Barber-Scotia's hoop dreams

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Barber-Scotia's hoop dreams

By Trey Harmon – December 1, 2011

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Barber-Scotia College's women's basketball team. (Photo courtesy of Barber-Scotia.)

For as long as anyone can probably remember, Concord, N.C., has been known for three things: Phillip Morris, Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Barber-Scotia College. Phillip Morris is gone, Bruton Smith almost moved the speedway, and Barber-Scotia has been hanging by a thread. That thread is a small group of people who have dedicated themselves to resurrecting this historically black college that graduated civil rights leader Mary McLeod Bethune, among many others. The school’s rich history and reputation was tarnished when it lost its accreditation in 2004 and nearly shutdown.

Now, as the 2011-2012 college basketball season kicks off, Barber-Scotia is using the sport to make a comeback with a new women’s basketball team, in addition to its men’s team that was reinstated in 2009.

David Olah

For a school in Scotia’s financial position it would be very easy to eliminate women’s basketball, especially in this economy. But, Barber-Scotia President David Olah said the school’s basketball program is more about community presence than money: “We’re not doing it to raise money, it’s more about re-establishing our prominence in the community, so people know we are here. One of the problems we have is re-establishing our credibility. We think basketball is a great ambassador program for us.”

Hoops vs academics

When asked if the college should be spending money on athletics rather than getting reaffirmed, Olah said a sports program is a part of that process.

“We have to provide student activities. One of the challenges with accreditation is every program you have, you must show significant enrollment in order to maintain that degree program. When you can design a student activity program along with your academic program, that’ll give you a higher rate of retention to hold your students.”

Olah said that much of the money for basketball is raised by the coaches and student activity fees, as opposed to coming out of the college’s budget.

“What the board did was say each student pays ‘X’ number of dollars for a student activity fee,” he said. “We take half of that fee and that goes to basketball along with sponsorships and game tickets ... but it does put a burden on our coaches to raise money.”

Those coaches are new women’s coach Marcel Webster and men's head coach Marcus Pryor. In addition to fundraising they also face big recruiting challenges — like having no money to offer scholarships. They’ve also had to hit the recruiting trail and convince players to come to a school that is not accredited.

"Believe it or not we've been overly successful in signing players,” said Webster. “Players have embraced what we're trying to do, from an academic standpoint, from an accreditation standpoint, and from a women's basketball stand point. We've been truthful about everything we say we're going to do, and though it’s been difficult, we've been successful."

A new court, too

One major selling point is the school's new basketball court. It has been completely resurfaced and detailed with the team's Saber mascot at center court. SunDrop Bottling Company has invested in the school by paying for the shot clock and scoreboard. According to Webster, that court will be a huge factor for the school's resurgence, because it was in such bad shape before its makeover that teams refused to come play.

The women’s unbelievably hard basketball schedule shows how bad opponents didn’t want to play in Scotia’s gym. Out of its 32 games this season, the team will only play 10 home games — and its first 14 games are on the road.

The Lady Sabers have embraced being the underdog and have not let their school’s situation get them down. “I could’ve went to other schools and played, but I wanted to make a difference and help start the school back up” said freshman Shanequa Jackson.

The team has also been passing out flyers in the community to drum up support and get people to the games.

“We get positive feedback, but the first thing people say is, ‘I thought that school was closed!’” said freshman guard Tesha “Hollywood” Wilson. “It just makes me work harder and get the school known because this is my school.”

Conference membership

Another factor that helps Scotia is that it’s now part of an athletic conference. The college was recently accepted into the USCAA (United States Collegiate Athletic Association), which Webster said is more proof people believe Scotia can be nationally relevant again. The men's basketball team played last season, but it did not belong to a conference. Now the team has something more to play for and that will be a huge boost to the confidence of the players.

Barber-Scotia expects to get its accreditation back within the next year. Olah said the school still has some debt to remove before that can happen, but academically the school is successful.

That success was displayed this past May when the school had its first graduate in seven years. Benita Boyd graduated with a Bachelors degree in Religious Studies. She was the only person to walk across the stage. Her niece, also named Benita, now plays point guard for the Lady Sabers.

For more information about Barber-Scotia’s men’s and women’s basketball teams, visit www.b-sc.edu.