On Tuesday, the UMES Men’s Basketball team began a stretch of five straight games away from Princess Anne.  The Hawks return two starters from last years’ team.  With junior college transfers and freshman accounting for nearly half of his roster, head coach Bobby Collins begins his third season at UMES.

WBOC: How did your preseason workouts prepare the team for the start of the season?

Collins: It went well.  We have a lot of new faces and we are trying to get those to understand how to play a high level.  Also to practice at a higher level.  We are very excited about what this team is capable of doing this year.

WBOC: What do the junior college transfers bring to your program?

Collins: First there is Logan McIntosh who is a ball of energy.  He plays extremely quick and extremely fast.  We are trying to get Logan to understand what I need out of him and how to compete in this league (MEAC).  Deven Dorsett is a very athletic who can play the two, three, or four positions.  He can do a number of things.  He has the potential to be a very special player for us.

WBOC: What does adding these players mean for the talent level of your roster?

Collins: You hope that they bring some experience and you hope that those guys come in and just fit in and do what you want them to do.  They are part of six new faces so we do expect the junior college players to step right in and be a effective for us.

WBOC: Bakari Copeland is your returning leading scorer, what are your expectations for him?

Collins: He is a very special player.  We expect for him to lead our team.  Offensively we need him to improve on the boards.  He knows exactly what he needs to do for us to be successful.   He can shoot the three, he has a great mid-range game and he is extremely talented when driving the ball to the basket.

WBOC: Tell us about the non-conference schedule you put together.

Collins: Our non-conference schedule is very very very tough.  It is going to battle test us and hopefully we will be able to go into our conference play understanding what it takes to win.

WBOC:  How are you with the program as you enter your third season?

Collins: We are trying to bring a championship to the Shore.  We are extremely excited about the direction of our program.