finally exploded into a 15-win season and a 10-8 record in the MEAC. It was the best season for the Aggies in 10 seasons, and their highest finish in 11 seasons.

With seven seniors and 11 players returning from a third-place MEAC team that advanced to the MEAC Tournament semifinals during the 2006-2007 season, Eaves is not only talking about winning, but there is talk in Aggieland about winning a MEAC championship for the first time in 12 seasons. But despite the Aggies recent resurgence, Eaves said championships are and should be expected from a program with 16 of the 37 MEAC Tournament championships that have been awarded.

“Our goal is to win a championship,’’ said Eaves. “Have we resurrected the program to where it’s on stable ground? Yes. But the thing about A&T, success is based on championships. (Aggie legendary coaches) Cal Irvin and Don Corbett kind of set the bar, so until the team can win a championship, I wouldn’t say it was rebuilt because A&T is based on championships. If A&T had never won a championship and you win 17, 18, 19 games coming from one (win), I would say you’ve done a nice job. But here it’s about winning it.”

Among those seniors are first-team All-MEAC performer Steven Rush (5-11, 170, Greensboro, NC) and second-team All-MEAC forward Jason Wills (6-6, 208, Upper Marlboro, Md.). Rush, a Division I transfer out of UNC-Asheville, had a record-breaking season in which he established himself as one of the best shooters in the nation.

Rush hit a school-record 115 3-pointers last season as he hit 3.83 3-pointers per game, ranking him first in the conference and third in the nation. Rush provided the Aggies an offensive threat from 3-point range they’ve never had in the Eaves era. He once hit three 3-pointers in 91 seconds to force overtime at Norfolk State, a game the Aggies eventually won. He was third in the conference in scoring at 17.3 points per game despite starting only five games.

Eaves turned Rush into one of the best sixth men in the nation to keep opponents guessing as to when the sharp-shooter was going to enter the game.

“Whether Steve starts depends on what’s best for the team,’’ said Eaves. “Teams are going to have to deal with Rush either way. We’re going to make sure we give him opportunities to do what he does best and that’s shoot the basketball.”

Eaves said Rush has been working to expand his skills with a major focus on playing better defense. According to Eaves, if Rush improves defensively, his minutes will increase. He has been pleased with the off-season workout of his star guard.

Meanwhile, Wills will be counted on to do what he has always done for the Aggies – score, rebound and distribute the basketball. Wills’ versatility could earn him playing time at all five positions. Wills has led the Aggies in rebounding the last two seasons. He led the team in scoring as a sophomore and was the second-leading scorer on the team last season.

Wills is a career 50 percent shooter; he has averaged nearly 2.0 assists per game during his career and is just 83 points shy of becoming the 20^th player in Aggies history to record 1,000 points for a career.

“Jason is my connect the dots guy,’’ said Eaves. “He will be asked to do an abundance of things.  He is multi-talented.”

The Aggies other seniors include two-guard Angelo Hernandez and point guards Austin Ewing and Glenn Nelson, who shared playing time at the position in 2006-07. Senior forward Patrick Gregg didn’t play much last season because he was working on becoming eligible, but he is an intense rebounder and defender. Senior Trahern Chaplin joins Wills as the only four-year senior on the Aggies roster.

“It’s been a long time coming to where we have seniors who have been in the system, understand the program and understand what we are trying to do,’’ said Eaves. “It’s the first year to really see what you’ve put in place. So we will see if the kids can handle it and how well they play. It’s kind of exciting to have the opportunity to have a lot of seniors to give yourself an opportunity to go win the tournament.”

To help his chances of winning a MEAC title, Eaves also added three big men during the off-season. Junior college transfer Ed Jones is a 6-foot-7 forward out of Butler Junior College. He was signed along with 6-8 freshman Kam Shepherd and 6-9 freshman Thomas Coleman.

