Since accepting the head women’s basketball job at South Carolina State in April, Doug Robertson has seemingly kept a low profile.

The relative silence from his office should not be construed as inactivity, however. Over the past 2½ months, Robertson has worked feverishly to put the Lady Bulldogs’ program back on the winning track.

Step one was the formation of a coaching staff who could best maximize the talents of the current players while demonstrating an ability to recruit new talent from throughout the country. To that end, Robertson has hired Marcell Harrison and La’Nette Dillard, while retaining the services of Antonio Davis.

Harrison spent nine seasons as an assistant coach at George Mason, where she was an All-Colonial Athletic Association guard and ranks second in school history in steals, fourth in three-point field goals made and fifth in both assists and points.

As for Dillard, she spent two years as an assistant coach at Pasadena City College in California during which it twice won the California Community College Athletic Association Southern Carolina Bracket championship. Prior to her stint at PCC, Dillard spent three seasons at Los Angeles Southwest College and was a four-year letterwinner at Westcester High School.

Dillard will also serve as the recruiting coordinator and her efforts have helped S.C. State sign two players to increase the roster’s overall athleticism and ball-handing at the point guard position following the graduation of starter Brittany Baity: 

-- Raina Chambers, a 5-5 point guard out of Pontiac Northern High School in Michigan, averaged 17.7 points, 10 assists and five steals per game as a senior and is described by Robertson as a “scrappy, tough kid” who can handle the basketball. 

-- Brijan Turner of Cypress-Fairbanks out of Texas, a team ranked as high as sixth by USA Today this past season. She averaged 10 points and four assists per game in helping the Lady Bobcats finish 39-1 and win their first-ever Class 5-A state championship.

Turning his focus locally, Robertson also signed former Orangeburg-Wilkinson point guard La’Teia Brailey. The four-year letterwinner and North-South All-Star averaged 10 points, 7.4 assists and 6.1 steals per game as a senior and Robertson said her toughness reminds him of another former Bruinette turned Lady Bulldog point guard Latasha Cook.

The coaching staff is already working to sign a fourth player before the fall. As for the current roster, Sasha Sales is the only player who has decided not to return next season, according to Robertson.

Although injuries playing a major role in the team’s struggles the past three seasons, Robertson is encouraged by the team’s commitment to off-season workouts.

S.C. State will have to come out of the blocks quickly. After a favorable home schedule last season, the Lady Bulldogs will truly play the role of road warriors for the 2008-09 season.

Following the Nov. 18 season-opener at Smith-Hammond-Middletown Memorial Center against Mercer College, the S.C. State women will play three of their next four games on the road.

The Lady Bulldogs will also have a seven-game road stretch which will take them to five different states in a span of 32 days. It starts Dec. 22 at Florida International and concludes Jan. 19 in the nation’s capital against Howard University.

“It’s extremely important (to get off to a good start),” Robertson said. “We’re going to have our freshmen out there road-tested real quickly. They’re either going to sink or swim, but I’m going to assume they’re going to swim. I just need for them to swim real fast.”

2008-09 S.C. State women’s basketball team schedule

NOV. 18 - MERCER UNIVERSITY

NOV. 25 - at Gardner-Webb

NOV. 29 - at UNC-Asheville

DEC. 3 - at the College of Charleston

DEC. 6 - WINSTON-SALEM STATE

DEC. 16 - COASTAL CAROLINA

DEC. 22 - at Florida International

DEC. 29 - at Florida Atlantic

JAN. 2 - at North Carolina Central

JAN. 10 - at Delaware State

JAN. 12 - at Maryland-Eastern Shore

JAN. 17 - at Hampton

JAN. 19 - at Howard

JAN. 24 - NORFOLK STATE

JAN. 26 - NORTH CAROLINA A&T

JAN. 31 - at Bethune-Cookman

FEB. 2 - at Florida A&M

FEB. 7 - COPPIN STATE

FEB. 9 - MORGAN STATE

FEB. 14 - HAMPTON

FEB. 16 - HOWARD

FEB. 21 - at Norfolk State

FEB. 23 - at North Carolina A&T

MARCH 2 - BETHUNE-COOKMAN

MARCH 4 - FLORIDA A&M

MARCH 5 - at Winston-Salem State

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