North Carolina Central head women’s basketball coach Joli Robinson earned her 200th career victory last night with a 67-58 win over Winston-Salem State University.
Robinson is the all-time winningest women’s basketball coach in NCCU history, and is third all-time in school basketball history behind Floyd Brown (249 wins) and John McClendon (239 wins).
A couple of seasons ago, O.J. Mayo toyed with the idea of taking his world class talent to FAMU. This past summer, now-freshman phenom John Wall was rumored to have interest in the North Carolina Central basketball program.
The common thread between the two was the possibility of showing NBA scouts an ability to be a single-handed program savior, and since most basketball circles orbit well out of the black college basketball galaxy, what better realm in which to serve the most egotistical of hardwood stars.
We know how both turned out, but the moral of the story is that they were interested. Maybe for selfish reasons, maybe just as passing fancy. But for these programs, to be named on a watch list for a high school Player of the Year candidate is a big deal.
And it should be leveraged into something more.
Really good and honest perspectives from North Carolina Central men’s basketball coach LeVelle Moton. I only wish a question about recruiting John Wall was emailed in.
Most of the mid-Atlantic region is still buzzing about the readmission of North Carolina Central University to the MEAC, but there is still great anticipation about Savannah State’s application to the conference.
When first reading the news about NCCU, I thought that it was a wrap for the Savannah State Tigers. Two teams that were within months of each other in trying to gain entrance into the conference, but only one was being celebrated with a press conference and national coverage. Add in the fact that MEAC Commissioner Dennis Thomas gave no word about SSU’s application, and there was room to assume the worst.
Apparently, SSU administrators don’t feel that way.
Aside from the bumbling presentation of MEAC Commissioner Dennis Thomas, this press conference was becoming of such a big announcement for North Carolina Central University.
After what seemed like ages of waiting, North Carolina Central has finally been voted back in as a member of the MEAC conference.
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) announced today that North Carolina Central University will join the conference as its 13th member, as voted on by the conference’s Council of Chief Executive Officers (CCEOs), effective July 1, 2010.
Interestingly enough, no announcement has been made on the application of Savannah State University, which could only mean that the council of presidents has not been convinced of the institution’s internal potential as a MEAC member. Shame too, as the presence in Georgia would’ve contributed a great deal to the MEAC Basketball Championship, and to the prospect of divisional play in football, which many MEAC administrators and fans endorse.
Still, its good news for Eagles fans who now will have conference affiliation to bolster the rivalry with North Carolina A&T. In addition, the MEAC has a much stronger hold in CIAA country; North Carolina will now be home to three member schools in Winston-Salem State, A&T and NCCU.
It took long enough, but they made it happen. Kudos to the conference and NCCU.
For North Carolina Central Eagles fans looking for more information on Eagles athletics, set your radio dial to Rejoice 1410 A.M.for Eagle Talk, a weekly, 30-minute broadcast covering everything Eagles.
I like the fact that NCCU is crafting more venues for fan interactivity with the program, but don’t necessarily like the fact that the only way you can correspond with the show is through email, which may or may not be answered by the host, Chris Hooks.
In any event, I know I’ll be checking out Eagle Talk weekly from 2:00-2:30 p.m., if for no other reason than to hear fans emails being read about MEAC commissioner Dennis Thomas dragging his feet on the admission of the Eagles into the conference.
And credit to the NCCU Eagles for getting interactive with the announcement on YouTube!
In case you couldn’t tell that the North Carolina Central Eagles are tired of waiting for the MEAC admission process to let them in, allow Bonitta Best to remind you of the toll the waiting game can play.
NCCU is doing everything on its end: the athletics department has combined all the booster clubs into one, a suggestion the NCAA strongly recommends to keep better track of funds; increased scholarships and coaching staffs; an enlarged sports information department to further expand coverage of all its programs, and now the installation of artificial turf at O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium to curtail costs….
And let’s not forget NCCU’s most important asset: its countrywide fan base. With the economy squeezing wallets and advertisers scaling back on sponsorships, the MEAC needs all the leverage it can get.
Somebody needs to remind them of that since NCCU can’t. Instead of saying something like “What the heck is taking so dang long? Do we have to turn into Keith Sweat and beg all night long?”
Tell them how you really feel, Ms. Best. And I have to agree with her. Maybe no one outside of MEAC Commissioner Dennis Thomas and the Council of Presidents knows what exactly the process is for admittance into the conference, but the conference could certainly do a better job of enlightening fans with rooting and consuming interest in MEAC sports.
What is the harm in saying, “We’re making sure that NCCU is economically viable,” or some other logical reasoning that indicates Thomas and the MEAC are doing more than sitting on their hands on the issue? Fans have long been taking this drawn-out process to task, but maybe with the media involved, there may be a little more dip in the MEAC’s hip to move.
ESPN.com’s Dana O’Neil, who keeps regular tabs on black college sports for the Worldwide Leader, has authored an in-depth look at the North Carolina Central Eagles’ whirlwind 2009.
Between whispers of blue-chipper John Wall coming to campus, to the MEAC site visit, check out what life has been like for new head coach LeVelle Moton and the under-the-radar Eagles program.
