Morgan State Bears lacrosse


The Morgan State Bears lacrosse team was the only lacrosse team established to play NCAA-level lacrosse at a historically black institution. The team, from Baltimore, Maryland, defeated schools like Harvard and Notre Dame and upset a #1 ranked team in 1975. The team's exploits are recounted in the book Ten Bears, and the story is in production for a major motion picture.

Background

was founded and chartered in 1867 as the Centenary Biblical Institute. It was built on its present site, in northeast Baltimore, in 1890 and was known as Morgan College from 1890 to 1938. It became a public college in 1939, as Morgan State College. In the 1950s and 1960s, enrollment swelled as African Americans of the baby boom generation sought post high school degrees but were limited by segregation to black colleges and universities like Morgan, Howard, Grambling or Morehouse. By the 1960s, Morgan and Grambling had reached the pinnacle of college football, African-American athletes were still unable to attend most white schools, thus concentrating their numbers and talents at a handful of black schools. Several dozen notable NFL players and Hall of Famers hailed from these schools.
The late 1960s were turbulent years with regard to race relations in the United States. Riots had broken out in major cities across the country, with at least three in Maryland, Dr. Martin Luther King had been assassinated and formerly all white universities and colleges were opening their doors to African-Americans for the first time. But the major lacrosse powers like Johns Hopkins, Navy and Maryland still fielded mostly white teams.
Ironically, by 1975 Morgan became noted for its lacrosse team because black high school lacrosse players from Maryland and New York still had trouble getting into the major white lacrosse colleges and universities. Morgan was the first the only historically black university to field a lacrosse team.
The team was formed in 1970 when a former Baltimore high school lacrosse player and Morgan grad student, Howard "Chip" Silverman, realized that many of black Baltimore's high school lacrosse players were at Morgan, but were not playing lacrosse. Silverman had never coached before, but, he put up flyers around campus, and 30 athletes showed up for a meeting. Two-thirds were football players. Some would later star in the NFL, such as Stan Cherry. Silverman started the lacrosse club and two years later petitioned the NCAA for full membership as a college team. At that time, the NCAA had its best 40 teams in Division I and another 80 teams in Division II. It was Division II that Morgan would soon dominate.

Accomplishments

From 1970 to 1975, the Bears were ranked in the top 25, four out of five years. They made the championship tournament twice, and in 1975 were involved in one of the great upsets in intercollegiate sports history, when Morgan defeated Washington and Lee University, a lacrosse team which would eventually reach the NCAA Division I semi-finals as the number seven seed. Washington & Lee had not lost a regular season or home game the prior two seasons.
After the 1975 season, Silverman retired as the Bears lacrosse coach, and Morgan never again had a winning season. By 1981 Title IX funding priorities required university athletic funds be equally distributed among women's programs and the school dropped lacrosse in 1981.
The 1981 Bear's Team featured some of the most talented players in the nation. , who would later coach the newly formed club team in 2005, and Lou Carter where NCAA Top 25 scoring leaders while goalie Cedric White was in the NCAA Top 10 in goals blocked during the season. In addition, there were a core of freshmen and sophomores who had played the game at early ages that gave the team even more potential for the next seasons that would not be. As a testament to the Bear's legacy, the 1981 team coached by 'Lacrosse Hall of Famer' , defeated Notre Dame, Villanova, Michigan State and Georgetown in the span of a five-day schedule during the middle of the season and lost to Loyola in the NCAA Division II Championship Semi-Finals to end an era.
The following videos were uploaded to YouTube in 2015:
  1. The 1980 Game Between Morgan and Montclair State
  2. "10 Bears 4 Life"
  3. Our History and Legacy
  4. 1981 - The Final Season
  5. The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Honorees
  6. 1979 - The Rebuilding Year
  7. Many Men But One Team
  8. 1979 Photos/Georgetown, Villanova and William & Mary
  9. The 10/17/2015 Last Team Photo and Lunch
  10. If You Hear Any Noise, It's Just Me and the Boys
Morgan State University Division II / III All-Americans :
Morgan State University Representatives in the North/South Game :
Special Honor - In 2015, US Lacrosse announced that it would create a permanent exhibit in its new museum to honor the Morgan State lacrosse team .
Amirajadid 19:22, 2 February 2011
Several members of the team now coach lacrosse in local high schools. Stan Cherry, after playing for the Baltimore Colts and New York Jets became a correctional officer, he died in 1993. Tony Fulton and Curt Anderson were elected to the Maryland House of Delegates, Fulton died in 2005. Three time all-American Joe Fowlkes is a security consultant and George Kelley is in his 30-year law enforcement veteran. Dr. Miles Harrison and Coach Silverman collaborated on the book, Ten Bears, which is being made into a movie. Silverman died in March 2008. Dr. Harrison's son, Kyle Harrison, was the #1 draft pick of Major League Lacrosse in 2005, after leading Johns Hopkins to a national championship the same year and winning the Tewaaraton trophy. Two documentaries have been shot on the team, one, produced by Jeremy Schaap, aired on ESPN in 2006 and the second, produced by Luke David, airs on PBS in early April, 2008.

