By PAUL GOTHAM
BUFFALO — There was Kenneth Blakeney standing along the sideline clapping as Cam Gillis sank the second of his two free-throw attempts.
Never mind that less than two minutes remained in what would be a 21-point game. Blakeney, as he had been the entire contest, was a source of encouragement along the sideline for his 16th-seeded Howard Bison.
The self-professed competitor who can’t take solace in a loss is at the same time a visionary who won’t allow his program to be defined by the outcome of a single game.
“I am so lucky to work with the 16 young men that we have,” Blakeney said after his Bison fell to top-seeded Michigan, 101-80. “I’ve been saying all along how they have incredible character. Their families are super, super families that have raised their kids in the right way.”
Two nights after winning the program’s first NCAA Tournament game, Howard went toe-to-toe with the Wolverines for the first 20 minutes connecting on 10-of-16 3-point attempts to stay within four at 50-46 heading into the break.
In the 45 years prior to Blakeney taking the helm of the program, Howard had reached the tournament on two occasions in 1992 under Butch Beard and 1981 with A.B. WIlliamson as head coach.
Thursday night represented for Blakeney’s squad, which has started in the tournament’s First Four three times in the past four years, a step forward.
“To make it to the tournament is such a special thing, and however you get here, if it’s playing in a First Four, if you go right to the tournament, man, like, this is the NCAA Tournament, and this is what little kids across the world dream about watching,” said Blakeney who played at Duke University and was part of the 1991-92 national championship team. “Putting myself in my two-year-old, my four-year old self watching the NCAA Tournament and just dreaming of one day playing there. However you can get here is awesome. It’s amazing, and it’s a blessing.”
And to have the Howard program on the sport’s biggest stage is not lost on the seventh-year coach.
“I know our university is proud to be represented at this tournament,” he said during Wednesday’s pre-game press conference. “This means a lot to so many people, and we are honored to be here and have our brand associated and next to some of the most fabulous brands in intercollegiate athletics and higher education.”
But the outcome of Thursday’s game shows what’s ahead for Blakeney’s program.
“I can’t accept a consolation win, he said. “I don’t want this to be, like, hey, you guys played well for X amount of minutes. Like, we lost. For me, that’s — we’ve got to get better. We’ve got to get better.
“We need to win these games. I say that from not — just that’s again, how I’m wired. We need to win, and we need to continue to win, and we need to continue to advance.”
The wins and losses,though, will also play out in the lives of the young men who will graduate from Blakeney’s program.
“I’ve never met somebody that’s looked like me, that’s grabbed life by the horns, grabbed the bull by the horns and said, no, I deserve this,” commented fifth-year senior Bryce Harris who finished with 21 points in his final collegiate game Thursday night. “Like, I deserve this, and I’m not going to cheat the process to get it. I’m going to go through every rough patch. I’m going to go through hell and high water, I’m going to go through the valley and I’m going to get to the other side, and I’m going to earn it. He instills that in people around him.”
For Ose Okojie, a native of Brampton, Ontario, the impact of Blakeney and Howard University has been immeasurable upon his life.
“I always go into everything with the utmost effort and the utmost intensity because the stuff he teaches like hunting — that’s our culture, hunting,” said the senior guard. “You can hunt on the court, you can hunt off the court. If I’ve got an exam at 3:40 at Locke Hall, I’ve got to hunt on that exam. You just pick and choose where you’ve got to hunt.”
With Blakeney at the lead, Howard will stay on that hunt.
“I want our young people to be in rooms that they haven’t been in before and to think outside of the box like they haven’t thought before,” the 54-year old said. “That’s why we call our program the Dream Factory, because if you can dream it, it can be done. It can be accomplished on the campus of Howard University.”
The 54-year old is still driven by
a first for the Bison who hadn’t advanced past the First Fourmaking their third tournament appearance in four years under the seventh-year coach who played four years at Duke University and was part of the 1992 Blue Devils national championship team.
There’s not a moment when I lay my head down at night that I’m concerned or worried about anything. Those guys averaged a 3.4 in the classroom. As I mentioned before, we do more community service and more social justice work in the community than any program in the country, hands down. It’s not even close. And more impactful.
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