PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland – In an NCAA that has become increasingly transactional, the schools of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference are some of the last bastions of the old-school approach to college athletics. Being one of the two Division I conferences that exclusively houses HBCUs, immersive athletic programs simply come with the territory for MEAC institutions. One needs to look no further than the coaching staff of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore women's basketball team to recognize how this league breeds a unique brand of loyalty.
 
"It's probably the family atmosphere, so close and so tight-knit amongst each school that it warrants that want-to-give-back mentality," said Sidney Raikes, now in his second season as associate head coach. "When you have the opportunity to do that, you always want to come home, and it feels so much better and comfortable when you're home."
 
"Being a small school, a small institution, you connect more, and it's not just about basketball," said third-year assistant coach Casey Morton. "They teach you about life. There's a lot more to it than just basketball."
 
Both of the Hawks' top staffers are intimately familiar with the MEAC. Raikes coached at alma mater Coppin State for eight seasons before joining head coach Fred Batchelor's staff after one year at Towson, while Morton graduated from Eastern Shore eight years ago after one of the most decorated careers in Hawk history. Second-year graduate assistant Mia Rudd, herself a North Carolina A&T State alumna, rounds out the MEAC triumvirate.
 
"I'm very fortunate to have those two on my staff, two ex-MEAC players," said Batchelor, the lone outsider of the group as a 1988 graduate of Valley Forge Christian College (now Univ. of Valley Forge). "I think it's a tribute to the league and to the institutions that really see the value in the young people that come through the ranks of our institutions and come play. We develop them, we're part of their development, and we're also part of giving them the opportunity to pursue their careers."
 
Raikes, listed in playing records as Sidney Goodman, spearheaded a golden age for Coppin State in the mid-90s. The Eagles won three straight MEAC regular season championships over his final three seasons, going 47-1 in league play over that span and representing the conference in the 1993 NCAA Tournament and 1995 NIT. By the time he graduated in '95, Raikes had set school records in games played (119, now sixth) and steals (233, now second), and his 1,412 career points stood at fourth all-time (now seventh).
 
"What I remember most are probably the championships," said Raikes. "At the end of the day, that's why you play. That, and also the relationships that I built during my four years there. Those are relationships that I still have to this day."
 
After Coppin State, Raikes landed on staff at Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden, N.J., eventually winning a girls' state title in 2005. Soon after he returned to his alma mater to serve under old assistant Derek Brown, who took over the Eagles' women's program in 1999-2000.
 
"It was actually a really easy transition, a comfortable transition," said Raikes. "I was able to understand who he was, the type of person he was, the type of man he was, and also the type of coach he was. So if I wanted to be in this business, I know I had the best person to learn from."
 
After eight seasons on Brown's staff, culminating with a trip to the 2016 MEAC championship game, Raikes departed for Towson as his mentor retired from coaching. Just one year later, Raikes got an offer to return to the MEAC as Batchelor's top lieutenant at Maryland Eastern Shore.
 
"He's a real good guy, he's very sincere, he's passionate about what he does," said Raikes of his latest boss. "He loves his kids, he loves his program, he loves his university. He cares about his coaching staff. …You always want to surround yourself with good people, and he's one of the good people that I've met in life that I'll hold dear when my time is up here."
 
"That's a great thing about having him on my staff," said Batchelor. "He does bring and element of experience and championship mentality that has really been missing from my coaching staff — including myself — in this league.
 
"What he has been able to bring has helped me, and then having Casey on the bench, those two are very much involved and they really help me manage the game. A lot of time they make decisions on their own. I look over and they are doing things I didn't know they are doing."
 
If anyone already had a primer on Batchelor's coaching style before accepting a job on his staff, it's Morton. After a celebrated career at nearby Mardela High School, Morton arrived in Princess Anne in 2007, the jewel of Batchelor's fourth recruiting class. The Hawks felt Morton's presence immediately; she won MEAC Rookie of the Year and helped her squad to 17 wins, still the high water mark of the Batchelor era.
 
