2004

Athletic Hall of Fame tirst season as head coach: "We had a great team my first year (1991-92), win– ning the South DiVIsion Tournament and fimshing with a 28-5 record. But we were going to have to re– place a lot of talent. \\'hen Marcus went to State, l was worried about our team. Obviously tn)' wor– ries were over \\hen Marcus made that phone call:· Cooper said he re– gards \1ann as not only as a superb athlete. but an out– standing person as well: ··Jt is a RARE person that comes along and ra1ses the standard of excellence; cap– tures the hearts of many: and who inspires a group of indi viduals to achie\ e the Impossible. That is what Marcus Mann did at East Central as a person. stu– dent and player... In remi– niscing about his two years at East Central. Mann said .. ' A.C onship in four decades! The winning shot came on An– thony Coleman's baseline jumper with one second re– maining in ove11ime. which gave EC a thrilling 87-85 decision O\'er home-stand– ingGulfCoast. A bucket by Stacy Miller, Coleman 's high school teammate from Toxey. Ala.. sent the con– tes t to O\crtime \1ann. ,,·ho had 29 point~ and 12 rebounds to lead EC in the championship contest. said teamwork and coaching were the kc)'s to success for the Warriors. who fin– ished the season \\ th il 24- R record: " We did not ha\'e the best talent on our team. but \\'e had chemistry nnd guy that bche\ed in \\Ork– ing together. No one was en' ious of other players. We just wanted to play basketball and \\ere deter– mined,to get the job done. Qb, iously the coaching we ceive at the College. He was also a member of the Warrior Corps, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and was included in Who's Who Among Students in American Community and Junior College. Mann con– tmued h1s success on the hardwood at Mississippi Va lley State University. where he led the Delta Devils to the Southwest Athletic. Conference title and a bel1h 111 the NCAA Tournament against GeorgetO\\ n University h1s' senior season He was also selected SWAC "Player of the Year" and led the na– tiOn 111 SCA \ 01\ tsion I rebounding. Mann said play1ng in the . CAA Tour– nament was an unforget– table cxpenence. eve'n thought Valley lost the game : " Piaymg against Allen l\'l!rson (nowwith the 1\IBA 's Philadelphia "'6'ers)

pla)1ng college balltollo\\– ing his success on the high school level: "When Imade

team:· FoliO\\ mg hts tre:.h– man season. Mann was selected honorable mention

me thai e'en though came from a small school. I still had the ability to com– pete with players from a top-notch conference. r think I scored about 25 points and had I0 rebounds against Georgetown. It was really an honor to be included in the tield of 64 because so many teams did not make it to the tourna– ment... :--.I ext up for Mann came the 1996 NBA draft. He was the Golden State Warriors· 40th pick in the second round. He reported to training camp and found himself ..in awe:· as he was on the basketb;tll court with athletes he admired and watched on television. ..There I was. on the same team with Latrell Spreewell. Mark Price , B.J . Armstrong, Joe Smith

the transition to college bas: · AII-Ameri can and first– ketball, I had to realize that team All-Region and All-

there were people bigger and taller than me. and Ihad to work on fundamentals. Coach Cooper and Mrs. Cooper worked very hard with me to develop that part of my game. I also gained weight while I was at East Central. Not to knock any ofmy high school coaches. but I was taught the proper way ofdoing things when I was at EC, and that's what made me a better player when I left. I talked with Coach Cooper rec~ntly and told him'that he does not realize the impact he made on my life because he made basketball a lot easier and more fun ... Mann and his

State. Mann and his War– rior teammates continued their s.uccess in 1993-94. winning the South Di,·ision title and finishing with a 23- 5 mark . The \\'arriors posted a 19-game win streak during the 1993-94 season and were ranked as high as IRth in the NJCAA polls. Mann received first-' team All-American honors and once again was chosen first-team All-Region and AU-State. He was also se– lected team captain for the second-stratglJt year and received most valuable player honors for the sec– ond time. In addition tore– ceiving athletic honors, 1\A ~ .... ··· •• · '- - --