The Scouting Report: Coppin State Eagles

Record: 1-8
Head Coach: Michael Grant
Kenpom: 338

Coppin State is not off to a great start this season as the, they stand at 1-8 with their only win being over a Division II school called Goldey-Beacom. Other than that, the Eagles have been blown out in most games, letting up over 100 points four times this season. They have played seven of their nine games on the road, including starting off the season on the road against Oregon, Illinois, and Notre Dame.

Picked to finish 12^th in the MEAC in the Blue Ribbon Preview, new head coach Michael Grant had ambitious goals for his new squad.  Grant wants to be an aggressive, up-tempo team that scores at least 80 points per game and lead the MEAC in steals and rebounds. So far this year, none of those things are happening. The Eagles rank in the bottom half of most categories including PPG, RPG, APG, FG%, and points allowed at 89.2 PPG which ranks dead last in the NCAA.  Despite the slow start, Grant is committed to his style of play, "From game one until game 29, that's the way that we're playing, and we're not going to deviate from that."

Key Players:

#3 Arnold Fripp, Senior, Forward (6-7, 210): Fripp enters the game as Coppin State's leading scorer at 11.4 PPG while also averaging 4.3 RPG and 1.3 SPG.  He will shoot the three but is only 10-37 on the season. He had a season-high 19 point performance on 7-10 shooting in a loss to Denver.

#11 Taariq Cephas, Senior, Guard (5-10, 165): Cephas is the only other player averaging double-digit scoring for the Eagles at 10.6 PPG.  He is also averaging 2.9 RPG and 3.1 APG.  The senior is one of the team's main three-point threats at 35.9%.  He has a three-pointer in every game but one this season.

#24 Sterling Smith, Junior, Guard (6-4, 185): Tied for being the leading rebounder on the team, Smith is averaging 4.3 RPG while scoring 8.0 PPG and adding 1.3 SPG.  He has not been that effective from deep but will shoot it as he is 12-41 on the season.  Smith's best game this season came in a loss against Towson where he scored 16 points including going 4-8 from three.

#10 Christian Kessee, Sophomore, Guard (6-2, 180): Although he does not shoot the three much, Kessee can be argued as being the team's best shooter as he is 9-23 from deep this season.  He is averaging 6.8 PPG with 2.1 RPG and 1.3 APG.  Kessee had a season high of 11 points against Illinois early in the season.

Coppin State's head coach Michael Grant who is in his first season with the team.  Before being with the Eagles, Grant coached at Division II Stillman College for six years where he went 100-73, including a couple of deep runs in the tournament.  Before Stillman, he was at Southern University for two years from 2003-2005 where he went 26-31.  Southern was Grant's only other head coaching job at the Division I level.