Morton graduated in 2011 ranking fourth in school history in three different categories, amassing 1,230 points, 296 assists, and 188 steals. Her 116 career games are tied with former teammate Kristi Veltkamp for most ever played by a Hawk.
 
"I came in with a great group of girls that were seniors here, and they took me under their wing and just welcomed me with open arms," said Morton. "So I remember those teammates I had, and then the success we had my first year and senior year. That and the time and the family-oriented group we are here was great."
 
After a two-year stint coaching at Salisbury's Parkside High School, Morton had the chance to return to The Shore on Batchelor's staff in 2016. She didn't need to think twice before accepting.
 
"Not at all," said Morton. "This is where I wanted to be. I had aspirations of coaching, and I knew I could learn at lot from Coach Batchelor, so I thank him for that opportunity."
 
"The one thing about Casey Morton is that she bleeds University of Maryland Eastern Shore," said Batchelor. "She loves it, even when she wasn't coaching, her heart was with it, and all she wants to do is see people succeed here."
 
Morton is one of several MEAC stars to return to their old stomping grounds as an assistant. Morgan State's Brittany Dodson has been on staff for seven years, while Bethune-Cookman's Demetria Frank is in her second season under her old head coach, Vanessa Blair-Lewis. Both were Morton's peers during her time as a player and two of her fiercest rivals on the court.
 
"I think it's the relationships that the players have with their coaches, and how the coaches really respect the young ladies that they have," said Morton. "It's really more than just a coach-player relationship. I think we grow with our coach; we connect with our coach more. [Dodson and Frank] buy into the university, they love that place, and that's just where they want to be."
 
With that experience in tow, both Raikes and Morton are committed to fostering the same immersive atmosphere that drew them back to the MEAC after several years away.
 
"When you walk into a young person's home and you look their parent or guardian in the face," said Raikes, "the one thing you want to assure them is that 'we're going to take care of your kid.' And that's something that we hold near and dear. We take great responsibility, and that is very important to us.
 
"We treat every student-athlete like they're our very own. So when you have that type of attitude, and you have that type of personality and character in your program, it makes it that much easier for parents to make that decision to ultimately send their kids under our care."
 
While personality and character are crucial, nothing quite pulls a family together like a winning season. And this year's Hawks are in line to become the best team in the Fred Batchelor era, if not school history. Headlined by First-Team All-MEAC guard Ciani Byrom – who has already passed Coach Morton's career assists and free throws made totals and has a chance of catching her in points scored – Eastern Shore went 12-4 in league play and earned the No. 2 seed in next week's MEAC Tournament. The Hawks will arrive at the Norfolk Scope with their first-ever championship and NCAA Tournament berth within reach.
 
With that title for the taking, Batchelor – named MEAC Coach of the Year for the first time this season – recognizes how important it is to have two assistants who understand what it takes to win in this league.
 
"What they both give me, both Coach Raikes and Coach Morton, is on two separate ends," said Batchelor. "[We have] someone who's a little younger and a female, and someone who's a little older, a little more seasoned. They make my job a little easier."
 
When considering what it takes to win a MEAC championship, Raikes pointed to "Focus. Laser-focus. And it's kind of difficult when you haven't experienced that and you don't know what it takes, so I'm trying to get them to understand 'no distractions.'
 
"[One day in practice] I told everyone to look up at the banners in the rafters. There weren't any women's basketball banners. I said, 'you have the opportunity to make history, to be able to come back and look up in the rafters and see your banner. You have that opportunity, and you should do everything possible to try and obtain it.'"
 
"[It's about] just preparing for each moment," said Morton. "Don't think ahead, don't think beyond, just prepare for each moment. Take it one game at a time and be together as a unit."
 
The Hawks' quest for glory begins in the MEAC Tournament quarterfinals at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Second-seeded Eastern Shore will face the winner of No. 7 South Carolina State and No. 10 Savannah State. Radio coverage begins approximately 10 minutes prior to tipoff on The Shore Sports Network and SFMSports.net.