“Every team that starts out wants to win a championship,’’ said Eaves. “But every team doesn’t have a true opportunity. When I first came I wanted to win a championship, but I wasn’t good enough to do that. This year like last year we have an opportunity. We are not the most talented team, but we have an opportunity to win.

“As long as we play to the best of our ability like my teams have done for me for four years, I’ll be the proudest man in North Carolina. But I’m not afraid to say it. I want to win it.”

GUARDS
The Aggies have an experienced group of guards returning this season. Four of the five guards on the roster are seniors and sophomore Tavarus Alston has spent a year in the system. Austin Ewing is the returning starter at point guard. He made 27 starts last season and provides the Aggies another perimeter threat. He is a career 35 percent shooter from 3-point range and hit 58 3-pointers last season.

Senior point guard Glenn Nelson will battle him for playing time. Nelson started five times last season and at times showed an ability to score. During a three-game stretch between Nov. 20 and Dec. 2 he went 18-for-25 from the floor and averaged 16.0 points per game during that span. Alston, who didn’t play much as a freshman last season, will control his own destiny in terms of playing time. Alston is a talented ball-handler but will have to work hard to crack the lineup ahead of Ewing and Nelson.

Angelo Hernandez and Steven Rush will return as the Aggies shooting guard. Hernandez was the starter last season, but there were times when the two men played at the same time. Hernandez quickness allows him to penetrate into the lane, leading to his 53 percent shooting percentage. Hernandez also rebounds well from the guard position.

A year ago, Rush had one of the best seasons of any Aggies shooter. He shot 40 percent from 3-point range and broke the school record for 3-pointers in a season by 16 threes. He also broke the school record for 3-pointers in a game with nine against Norfolk State. He needs 97 3-pointers to break the school record for career 3-pointers made. If it does it, he would have done it just two years at N.C. A&T.

FORWARDS
Jason Wills heads this group. Wills has established himself as the Aggies key man in the post. Over the last two seasons, he has collected 417 rebounds, 842 points and 129 assists in 59 games. He enters the season 10^th on the Aggies all-time rebounding list. Trahern Chaplin has always been an X-factor for the Aggies. When he plays well the Aggies are usually successful. He started 21 of the Aggies 32 games last season and averaged 5.2 points and 3.7 rebounds.  

Patrick Gregg hopes to crack the Aggies rotation. He provides the Aggies an edge on the boards and his athleticism could earn the Aggies some second-chance points. He played in seven games last season. Robert Johnson could find himself in the same role as Greg Roberts, a undersized power forward who can score, rebound and defend. Johnson can step out and hit the mid-range jump shot with consistency and he also possesses 3-point range.

Nicholas Wilson had a fabulous debut to the season last year, which gives Eaves the confidence he can be a big-time contributor this season. He was instrumental in the Aggies upset win over SMU last season. If he becomes the shooter the Aggies believe he can be, he could free up Rush and Ewing on the wings.

The three new frontcourt players start with Ed Jones. The junior college transfer could see himself in the starting lineup at either power forward or center positions. Eaves said Jones will need to score and rebound if the Aggies want to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Eaves hopes Kam Shepherd can develop into a scoring force in the paint. The Aggies also added Division II transfer Justin McCurklin in the off-season.

CENTERS
Aggie coaches are excited about the kind of player freshman Thomas Coleman can become at N.C. A&T. They believe he can add a shot-blocking presence the Aggies have never had in the Eaves era. Coleman will compete with two veteran centers in Chad Webster and James Porter. Webster is coming off his second season-ending injury of his of career, but hopes to bring another shot-blocking or shot-altering presence off the Aggies bench.

Porter enters his third season in the middle for the Aggies. He can face the basket and score, and Eaves hopes he can add more of presence in the lane offensively and defensively this season.

“Everybody can’t get playing time,’’ said Eaves. “It’s as simple as that. It’s a good problem we have with this many talented players. But when you say you’re trying to win a championship, it’s hard to say you’re going to win that championship playing 11 or 12 guys. The other teams are too good for that. You have to win your championship playing 1 through 9.”