POSTERIZED: Tahj Tate provides some #POSTERIZED publicity

It is no secret the B.I.A.H is the world wide leader in collegiate slam-dunk knowledge and information. This is a tried truth. I can show you the numbers if you don't believe us.

Our meteoric rise in the college hoops world has provided us with some great opportunities. One of these opportunities includes being able to provide color commentary for Delaware State Hornets games on Sports Radio 1290AM The Ticket in Wilmington, DE. The play-by-play voice of the Hornets, Scott Klatzkin, is a rising star in the radio broadcasting world who you will be hearing more of in the future.

If the name sounds familiar, it's because @ScottieK3 has contributed here at B.I.A.H on an assortment of entertaining posts and videos.

Two weeks ago on Saturday, February 11th, the Hornets traveled to Baltimore, MD to take on the Coppin State Eagles in a key MEAC game. I was lucky enough to get the call and provide expert analysis on the pivotal MEAC showdown for the radio station.

After a deflating eight-game losing streak, The Hornets had won five-straight, and were rapidly ascending the conference standings. After getting down by as many as 12 points to Coppin State, DSU put together a furious second half rally.

They applied a suffocating full-court press, and started double-teaming players at mid-court. With under two minutes to play, superstar freshman Tahj Tate (@1ahj1ate) decided it was about time to leave his mark on the game, and in doing so, provided B.I.A.H with some much needed radio publicity.

Cue the video Scottie.



Here's the thing. The game was already in it's wildest sequence.

Scottie and I were still trying to catch up to what was going on. There had been two steals, a fast break, and another big dunk from Tate. When Tahj stole the outlet pass and decided to drop the hammer, I was speechless. Literally speechless. Scottie was so elated that he reached over with his right arm and almost knocked me out of my chair.

But the audio speaks for itself.

I spent the entire 45-minute drive back to Washington, D.C. giddy in anticipation of this video's release. And as always, both Scottie and Tahj delivered.



But was it as good as these?

