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“This is a working opportunity to rebuild a house. This gives us a fresh start.” – S.T.A.T.E. Club President Larry Watson about Friday’s hiring of new South Carolina State men’s basketball coach Tim Carter.
Commencement celebrations of a different sort took place a week early at South Carolina State University.
The only thing missing from Friday’s press conference announcing the hiring of new men’s basketball coach Tim Carter was the Marching 101 playing their rendition of “Happy Days Are Here Again”. Having worked diligently for weeks to find the right candidate to move the program back in the winning direction, the 10-person search committee spent much of the reception expressing relief and satisfaction with their work.
“They assured us that the process was well worth it,” Transfer forward and committee member Everett Spencer said. “It was going to be tough, it was going to be draining and it was going to take a long time. But at the end of that black tunnel, there was going to be a bright light and I think we see that light today.”
More important than hiring someone in Carter with a proven history strong enough to past the litmus test of most Bulldog fans, the committee also gave the program a ’new beginning’. For the first time in 19 years, someone other than Cy Alexander or one of his assistant coaches will be leading the Bulldogs on the sidelines.
While very proud of the past, director committee member and S.T.A.T.E. Club president Larry Watson believed it was important to emulate the school’s new slogan ’A New State of Mind’ by wiping the slate clean.
“Cy Alexander’s a legend,” he said. “He built our program, put us on the map. There’s nothing bad to be said about him and his legacy. But sometimes, you need change. We have a lot of players now who don’t know Cy Alexander who’s not associated with him and I think it’s important for us to follow a new direction.
“I think this (hiring Carter) is a clear break with the previous year and I think we’ll come back out to support the program.”
Watching the Bulldogs struggle to a second straight losing season and the controversy which inevitably led to head coach Jamal Brown’s dismissal especially motivated Watson in his role with the committee.
“We were confused,” said Watson speaking as a fan. “Misinformation or contradictory information was coming out. We were concerned about the morale of the team. I go to a lot of games and you didn’t see any swagger. The fans appeared to be indifferent to it. This was not a good situation that our players were in this year.”
SCSU Athletics Director Charlene Johnson also heard the loud clamors for change. To her credit, Johnson put together a committee from the Orangeburg community which brought to the table a diversity of ideas and a willingness to look beyond the usual channels.
“I think not only the Bulldog fans, but community fans, even as far as the Columbia chapter, people were interested in the resurgence of good basketball at South Carolina State,” she said. “So, fans, I heard a lot of comments from fans, alumni and everybody else. There’s been a great level of enthusiasm for this position.”
Given the importance of the hiring, Johnson allowed the committee members to take a methodical approach towards looking at each candidate and pinpointing the best fit for the program at this time.
As Spencer noted, it was a challenging job, but one worthwhile for a program SCSU supporters want to see successful again.
“It’s a burden off our back,” he said. “You get into the spring, that’s your time to develop. But you need a coach there for the individual stuff. Just to know we have somebody in place for us when we come back from the summer, it’s real relief that we can meet him now and not wait for the summer.”
Carter will not be lacking in support once he settles into his new job. Johnson said on the heels of the locker room refurbishments made to the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center, the administration is examining making other possible upgrades to areas such as the gymnasium floor.
From an alumni standpoint, Watson has already pledged to Carter the S.T.A.T.E. Club will be active in fund-raising and advertising on its website for season ticket sales.
“I think once they see the qualifications he brings to this job, I think the fans will be real excited,” Watson said. “He’s got a lot of experience with big-time programs. As you know, he’s been a head coach before. Very knowledgeable. Tremendously personable. His style of play I think will be very exciting. We’re very excited about him. I think the fans will rally around him and I think you’ll see people come back out to S-H-M to see basketball games.”
If Carter has his way, the ’good ol’ days’ from a winning standpoint will be here sooner rather than later.
“Every coach wants to go where you can win,” he said. “Cy won here. Cy did a great job here and obviously, they were doing some things right here. But the main thing is you want to be in a conference where you can be in the Top 3-4 each year and I believe you can do that here.”