Valley makes strides under Shanks

By By Anthony Krausz / assistant sports editor
April 28, 2003
ITTA BENA It has been three years in the making for the Mississippi Valley State University baseball team.
The Delta Devils (24-19) won the Southwestern Athletic Conference East Division title and set a school record for wins.
But the pieces of the puzzle for the historically black school's rise on the diamond have a slightly different make up than would be expected.
MVSU third-year head baseball coach Doug Shanks is white. In fact, most of the Delta Devils' roster is composed of white players.
Shanks took over a program in dire straits before the start of the 2000-01 season.
The 30-year coaching veteran composed a 22-73 record over his first two seasons. A modest step up from the 8-32 mark the program posted under the final year of longtime Delta Devils coach Cleotha Wilson.
MVSU's modest improvement on the field over the first two seasons under Shanks went mostly unnoticed, as the skin color of the coach and players tended to take center stage.
But to the players on the team the only issue is can you play?
What may be more intriguing than just the racial make up of the team is the place where it is happening.
Itta Bena is a small speck on the state map in the Delta, and the university is mainly known for producing future NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice.
The acceptance of the team's make up and coach doesn't just end at the top.
MVSU's student body has been equally receptive to the players.
There have been some slight bumps along the way for Shanks as he assembled his team.
The Delta Devils' skipper has had some confusing encounters on the recruiting trail.
Robert Reynolds, an outfielder, thought I was black, until he walked onto campus.
Chad Williams, a left-handed pitcher, took bets with a friend when he made his trek to the school from Arizona on whether Shanks was black or white.
The confusion works both ways.
Shanks said he thought left-handed pitcher Brian Brown was black, and Brown thought his future coach was black until their first encounter.
MVSU has melded nicely into a solid unit, after some bumpy spots.
The Delta Devils enter the SWAC tournament on Friday, with conference power Southern hosting as the favorite to repeat, looking to earn the programs first postseason bid in school history.
The winner of the SWAC tournament gets an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
And the squad will do it as one, and the team will not give a second thought to its racial makeup.