HBCU Basketball At A Glance: 2022 MEAC Year In Review

The 2021-2022 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) basketball season was a memorable one on many levels. The mainstream visibility of the league reached new heights this season, mirroring the attention that the MEAC, Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), and other HBCU-centric conferences received during the course of a historic football season. The apparent momentum of that exposure carried over to basketball season. For MEAC hoops, that increased attention and coverage ended up showcasing one of the more entertaining mid-major NCAA division 1 basketball conferences in the country. The Spartans of Norfolk State University repeated as both regular season and MEAC tournament champions in dominant fashion, going 12-2 during conference play and finishing with a 24-7 overall record. While the Spartans were the class of the league, there were a number of teams that showed a marked turnaround, raising the competitive profile of the conference in the process. Here's a look back at some of the more notable players, coaches, and moments from this season.

Joe Bryant Jr. ends his MEAC Career in Style:

To say that Joe Bryant Jr's MEAC playing career has been legendary, would be an understatement. NBA legend Joe Johnson may be the original "Iso Joe", but Bryant's MEAC impersonation translated to the best 4-year stretch the conference has seen in recent league memory. Bryant scored 1179 total points in his NSU career, averaging 20.6 points in his swan song with the Spartans. Bryant was the MEAC Player of the Year and the 2022 MEAC tourneys Most Outstanding Player, powering Norfolk State to the MEAC Championship repeat and an NCAA tournament bid. Inside or on the perimeter, he was a nightmare for opposing defenses to deal with. Joe Bryant Jr. WILL be playing the game professionally after his collegiate career is done. The only question is where. It's going to be the ultimate challenge for Coach Robert Jones to find an heir apparent to replace the production Joe Bryant was responsible for this season. I wouldn't bet against it, though.

Elijah Hawkins could be the MEAC's next MVP:

DeMatha (MD) High School has produced a TON of talent over the years for more college programs than I can count. Howard Basketball head coach Kenny Blakeney (who's also a DeMatha Product) tapped into that pipeline to snag PG Elijah Hawkins this past year. That recruiting win immediately paid big dividends this season, as Hawkins became the catalyst for a surprisingly high-octane offensive attack for the Bison. More notably, Hawkins' steady and creative play from the point guard slot earned him MEAC Rookie Of The Year and 2nd Team All-MEAC honors. Great guard play is the bedrock of success in collegiate hoops, and Howard has a potential MEAC cornerstone in Elijah Hawkins to build on for the next 3 years in DC. Hawkins is part of a growing guard and forward rotation that will have the Bison squarely in the mix for league supremacy for the foreseeable future.

The League Of Extraordinary Coaches:

There may be other mid-major conferences out there that get a bit more notoriety and shine, but it's pretty hard to deny that the coaches of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference do more with less, better than any other coaching collective in D1 college basketball. Norfolk State Head Coach Robert Jones has established a culture of winning at Norfolk State since taking over the program on a permanent basis after the 2012 season. The Spartans have been a consistent and frequent fixture at the top of the league (and postseason play) under his leadership. While Coach Jones has been at the top of the MEAC mountain, there are a number of great coaches that have made the MEAC the most competitive and balanced it's been in recent memory. Kenny Blakeney (Howard) and Tony Madlock (South Carolina State) fueled pretty substantial turnarounds in their respective programs this season, with Howard finishing #1 in the MEAC in scoring offense (76.5 points a game) and SCSU finishing in the top 2 in the league in all positive offensive and defensive rebounding categories. The Bison, in particular, had some extremely competitive OOC (out-of-conference) performances that highlighted the competitive nature of this year's league. Juan Dixon (Coppin State), Kevin Broadus (Morgan State), and Levelle Moton (North Carolina Central) all had squads that were playing some of their best basketball down the stretch run of the regular season and into March. Jason Crafton (UMD-Eastern Shore) and Former Delaware High School coaching legend Stan Waterman (Delaware State) also saw their respective teams make tremendous strides during the course of this season.

The Hoops future of MEAC Hoops is brighter than advertised:

There's been a lot of speculation about how the loss of recent members of the MEAC (Hampton, North Carolina A&T, Bethune Cookman, and Florida A&M) would ultimately affect the competitive dynamic of the league in revenue sports. The condensed nature of the 2022 MEAC conference season proved to be one of the more competitive and parity-filled campaigns among mid-majors this season. With the current crop of league coaches still residing at their respective schools, the conference looks to build on the success and visibility enjoyed this year. Players like 1st team All-MEAC guard Nendah Tarke (Coppin State) and 2nd team All-MEAC forward Steve Settle III (Howard) return to programs that are sure to be bolstered by the transfer portal, adding an even more competitive edge to the league. The basketball demise of the conference may have been exaggerated a bit. For what it's worth, the MEAC looks poised to build upon the product the league put out this year.

Thank you for coming with me on this snapshot review of the 2021-22 MEAC Basketball season! If you want to see more content related to HBCU athletics, Subscribe! Feel free to tip or pledge if you really enjoyed my content. Stay tuned for more of my HBCU sports coverage on this platform, as well as FanSided's Busting Brackets and Saturday Blitz websites, as well as The HBCU Digital Network!