The Morgan State men’s basketball team’s season is about to start, and head coach Kevin Broadus has built a team capable of winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with returning stars and key transfers.
Broadus has been the head coach of the Bears since 2019. Before arriving in East Baltimore, Broadus was an assistant for Mark Turgeon at Maryland (2017-2019) and had two stints as an assistant at Georgetown (2004-2007 and 2011-2017). Broadus was also the head coach at Binghamton from 2007-2009.
In Broadus’ first year as head coach in 2019-20, Morgan finished 15-16. In his second year, the Bears improved to 14-8 during the COVID-shortened season and advanced to the MEAC championship game. Morgan ultimately lost to Norfolk State, 71-63, to end its 2020-21 season.
The Bears return four of five starters in Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr., Lagio Grantsaan, Malik Miller and Trevor Moore. Plus, MEAC Preseason Player of the Year De’Torrion Ware is also back after serving mostly as Morgan’s sixth man last year. The Bears have added big-name transfers to their roster as well.
Broadus believes there is still some room for improvement, though.
“Last year, we could score with anybody. We’re learning to defend better, that’s our big focus right now is defense,” Broadus said on Glenn Clark Radio Oct. 29. “… Defense wins championships. We’re emphasizing it a lot more than we did last year. We didn’t know we had those types of scorers last year. Now we know. Now we’ve got to emphasize defense.”
Ware, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound junior guard, was a second-team All-MEAC selection last year and led the conference in points per game (17.1) while shooting 42.7 percent from the floor, 38.8 percent from beyond the arc and 83.2 percent from the free-throw line. He also averaged 5.7 rebounds per game.
The Bears have also made some key additions through the transfer portal like graduate guard Seventh Woods, who played at North Carolina from 2016-2019 and South Carolina from 2020-2021. The 6-foot-2, 184-pound guard won a national championship with the Tar Heels in 2017.
Broadus explained that Woods is different from some players who come from similar backgrounds.
“You’re happy to have him, but you’re worrying, ‘Is he going to come in and be disruptive, not work hard?'” Broadus said. “He’s been totally opposite. The kid is a special kid — humble, works hard. He’s a little banged up right now. He’s getting his confidence back. He shows signs some days like, ‘Wow, we really have this guy.'”
The Bears also brought in graduate student guard Keith McGee from New Mexico. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard is “special” in Broadus’ eyes. “He has a knack for putting the ball in the hole and he can really defend. He’s a two-way player,” the coach said.
Many basketball players who come to Morgan as transfers say they wish they came to the school first, according to Broadus.
“No matter where you go, the basketball you’re going to play with is going to be round, is going to be orange, the court’s going to be 94 feet, you’re going to have the same lines, the rim’s going to be 10 feet,” Broadus said. “I mean, why not us?”
With the recent departure of three schools from the MEAC, the conference is down to only eight teams this year. With only 14 conference games on the Bears’ schedule, the team has 15 nonconference games, including several contests out West.
Broadus considers the challenge in scheduling to be like every other year.
“You hear so many rumblings about other teams leaving,” Broadus said, “I cannot sit back and focus on that. That’s not my focus. My focus is beating the teams that are still left in the league and the teams that we are playing out of conference.”
Kansas State and Wisconsin headline Morgan’s nonconference slate. However, Broadus’ mindset is the same no matter what team the Bears are facing.
“We’re not going just to collect a check, we’re going to win,” Broadus said.
Morgan will open its season against St. Mary’s College of Maryland Nov. 9.
For more from Broadus, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credits: Courtesy of Morgan State Athletics