Mike Brown Gone After One Season

Like former head coach Bobby Steinberg when he left for Kent St., Brown will take his top player from last year's Bucks team with him to South Alabama. Tim Williams, who had one of the best overall season's in Motlow history in 2008-2009, will play for South Alabama.

In addition to Williams, three other Bucks players will play for four-year institutions next year. Ian Pinckney, who spent much of the season injured, will play for Steinburg at Kent State, Channing Coffey will play for another former Motlow coach, Lonnie Thompson, at Cumberland University; and Jamal Morris will continue his playing career at Asbury College.

Bucks 2008-2009 Season Among School's Best

The 22 wins was the sixth-highest total in school history, surpassing the 21 wins achieved by the 1972-73 squad. The school record of 28 wins was set by the 2007-2008 team. This year's team averaged 76.2 points per game, the seventh-highest mark in school history.

Motlow fell just short of its goal of winning its first TJCCAA championship since the 1983-84 season, falling to host Cleveland St. in the semifinals of the TJCCAA tournament in Cleveland, TN.

Defense was one of the trademarks of Brown's first team as the Bucks recorded two of the top three defensive efforts in school history. Motlow held Hiwassee to 41 points on February 4, 2009, the second-best mark in history. The effort came only two weeks after holding Cleveland St. to 45 points on January 21, 2009.

Sophomore Tim Williams recorded one of the best all-around seasons in school history (see article below) and was rewarded by being named a NJCAA Honorable Mention All-American. However, Williams was not a one-man team as multiple Bucks put up outstanding numbers and shared in the success of the 2008-2009 squad.

Freshman Justin Johnson, from Cherryville, NC, had an outstanding season despite battling back problems for much of the second half of the campaign. Johnson averaged 13.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, while shooting 62.9% from the floor (5th best in school history) and blocking 26 shots.

Ryan Allen averaged 13.2 points per game along with 5.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists while blocking 35 shots (7th best in school history). Channing Coffey averaged 10.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest while leading the team by shooting 64.5% from the field.

Point guard Dominique Shellman had a solid season by averaging 9.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists (7th best in school history), and 1.1 steals per game. Shellman hit 74.2% of his free throws and 36.6% of his three-point shots.

Every player except Williams and fellow sophomore Jamal Morris could return for the Bucks in 2009-2010, making Motlow one of the preseason favorites to contend once again for the TJCCAA championship.