#347 Pomeroy Coppin State @ #51 Pomeroy  Virginia Tech: 

Virginia Tech men’s basketball pulled a very nifty upset on the road in the 1-hole down in Clemson South Carolina Tuesday night (67-60).

The Hokies inaugural Mike Young game was a gritty one and a gamey one and it was an unexpectedly VicTorious gutty one to O&M boot. It may have also been *the* coming-out party for Landers Nolley II who basically punked Clemson with 30 K.Kong sized huge junk-kicking “left foot in” points with 5 caroms and a couple of steals on a pretty sharp-shooting night (50% behind the arc). As V.Tech needed nearly every one of his thirty points debuting outburst. Although we all hope they need a bit less vs. visiting little ole M.E.A.C. Coppin State. Nevertheless… you wanna know who is gonna win and by how much, right? Read on… to find, out!

Coppin State Head Coach: Juan Dixon: age=41, 16-77 overall. Has a rep’ for: backcourt play a bit of defense and not much else at the moment.
$147,000.oo

Juan Dixon is an American former professional basketball player and the current head coach for Coppin State University in Baltimore.

Baller Dixon led the University of Maryland Terrapins to their first N.C.A.A. championship in 2002 A.D. and earned Most Outstanding Player honors of the Final Four. Then went on to vagabond the Association with eight different Professional teams domestic and international combined over a world-tour high-seas interesting nine-season pro’ career. And he got to run ball with some dood returning to ball named: Mike Jordan for the Bullets way back when.

Dixon.edu went back to school and did earn his Bachelor of Science degree in Family Science in 2013 from the University of Maryland. 3-cheers here!

Coach Dixon broke in with the wimminz side at District of Columbia: going 3–25 (.1o7). He is currently 13-52 beginning his third campaign for Coppin State.

On a harsh personal note: Juan’s momma (Juanita) and father (Phil) were heroin addicts, and died of AIDS-related illnesses before Dixon was 17 years old. He was then raised by his grandparents Roberta and Warnick Graves in Baltimore. May St.Phillip super twice bless!

On a further personal note… dating since 1996, Dixon married his high-school sweetheart, Robyn Bragg Dixon, in July 2005. She works in the public relations field and is a cast member in the Bravo reality television show Real Housewives of Potomac.

The two divorced in March 2012 and yet they still live together in Maryland.
They have two sons, Corey and Carter.

{/Godspeed & God Bless sum mo’!}

Coppin State at a glance:

• 3rd most 3-point attempts/game (39 3’s launched); lotta long rebounds/chances to run!
• 33rd in swipes (11 spg).
• 213th in rebounding margin (–13 rpg)!
• 230th most personal-fouls whistled against.

C.S.U. Returning Starters=1

Coppin State Strengths:

• ahhhhhhh, errrrrrrrr, ahhhhhhhhhh… well, let’s see… there is… Mister Clayton?
• One #3 Dejuan Clayton (PIC) is a 6′2″, 185 lb. Bowie Maryland inner-city native off or lead-G; and he is a legit street hard-looking off or lead-G let me tell you. He is also listed by all of my pre-season magazines as the only Eagle with any measure of all-conference flight school to his game. In point of fact(s)… a couple have him first-string all-M.E.A.C. (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) and he is the one alpha offensive producer that Coppin State can likely deploy. 15 ppg last year on a relatively paltry 24% long is just not enough making for a shooting diva who loves the long-ball. That said, the reports are that this kid is legit and that when Clayton does get his depth working, he can literally go Atlas and carry a team offensively on his back. He is an outburst scorer in every possible sense of any word; what with not less than eight games ≥23 points tallied last year. The queer thang being… his 3-ball has dropped less and less every single year of his collegiate career. 34% from deep when he broke in, 31% and then 24% last year where he really slumped his way home. As this kid is all frontrunning chalk. Tho’ he can put the biscuit in the basket if he gets his game off early on. 3 rpg and 3.8 apg fill out his rotisserie contributions. As does the on-again-off-again knee ills that cost him all less six-second season games (St.Nikhon help). And he does merit serious points for the Amish lambchop face-fro’ beard. I mean somewhere the real Shaft (Richy Roundtree) is LOL or at least SmirkingOL at this. And possibly ROTF at this: “Best Non-athletic talent: Looking sweet.” “Describe yourself in one word: ME.” (taken directly from Dejuan bio’ page) FTP my brother!!!

  

• Kamar McKnight is a 6′2″, 2o5 lb. r-Sr. and g-Trans. (ex of Tennessee State) combo-G who just surprised everyone and went off for a team-leading 25 points in game no.1 Nobody had this kid listed for much of anything -much less listed for this volume of production. Tho’ 25 unexpected ppg is a neat thing to have to deal with outta nowhere. Or from Georgia Highlands College (his first school of three)— by way of Bob and Doug land up in the Great White North of Ottawa Canada, “eh”. Kamar did win the Jersey State Prep’ title back in 2014… he looks like he’s not been carded for anything in a minute, or three. And I and Luis Ortiz are wondering just what his born-on-date reads? Still yet, importing ~12 ppg worth of very veteran experience is not the worst thing. Tho’ his 23% from range could be a better thing.
• Aaron Robinson was another opening night surprise/breakout type baller (15 points). Which ain’t half bad from a kid who nobody thought would even start 6-weeks ago when training camp broke. Arron is a 6′6″, 215 lb. g-Senior from over at Quinnipiac University. Where he got his diploma (Quin’.edu.love!), made the MAAC All-Academic Team, thrice. Although he did not make as many non-classroom shots as a career 3.5 ppg scorer. A.Rob’ is physical and sturdy looking and has more of a utility type of ‘rep coming in.

