There is a work of art that is Ron “Fang” Mitchell’s tenure as head basketball coach at Coppin State University. It is painted in bright hues of championships, NCAA tournament appearances and upsets, and more than 500 career victories along the way.

Under the dim lights of national media recognition, Mitchell has been lauded for this track record of success in the face of limited resources and the stigma that sullies black college basketball. But look beyond the strokes of these masterpieces, and it will be easy to discover the methods of a talented, yet maniacal, basketball mind.

One of Mitchell’s claims to fame is the greuling schedules he often creates for his teams in the ealry part of the season. Reporters have called it rough, bloggers have called it insane, even those who don’t regularly follow MEAC basketball have called for conference regulations against it.

But while the story is often told of how emotionally and physically taxing it is on the players, no attention has been paid to the costs endured by the Coppin State athletic budget associated with the travel. According to the U.S. Department of Education’s Equity in Athletics website, revenues reported between 2006 and 2007 equaled $807,615, while total expenses amounted to $830,996.

Because Coppin State has no football team, the crux of its athletic revenues rests on the performance and viability of men’s basketball. Fang Mitchell’s out-of-conference games are not designed to translate into victories, but should translate into revenue, or at the very least, reimbursement for travel expenses for the team.

In other words, where’s the money?

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In Mitchell’s tenure, many all-conference performers have called North Avenue in West Baltimore home. But for others, North Avenue couldn’t get them out of Coppin, and away from Mitchell, fast enough.

In Baltimore, Mitchell’s profanity-laced tirades against players is the stuff of locker room legend. And while that’s par for the course for many of your supremely-successful basketball coaches, it hasn’t parlayed into sustained success. Darryl Proctor, the 2004 MEAC Rookie of the Year, is one of the latest notable Eagles defectors, having left Coppin State for cross-town rival UMBC. There have never been confirmations of the reasons for the transfers, but insiders will point to Mitchell’s caustic coaching style.

The is the story of Darryl Roberts, a promising young point guard from Pennsauken, NJ. who appeared to be one of the conference’s bright young players after two stellars seasons at CSU. Then, he disappeared. No news about transferring, no inclination from Mitchell about reasoning, just off the team. Rumors of a falling out with Fang Mitchell still resound through Coppin’s corridors today, with no one to speak any truth to them.

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While much is made of the recruiting and new developments going on as a result of Fang Mitchell’s success, the surrounding community has not fully embraced Coppin’s place in West Baltimore. Average home attendance for Eagles’ men’s basketball games were 403, among the worst in the MEAC. And while the team did not fulfill expectations until late in the season in MEAC comepetition, there still was not a great following for the program until deep into the conference tournament. There are no significant relationships with corporate sponsors in the city, and very few athletics-based community outreach programs, all things that are direct reflections of a coach’s commitment to the fans and supporters around him.

Ron “Fang” Mitchell is a master artist in the world of black college basketball. It’s just unfortunate that his greatest work is the slow undoing of a program under the guise of success.


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