John Henson, North Carolina vs. Virginia, 2/25 C.J. Aiken, St. Joseph's vs. Temple, 2/25
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Anthony Davis, Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt, 2/25
Dion Waiters, Syracuse vs. UConn, 2/25
Weekend Recap, 2/18
Tony Wroten Jr./Aziz N'Diaye, Washington vs. Arizona, 2/18
Chris Czerapowicz, Davidson vs. Wichita State, 2/18
Darius Miller, Kentucky vs. Ole Miss, 2/18
Darrion Pellom, Hampton vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore 2/15 (DotY Candidate)
Trency Jackson, Northwest Florida vs. Chipola, 2/15
Kwame Alexander, Cal St. San Bernadino, 2/12
Weekend Recap, 2/10 - 2/12
Kyisean Reed, Utah State vs. Louisiana Tech, 2/9
Joshea Singleton, Bucknell vs. Colgate, 2/8
Kelsey Barlow, Purdue vs. Ohio State, 2/7
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Iowa State, 2/7
Roscoe Smith, UConn vs. Louisville, 2/7
Weekend Recap, 2/2 - 2/5
Jamaal Franklin, San Diego State vs. TCU, 2/4
Michael Carter-Williams, Syracuse vs. St. John's, 2/4
Kwame Alexander, Cal State-San Bernardino vs. Cal State-Dominguez Hills (D-II), 2/3
Bradley Beal, Florida vs. South Carolina, 2/2
Doug Anderson, Detroit vs. Valparaiso, 2/2
Thomas Robinson, Kansas vs. Oklahoma, 2/1
Markel Brown, Oklahoma state vs. Texas Tech, 1/31
Royce White, Iowa State vs. Kansas State, 1/31
Savalace Townsend, Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. Grambling State, 1/28 (DotY Candidate)
Weekend Recap, 1/25 - 1/29
Tony Wroten Jr., Washington vs. Arizona State, 1/26 (DotY Candidate)
Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Dayton, 1/25
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Missouri, 1/25 (DotY Candidate)
Larry Nance Jr., Wyoming vs. San Diego State, 1/24
Dion Dixon, Cincinnati vs. Syracuse, 1/23
Victor Rudd Jr., South Florida vs. St. John's, 1/17 (DotY Candidate)
C.J. Fair, Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh, 1/16
TrayVonn Wright, North Dakota State vs. South Dakota, 1/14
Bandja Sy, New Mexico State vs. Utah State, 1/12
Kenny Hall, Tennessee vs. Mississippi State, 1/12
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Duquesne, 1/11
Kadeem Batts, Providence vs. Louisville, 1/10
Karam Mashour, UNLV vs. CS-Bakersfield, 1/6
Tony Snell, New Mexico vs. Houston Baptist, 1/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgia Tech, 1/3
Trevis Simpson, UNC-Greensboro vs. Miami, 1/2
Orion Outerbridge, Rhode Island vs. Boston College, 1/2
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Indiana, 12/31
DeShon Minnis, Texas Tech vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 12/30
Keith Gabriel, VMI vs. Old Dominion, 12/22
Eric Etherly, Loyola (Md.) vs. Kentucky, 12/22
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. Texas-Arlington, 12/21
P.J. Hairston, North Carolina vs. Texas, 12/21
Robbie Hummel, Purdue vs. IPFW, 12/20
Robert Brown, Virginia Tech vs. North Florida, 12/19
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Kansas State, 12/17
Torye Pelham, Southern Mississippi vs. Ole Miss, 12/17
Quincy Diggs, Akron vs. Florida A&M, 12/17
Anthony Davis, Kentucky vs. Chattanooga, 12/17
Langston Galloway/C.J. Aiken/Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Villanova, 12/17
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. UC-Santa Barbara, 12/16
Jared Cunningham, Oregon State vs. Howard, 12/15
Raheem Appleby, Louisiana Tech vs. McNeese State, 12/14
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Detroit, 12/12
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. UW-Green Bay, 12/11
Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Creighton, 12/10
Dion Waiters, Syracuse vs. George Washington, 12/10 (DotY Candidate)
Victor Oladipo, Indiana vs. Kentucky, 12/10
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, 12/10
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. Washington, 12/6
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. Marquette, 12/6
Deville Smith, Mississippi State vs. West Virginia, 12/3
Terrence Jones, Kentucky vs. North Carolina, 12/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgetown, 12/1
Anthony Marshall, UNLV vs. UNC, 11/26
Michael Kidd-Glichrist, Kentucky vs. Portland, 11/26/11 (DotY Candidate)
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/25
Rodney Williams, Minnesota vs. DePaul, 11/24
Thomas Robinson, Kansas vs. Duke, 11/23
Stan Okoye, VMI vs. Ohio State, 11/23
Kyisean Reed, Utah State vs. Southern Utah, 11/19
Ra'Shad James, Iona vs. Western Michigan, 11/18
Alandise Harris, Houston vs. Arkansas, 11/18
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Jackson State, 11/18
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Wichita State, 11/18
Eric Griffin, Campbell vs. North Carolina A&T, 11/18 (DotY Candidate)
Olek Czyz, Nevada vs. Pacific, 11/17
Chris Watson, Pikeville vs. Mountain State, 11/16
Ray Willis, North Carolina Central vs. Wagner, 11/16
Mike James, Lamar vs. Ohio, 11/15 (DotY Candidate)
Quincy Acy, Baylor vs. San Diego State, 11/15
Deniz Kilicli, West Virginia vs. Kent State, 11/15
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. West Virginia, 11/15
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Oakland, 11/14
Isaiah Brown, East Tennessee State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/12
Michael Lyons, Air Force vs. Army, 11/11
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Morgan State, 11/11
Jeremy Lamb, UConn vs. Columbia, 11/11 (DotY Candidate)
Andre Drummond, UConn vs. CW Post, 11/4
Moe Harkless, St. John's vs. CW Post, 10/26



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MEAC star leads by example

BALTIMORE, MD -

In the halls outside of the Coppin State Physical Education Complex, flanked by his mother and father, Jay Threatt is all smiles.

And with good reason.

The Delaware State senior guard was minutes removed from assisting on the game-winning basket as the Hornets rallied from behind to defeat the Coppin State Eagles 84-81. The win extended the Hornet's win-streak to six games, and Threatt finished with 11 assists, leaving him just ten assists shy of becoming the school's all-time leader.

He is a diminutive point guard with the heart of a lion. Named as one of the 16-best lock-down defenders in the country, Threatt's 2.95spg rank second in Division-I. He is a relentless competitor, fighting through injuries and rarely ever taking a rest. This season alone, Threatt has played the entire 40 minutes seven different times.

(Courtesy: Scott Thornton, Delaware State)

Off the court, he's just as active. His smile is so big it could light up even the darkest of caves. His personality so big, that it eclipses his 5-foot-11, 175-pound frame. The positive energy that radiates from him is borderline-contagious.

