Yes, the Livingstone men’s basketball team finished 6-19. And yes, the season for the Blue Bears ended a month ago.
But no, coach Buck Joyner’s playoff season is not over.
As far as he’s concerned, his “other” team is still vying for a Division II national championship.
Joyner is following his brother, Steve all the way to Bakersfield, Calif. for the Division II Elite Eight Tournament. Steve’s Johnson C. Smith club won the CIAA Tournament, won the South Atlantic Region Tournament and now, he’s taking brother Buck along for the ride.
“We started this together,”Buck said recently, pointing out that he became one of Steve’s first hirings when he went to J.C. Smith back in the 70s.
It’s helping Joyner forget his first season at Livingstone that saw the team stagger early, losing its first 12 games. A few seniors became eligible at the start of the second semester and the Blue Bears were tough down the stretch.
Joyner was happy that his team became more than “Rodney Gidney and a few other guys.”
“To be honest with you, it took a little while to learn the front yard from the back yard at Livingstone,” Joyner said. “Look at the schedule. We had Catawba, Pfeiffer, Wingate, the CIAA — it took a while for the new system to kick in. When you’ve got five seniors used to doing something one way for four years, it’s difficult. Before, they would abandon the system. But the kids were very coachable at the end. It turned out to be a real good blend.”
Joyner does wish Gidney’s senior season would have turned out better. The 6-foot-8 hulk was one of the CIAA’s best players but he couldn’t do it alone early in the year when Joyner was forced to play several players with little to no experience.
Gidney kept his composure, kept taking the big shots and finished with a 19.5 scoring average, one of the best in the league.
When Sheldon Payne and Shaun Wiseman joined Gidney and Peter Anders midway through the season, along with point guard Willie Rouse, Joyner suddenly had the most experienced team in the CIAA, playing five seniors. The team went 6-7 the rest of the way and was leading Bowie State late in the first round of the tournament before losing.
“It was good to see the fruits of your labor,” said Joyner.
As far as recruiting, Joyner is about done because he brought in seven during second semester who will be eligible when next season begins. Without naming names, Joyner pointed out that three are 6-8 and two of the guards are 6-4. He is still looking for another 2-guard and a couple of point guards.
“Now, we can select-recruit,” he said,” because the key players we think we need to build and chance are already sitting right there with us.”
However, he is sad about losing Gidney, who has been selected to play in the prestigious Black College All-Star Game, held after the Final Four.
“We think he’ll get a shot either in a semipro league or overseas,” said Joyner.
As Gidney leaves, the program continues to grow.
Joyner has talked with Livingstone’s new president Algeania Freeman and athletic director Cliff Huff and likes the direction that basketball is heading.
And, of course, he’s happy for his brother, who finally after almost two decades, won the CIAA Tournament.
“Man, I was elated,” said Buck after watching JCSU win the CIAA. “It was a great thing for me.”
Joyner then flashed that ebullient grin.
“In fact, if I had been in the championship, I might have given him a 20-point lead. That’s how happy I was for him.”
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