TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – For the second straight offseason, Florida A&M men’s basketball (8-12, 5-4) was faced with a transition; a result of hiring head coach Charlie Ward, the Rattlers’ third bench boss in three years.
It hasn’t always been pretty during his first season, but the team has impressed in multiple facets, thanks to Ward and two of his senior leaders.
Ward challenged the Rattlers out of the gate. Five-straight non-conference losses piled up before the team could muster a win, but those losses were crucial in building their new system: the Ward Way.
“The games we lost, we’ve been right there for a lot of them,” said Ward. “We had stretches that we didn’t score the basketball and that sort of bit us in the butt. Overall, we have an opportunity to be in the mix, and that’s what you want.”
A coach can only do so much for a team’s success. Luckily, the Rattlers’ roster has plenty of senior leadership.
“We’re looking at [Tyler] Shirley and Jordan Chatman. Two guys who we look to to get the message across to the team, which they’ve done a really good job of doing,” said Ward.
The pair has been leaned on heavily this year. On the court, both are averaging career-highs in scoring. Shirley is scoring 11.4 PPG, Chatman is scoring 9.5 PPG.
“My teammates and coaches are putting me in the best position according to my strengths,” said Chatman, who’s in his fourth year on the team. “Really just going out there, trying to execute the game plan and do everything you’re supposed to do. When you do that, stats take care of themselves.”
Shirley, who joined the Rattlers last season, says he’s fit in nicely with this play style.
“Fit is always most important. I feel like I fit within Coach Ward’s offense, so I get a better product of me.”
Off the court, Shirley and Chatman are thriving too.
“They’re okay with being wrong. They’re okay with being held accountable. That’s what leadership looks like,” said Ward.
“Really, we just try to be the guys that lead by example, the vocal leaders,” said Shirley. “We challenge each other in moments where we’re having a lot of fun to bring it together and be like, let’s have fun, but know when to balance it and know when it’s time to be serious.”
Good leadership is contagious.
“When you see two people doing it, another person leads on, another person leads on, and eventually, you get the whole team doing it,” said Chatman.
Their leadership helped provoke a 5-1 start to conference play. Since then, Florida A&M has lost three in a row, something Coach Ward says is just part of the process. With nine games left, he will rely on his leaders for a strong finish.
“We need those guys to step up, really at the end of games to find ways to bring the group together to where we can get the outcomes that we’ve been desiring,” said Ward.
“We understand that a season is full of ups and downs, you can’t be really high when you win or really low when you lose, you gotta be even keeled pretty much,” said Chatman. “You want people to have expectations of you.”
The Rattlers have high expectations for themselves this season.
“Winning everything. Winning a championship, going to March Madness, all the big, glorious things. Gold, glisten and gold.”
Florida A&M men’s basketball hosts Texas Southern in Tallahassee on February 7 at 6 p.m.
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