In the cavernous white hallways, a congregation of Jay's relatives (his mother, Cheryl is from Baltimore) hugged, smiled and took pictures. His father, Jay Threatt Sr., was glowing.

"It's crazy, even way back to when they were just kids on the playground, Jay and Jarvis (his younger brother and freshman guard at Delaware) were always leaders, always field generals. You could just see it in their body language and in the way they communicated."

But for Threatt, those skills were honed and sharpened by adversity.

Growing up outside of Richmond, VA, Threatt was a three-time member of the All-District team at Highland Springs. As a senior, he was named to the All-Metro, All-Region and honorable mention All-State teams, thus earning a scholarship to play for George Mason University.

As a youth, he watched and idolized Allen Iverson, an undersized guard and Virginia-native like Threatt, who was as tenacious on defense as he was explosive on offense. But just like Iverson, Threatt found himself in legal trouble prior to his college enrollment.

In June of 2007, just two months after signing his Letter of Intent with George Mason, Threatt was arrested in connection to a carjacking case in Henrico County, VA. According to the report, Threatt was the get-away driver for two men that attempted to steal a car at traffic stop outside of Richmond. The judge agreed that Threatt had been caught in the "wrong place at the wrong time", and all the charges against him were dropped.


"I was caught taking it all for granted. Going to college for free, playing basketball at a high level. I realized it could all be taken from me at any time. I had to grow up quick. I'm seventeen, in there with grown men. I had to grow up."

Threatt attended George Mason his freshman year but saw little playing time. When the coaches who recruited him left George Mason for other jobs, Threatt decided to transfer.

But Like any good leader, Threatt adjusted and responded, and Delaware State has been reaping the benefits ever since. "I love being the leader. It's part of my position. Even if it wasn't, that's part of my personality. I like to take over, I've been through the fire."

It's his past experiences that have given him the confidence to persevere. He's battled through injuries, and a lengthy seven-game losing streak.

"I had to battle through some injuries earlier, and winning isn't easy. You have to want it. You have to earn it. I don't need every stat. I don't need to score. My job is to be the coach on the floor."

And that's exactly what Threatt has been doing. He has 43 assists and 21 steals in the last six games, all Delaware State victories. But more importantly, he has served as guidance for freshman Tahj Tate, the team's leading scorer. Tate scored 29 points against Notre Dame earlier in the season, but was suspended for four games due to "conduct detrimental to the program".

But Threatt, who has been through the fire before, was there for the freshman playmaker.

"I'm here to motivate him. Me and Tahj, you know, off the court, I'm always here for him. I've been through some of the same stuff he's been through. Just reminding him to not take all of this for granted, helping him realize that everything he does goes under the microscope. I'm here to help him mature. You know, at the D-I level, whether it's Big East, MEAC or what not, you have to grow up quickly. On the court, he has it all, he's a unique talent. He can beat anybody he wants to. It's just how he puts it all together off the court."

Since returning from the suspension, Tate is averaging roughly 17ppg, and his energy and effort has increased tremendously, as evidence by his two late steals against Coppin State. One of which, led to an emphatic dunk which ignited the Hornet's 12-point comeback.

"Any time he get's one of them big plays. Points just start to pile up. It's just exciting. he's just so exciting to play with." Say Threatt, snapping his fingers to indicate just how fast Tate can rack up buckets.

Talking to Threatt and watching him play, you can just see it in his eyes. You can see it in his body language, the way he uses his hands to demonstrate and direct. He loves this game. He loves this sport. When he's not directing the offense or shutting down the opponent's best player, he's coaching at camps, and teaching the game to the next generation.

"Oh, I love it. I really love it. When the ball stops bouncing, that's definitely one thing I want to look into, something I want to dip my feet in to. I really like coaching"

But the ball hasn't stopped bouncing for Threatt just yet.

"I'm trying to keep this thing going, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, on to the tournament. This is what I envisioned at the begining of the season. These young guys are maturing, and we're peaking at the right time."

Could Threatt be playing at the BCS-conference level? Absolutely. Just look at his numbers. He's also dealt with adversity, battled through hardships, and walked away victorious, which is bigger than any statistic, winning streak or game-winning assist.

"I'm having so much fun. I love college. This is how I envisioned it way back. It's a dream come true. I just have to thank god for giving me the opportunity."

An oppurtunity that he's making the most of.

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