New CSM head coaches look to revive programs

Garner takes over softball, Coleman emerges in basketball

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

The once-proud CSM softball outfit had been a state, region and national contender since the mid-1980s, enduring just one losing campaign during that span, before pulling the plug on the last two seasons prior to playing any games because of an insufficient number of players.

The last record for the softball program was a 25-17-1 mark in 2006 under the late Tom Morrison, an accomplished coach and Little League president in the county for many years who passed away at age 66 in May from a car accident.

John Creaturo, a longtime close friend and coaching sidekick to Morrison, took the head reins of CSM softball last year, but was unable to revive the program. Creaturo had formerly been the successful head coach of the team from 1986-94 before moving to the assistant role with Morrison.

As it turned out, both final years for Morrison and Creaturo saw CSM unable to field a team.

But that hardly diminished their impacts on the program, which now experiences a wholesale changing of the guard with the younger Garner coming onboard. It’s the first time since 1986 that neither Morrison nor Creaturo is in charge of the program.

‘‘I know [CSM] is trying to get the program up and running again, and that’s what I’m prepared to do – whether I’m here for one year, two years or 10 years. I’ll just take it one year at a time,” said Garner, a Little League and select ball coach for 16 years. He’s been heavily involved in leading the Hughesville juniors and Shockers select softball teams the last six years, most recently winning three straight state titles with Hughesville. ‘‘With the talent Southern Maryland has, there’s no reason why [CSM] should not be able to get back to fielding a team. It’s going to be a challenge, especially at the college level.”

Garner, a Little League player for Morrison as a youngster, added: ‘‘I’ve got some big shoes to fill with Tommy and Johnny. They’ve done a wonderful job with the program, and I want to get the team back to where it once was.”

Coleman finds herself in a similar uphill position of trying to fortify a women’s basketball program that has just one winning season the last six years while barely having enough players at times.

John Mitchell provided stability as the head coach for the previous five years while maximizing the personnel for a program that has yet to emerge as a major contender since being revived in 2000-01 from a defunct status of 14 years. He was 47-72 during his CSM tenure, having his best season in 2006-07 when the club was 15-12 and finished among the final four in the state.

Coleman, who played the game before she got into coaching, assisted Mitchell the last two years so she has plenty of familiarity with the program and life in the Maryland Junior College Conference.

‘‘I’m very excited but sad to see Coach Mitchell leave,” she said. ‘‘He’s done his part, and I’m hoping to build a team. I don’t have a lot to build on with only two possible returners. We only had seven players last year, so everybody pretty much did everything. We ended the season with 6 1⁄2 players because of a hurt player, so we were just rotating players in and out of every position to keep everyone as fresh as we could.”

An Atlanta native, Coleman moved to the area in 2004 when her husband received a transfer in the Air Force. She played her high school ball in Alaska and achieved her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from California-Irvine and USC, respectively.

‘‘I went to college and thought about playing women’s basketball, but I decided to be the manager of the men’s [NCAA Division I] team,” said Coleman, who is still involved with her AAU 12-under basketball club in King George, Va., that she helped start in 2005.

Recruiting the proper amount of quality athletes to steer both their programs in the right direction is priority No. 1 for Garner and Coleman.

‘‘The main challenge right now is to get girls interested to come out and play,” said Garner, a Calvert County resident. ‘‘Within two to three weeks, I’ll be talking to four to five players that are promising recruits. I believe there is enough talent in this area to put a team on the field in 2009. And there’s enough talent out there that we don’t have to put just bodies out there.

‘‘I would be very disappointed if we do not field in a team in 2009. I see us being out there in January, hitting practice hard.”

Creaturo and former Morrison softball assistant Bill Hitte will still be connected to the program in advisory roles. Former McDonough standout Mandy Welch will serve as Garner’s assistant.

Garner is confident that Creaturo has already secured a verbal commitment to CSM within the county.

Coleman is hopeful to build around a pair of volleyball talents turned basketball players in Chantal Hebron (Thomas Stone) and Brooke Martin (La Plata).

For the duo to be a launching pad in the recruiting scene, Coleman is optimistic that CSM can work out some possibilities for off-campus housing –– which would entice athletes to buy into the rebuilding project on the court.

‘‘Both are natural athletes, and I hope to get them back this year,” Coleman said of Hebron and Martin. ‘‘There is some housing locally that maybe we can put some recruits into. That may help us get more people into CSM. In the past we’ve had people come out who play basketball instead of having basketball players. I don’t want just anybody. I want people committed to the game that can play.”

Coleman added that last year involved a committed group of players, and she is optimistic that mindset can continue into this winter as the roster depth is increased.

‘‘I’m starting with the three [SMAC] counties,” Coleman said of her recruiting objective. ‘‘If I have to look into [Prince George’s County], I will. But I’m hoping to recruit in places where people won’t have to drive that far.”

The new CSM hoops coach currently has no committed recruits. She is contacting high schools to see if there is any interest among the recently graduated senior class.

The CSM Web site attracted some buzz from a few players in the Suffolk, Va., and Coleman is following up on that possible lead.