‘Superstar’ Nendah Tarke leaving imprint on squad

Despite the Coppin State men’s basketball team’s 83-78 win against Mount St. Mary’s on Friday night, coach Juan Dixon took a critical eye during a next-day film session. He even took aim at the backcourt duo of Sam Sessoms and Nendah Tarke, promising to remove them from Monday night’s game against Navy if they did not play up to their defensive standards.

The ultimatum seemed to work, as Tarke and Sessoms amassed three steals each, and the Eagles forced 20 turnovers en route to a 75-68 victory before an announced 1,118 at the Physical Education Complex in Baltimore.

Tarke smiled when reminded afterward of his coach’s remarks.

“I don’t think we need any extra motivation, but maybe it helped because we started out pretty well,” he said. “I think maybe he should make more threats, and we’ll be good.”

If there’s one player who sets the tone for Coppin State, it’s Tarke. The 6-foot-4, 190-pound redshirt sophomore shooting guard leads the team in steals per game (2.8) and ranks second in points (12), rebounds (5) and assists (2.3).

Tarke, who’s from Gaithersburg and played at Bullis, finished with eight points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists against the Midshipmen. The Eagles are 2-2 for the first time since the 2015-16 squad also split its first four games.

Sessoms, a Penn State transfer and redshirt senior point guard who leads the team in scoring (23) and assists (5.4), said he appreciates Tarke, the only player on Coppin State averaging at least 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

“Nendah’s a freak athlete,” Sessoms said. “He’s going to play defense every time. I usually just tell him, ‘You play defense, and I’ll follow. I’ll do offense, and you follow.’ ”

Tarke’s rise shouldn’t be startling. As a freshman in 2020-21, he was the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s Rookie of the Year and a third-team selection after averaging 9.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.1 assists. Last winter, he was named to the league’s first team and all-defensive team after leading NCAA Division I players in steals per game at 2.9 while averaging 13.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists.

Dixon, the Calvert Hall graduate and former Maryland great who led that program to its first and only national championship in 2002, said Tarke has grown into an on-court leader.

“His basketball IQ is an extension of the coaches on the floor,” he said. “He’s a superstar. He has a high-level mindset, has great instincts defensively, powerful when it comes to getting down to our offensive end. … When he is in that mode mentally, he’s our most unstoppable player on both ends of the floor.

“He sees the game differently. The game has slowed down. He’s more of a vocal leader, and he allows me to coach him hard. He knows who I am as a coach. He knows how passionate I am.”

Tarke agreed with Dixon’s sentiment about his growth.

“I’ve learned more about the game — my composure, my poise, all of that stuff,” he said. “Last year for me was kind of like a comingout [party], showing what I can do. This year is more about, how many boxes can I check? I want to be solid in all areas.”

At 21, Tarke is one of the Eagles’ younger players. But in his third year in the program, he, redshirt senior forward Justin Steers and redshirt sophomore guard Isaiah Gross are the veterans.

Because of that background, Dixon admitted that he tends to expect more from Tarke.

“I’m going to coach Nendah hard and be on him, and he responds well,” he said. “Nendah is a tough kid mentally.”

While admitting being a veteran can be difficult, Tarke said he won’t shy away from being held accountable by his coach.

“When you win, a lot of it falls on you. So you’ve got to also take it when you lose,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to take both. I’m ready for it. It’s my third year, and in my freshman year, I didn’t have any of those responsibilities. As you grow and learn over time, more and more of those responsibilities fall on you, and I’m ready for it.”

Tarke does have the benefit of leaning on his older brother. Anthony Tarke, a 6-6, 220-pound forward, was the only player in the country in 2020-21 to average at least 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals en route to being named the MEAC’s Player and Defensive Player of the Year. He was invited to the Detroit Pistons’ training camp and played for the franchise’s G League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise.

“I talk to him every day about the game, the NBA and just about anything,” the younger Tarke said. “I still ask him questions to this day because the season he had was just crazy. So I’m just trying to figure out how he did it, and I’m just trying to steal what I can steal because he’s somebody that does things the right way.”

Not surprisingly, Tarke said his objective is to help Coppin State win the MEAC Tournament after falling in the semifinals in 2020-21 and the final in 2021-22.

“We have plenty of things that are going well for us, but we have a lot we can build off of,” he said. “So the end goal is cutting down nets, but we need to take all of the right steps to get there. We can’t skip steps. It’s one day at a time.”