CSM CSM Men’s Basketball Preview: Hawks Take Off with a Busy Month of Tournaments

The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) men’s basketball season got underway as November began with a weekend of court time during the CCBC Dundalk Mixer. The Hawks came out of the mixer stronger with a win in overtime over the ASA Brooklyn Avengers, but falling short with two losses; one to Mt. Zion Prep and to Bryant & Stratton College.

CSM Head Coach Alan Hoyt said he likes to use these weekend tournaments as a way to prepare the team for the scheduling they will encounter in regular season play.

“We always are planning for the region tournament and the national tournament and that’s how those are – three games in three days or four games in five days,” Hoyt said. “These games give us an opportunity to travel and be together and to play teams outside of our area to get us ready. We’re playing some good teams, and if we come out on the happy side – 4-3 by the end of the seven games – then we’re going to be in good shape.”

CSM Men’s Basketball Head Coach Alan Hoyt, pictured here in 2012 – when he was named Coach of the Year by the Maryland Junior College (MDJUCO) Athletic Coaches Association.


The Hawks travel to Louisburg, N.C. Nov. 9 to play in the Roger Taylor Classic at Louisburg College. There they will face Brunswick Community College and Louisburg College. On Nov. 16, the Hawks will take on their third tournament on the road, in a row, when they head to Montgomery College to take part in the Montgomery College Tip-Off Classic. There the team will take on Mercyhurst North East and Cape Fear Community College.

CSM will round out the month of November with two home games. Thomas Nelson Community College comes to La Plata on Nov. 22 with Prince George’s Community College visiting the Hawks Nov. 26.

“I think we have a lot of versatility,” Hoyt said of his team. “We’re deep this year. We have a lot of guys who can do a lot of different things, so I think we have a lot of options. Early on it’s been a bit of a struggle, guys trying to earn spots and having 15 new guys on the team, but we’re going to be fine. It’s good to have options.”

Sophomore Kyle McAllister is the only player returning for CSM from last year’s squad. He averaged 4.3 points per game, 1.2 assists per game, 1.1 rebounds per game, and 21.0 minutes per game in the 2018-19 season. He recorded a 34.1 field goal percentage and shot 34.3 percent from 3-point range.

“We’ve actually been lucky the past couple of years to have four or five guys come back, and obviously that’s led to some of our success. We’ve brought in some high-end guys, so we don’t expect to skip a beat in how competitive we can be.”

“Offensively, we have a lot of speed and athleticism,” Hoyt said. “We can get up and down the floor. We scored 121 points the other day in the scrimmage and we still shot under 50 percent and still took bad shots and turned the ball over. There are going to be some days where we get into the hundreds with no problem.”

Hoyt sees as one of the biggest keys to the team’s success this year is “just coming together. When you bring 16 new guys together, it just takes time for them to mesh and learn how we play basketball here. The sooner we mesh, the better we’ll be overall record-wise, but I think we’ll be able to compete in March.”

To follow CSM Men’s Basketball schedule and results online, visit http://athletics.csmd.edu/sports/mbkb/2019-20/schedule. For information on CSM athletics, visit www.csmd.edu/Athletics.

You may also be interested in reading:

CSM Men’s Basketball Team Makes Good on Season’s Goal, Head to NJCAA Tournament for 2nd Year