After adisappointing 5-23 season, which included only two wins in 18 Mid-EasternAthletic Conference (MEAC) contests, it was clear that something needed tochange for the Howard University Bison men’s basketball team.
But fewexpected the university to fire men’s basketball coach Frankie Allen, who hadposted a 52-83 record in five seasons at the school.
The Bisonconcluded the season with 17 consecutive losses. The Bison went the last eightweeks and two days without a victory.
The team’slast win occurred at Burr Gymnasium on Jan. 8, when sophomore guard Will Gant’slast-second shot defeated the Morgan Bears, 79-77.
“This was avery difficult decision for the university,” Howard University AthleticDirector Sondra Norrell-Thomas told the Washington Post. “Coach Allen has donesome wonderful things during his tenure at Howard. However, our men’s basketballprogram has not been at the level we expected, and a change in leadership atthis time best positions us for success. We feel strongly that our men’sbasketball program needs to go in a different direction, and it was obvious tome that the change had to be made now.”
The March 9announcement that Allen would be relieved of his duties shocked such players assophomore forward Jason Trotter.
“I was indisbelief,” Trotter said. “I couldn’t believe he was terminated as a headcoach. I found out on Tuesday night after the banquet that he was not going tobe with us and it was a long, long bus ride home.”
“I was kind ofshocked that it happened so fast,” said sophomore guard Darek “Skip” Mitchell.
Before Allen’sarrival, the Bison had a record of 3-52 from 1998 to 2000. The former headcoach at Virginia Tech and Tennessee State led Howard to a 10-18 record in hisfirst season. The next year, the Bison’s record was 18-13, the best season in adecade at the time. The team advanced to the MEAC Tournament title game for thefirst time since 1992. Unfortunately, the Bison lost the title match. The nexttwo seasons saw the Bison moving backward, as the team finished with an 11-17record in 2002-2003, a 6-22 record in 2003-04 and a 5-23 showing this season.
A big reasonfor the team’s poor record this season was the academic ineligibility of keyveterans such as junior guard Louis Ford, who missed the final 26 games. Theteam was also without senior forward Bilal Russell because of an ankle injury.The leading scorer, sophomore forward Cliffone Ault, did not play in the finaleight games of the regular season for personal reasons.
Norrell-Thomas,the athletic director, said she was putting together a search committee toselect a replacement for Allen. No matter what coach comes in, team members saythey have to put their best foot forward in the off-season and get better.
“We have tocome together as a team and work hard together to become a better team,” saidMitchell.
Jonathan Davis, a student at HowardUniversity, writes for The Hilltop.