Coppin State Weaknesses:

• 23%. As in twenty-three percent of C.S.U. possessions last season ended in turnovers! One of the worst roundball integrity marks in the entire nation. As it is really hard to win much of anything when you drop the rock and fail to even get a miss off, basically one in four times.
• 38 ppg and 18 rpg spread out across four gonzo 2018-2019 starters. Not that these four Eagles were alpha cock of the walks, tho’ they likewise took a ton of experience with them plus some moderate production(s).
• Despite logging some bona fide height, as you will read below… this is a paper-thin Eagles nest in regard to depth.

Eagles Bench: (depth=1 and token minute change)

6′5″, 220 lb. rock solid looking second season Pure shooting-G or S/F Nigel Marshall is supposed to be the second or beta option according to my preview magazines. Tho’ he has scored two that’s (2) more points than you and I have combined this campaign and well, there you go…

Brendan Medley-Bacon is a legit Five. Who checks in as a true-C at 7′1″, and 245 lbs sophomoric B’more Maryland lbs. Bacon was a frontcourt relief baller last year who is a bit undercooked offensively although a reasonable rim-protector and S.W.A.T. shot-blocking member. 3 ppg, 3 rpg, a block, and 54%… IIWII as Brendan can at least help Coppin match up large when needed.

Additionally, Kenan Sarvan is a big ole Euro’ stretch-F. Who goes 6′10″, 225 lbs. as a rookie or nugget year voter, all the way from: Heerlen, Netherlands. So you can see the potential for a BIG-line-up from the Eagles if/when they want it here. (although nobody seems to know what this kid looks like, including the Coppin State roster page… go fig’ on this?)

Illation, conclusion(s) and OPT digits:

Number of Eagles who could soar @Tech=1.

the takeaway:
The takeaway here is… ‘same as it ever was‘ as Out of Conference (O.O.C.) mini-me foes goes… “fe, fi, Foe… yum“!

As this Young(er) version of Hokie Hoops really should eat Coppin State up for B, L, D, and “burp.”

 ***

Our handy-dandy friend the so-called Forum Guide of Graham Houston fame is calling for not much of anything here. Gotta ask back in December give/take.

The annualized year-to-date vitals say that… VT is up 1% from the floor in shooting percentage margin. Then up a prettier 8% in 3-point percentage margin and finally the Hokies are also up a rather useful looking +13 boards in rebounding margin.

The most recent 5-game metrics say that… “we’ve only played one game b-street: DUH!“

With Coppin State actually up 5% at the charity stripe for the year.

The Eagles ain’t much to be direct/honest in a P.C. or pubo-coccygeus world.

They were however picked higher this year than last year in all of my pre-season magazines.

Peaking at 5th outta 11 in Lindy’s. So I have to suppose this is some version of progress? Although the Eagles were the 1976 NAIA National Champions; they have not been to any manner of post-season in over a decade and have basically struggled since their classification elevated and they joined the big-boy-pants or the N.C.2.A. D-1 ranks.

Coach Juan Dixon has a new big-ass Grizzly Adams beard, he does have the never met a shot he did not like or was afraid to take Dejuan Clayton at his disposal, and they prolly like each other’s first names swell enough.

Beyond that?

–oOo–

Well beyond that I was disabled to see/glean how Coppin State was picked to move up after eight-win 2018-2019? Then I did see that seven of those eight triumphs were in-conference. Then I realized that the M.E.A.C. must be down and/or extremely bottom heavy. Because when I went back and did actually take the time to survey the Eagles 2018-2019 docket?

It was pretty much code for: food for hire or an O.O.C. smorgasbord at the plucked good-n-hard Eagles expense. They played four real teams: (N.Dame, hooVa, Houston, and Whisky) and were beaten by 29 ppg on average. Which seems like 72-strokes or par for the course to me to mix my sporting metaphor yet again…

---

…nevertheless, V.Tech should win if not flat out roll here as they only need to Diamond-‘n-1 to check one guy (i.e. J.Clayton).

And yah I just gotta do it… VeeTee cop’s a buzz, here!

That being said, I would not die of shock if coach M.Young takes at least one O.O.C. scare with Landy being his 1st, his 2nd and at least his 4th best offensive option at the moment.

Because what happens if/when Nolley eventually suffers an offensively…
off-nite?
💯

(92% confidence interval)
Virginia Tech=82, Coppin State=63

“LETS GO!”

“Hokies!”

 bourbonstreet**