21st-century comeback

More than 20 years after the original team was shut down, Morgan has started all over again. In 2005 a lacrosse club team was formed on campus and is awaiting acceptance into the NCAA. Past player, , commented, "I think it is the greatest thing that has happened since I played for Morgan in '81...". "Meanwhile, the team plays in the National College Lacrosse League. The team is now coached by Bill Krehnbrink who volunteers his services for Coppin State University.
DateTimeOpponentW/LScoreSiteCity
02/24/082:00pmUMBCppdrainUMBC fieldCatonsville, MD
03/01/083:00pmMarylandL1-13Recreation Field 1College Park
03/18/086:00pmNavyL1-15Rip Miller FieldAnnapolis
03/29/081:00pmTowsonBurdick FieldTowson
03/30/082:30pmLoyolaL0-1Herring Run ParkBaltimore
4/05/082:00pmNYUL3-16UMBC TurfBaltimore
4/06/082:00pmUMBCL6-8UMBC TurfBaltimore
4/10/084:00pmDelawareL0-1Rollo StadiumDelaware
4/26/083:00pmGeorge WashingtonGW-Mount Vernon Athletic ComplexWashington, DC

DateTimeOpponentW/LScoreSiteCity
03/03/0712:00pmMarylandL3-14Recreation Field 1College Park
03/03/072:00pmWashington CollegeL3-13Recreation Field 1College Park
03/07/075:00pmJohns HopkinsL1-13Homewood FieldBaltimore
03/10/074:00pmSalisburyL4-13Intramural FieldsSalisbury, MD
03/11/072:15pmMt. St. Mary'sW6-4Mt. St. Mary'sEmmitsburg, MD
03/11/073:00pmFrostburgL8-9Mt. St. Mary'sEmmitsburg, MD
3/30/077:00pmNavyL1-8Rip Miller FieldAnnaoplis
3/31/074:00pmUMBCW9-8UMBC Club FieldsCatonsville, MD
4/01/072:00pmLoyolaL2-15Geppi-Aikens FieldBaltimore, MD
4/07/072:00pmDelawareL5-17Frazier FieldNewark, De.
4/14/074:00pmHowardW9-4Herring Run ParkBaltimore, MD
4/15/076:00pmJohns HopkinsL8-9Homewood FieldBaltimore, MD
4/28/072:00pmUniversity of BaltimoreL3-14Mt. Washington FieldBaltimore, MD

DateTimeOpponentW/LScoreSiteCity
02/28/065:00pmUMBCL3-9UMBC StadiumCatonsville, MD
02/25/063:00pmGeorge WashingtonL2-8GW-Mount Vernon Athletic ComplexWashington, DC
03/11/062:00pmJohns HopkinsL5-8Homewood FieldBaltimore, MD
03/11/063:00pmTowsonL2-14Homewood FieldBaltimore, MD
3/16/066:00pmpmLoyolaL2-9Geppi-Aikens FieldBaltimore, MD
4/09/063:00pmHowardL8-9Greene StadiumWashington, DC
4/15/064:15pmWashington CollegeL0-1Shriver FieldChestertown, MD