Dec. 11, 2007
RALEIGH, NC - The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) announced a special game for the 2008 MEAC Basketball Tournament during a press conference Tuesday at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. The announcement revealed that the North Carolina Central Eagles and the Winston-Salem State Rams men's basketball teams will compete in a bonus game on Championship Saturday, March 15, of the 2008 basketball tournament.
"We are excited that North Carolina Central University and Winston-Salem State University men's teams will be competing against each other on championship Saturday," said MEAC Commissioner Dennis E. Thomas. "We want to galvanize the Eagle and Ram fans base, alumni and students to experience what our tournament is all about. We feel this is an excellent opportunity for both teams to showcase their institutions."
The bonus game is an added event of the 2008 MEAC Basketball Tournament. The game will tip off between the women's and men's championship game on Saturday, March 15 at 4:30 p.m. The matchup between the two teams will be the first since their move up to Division I.
"The MEAC is a great conference with a strong history and tradition and we are honored to participate," said Ingrid Wicker-McCree, Interim Director of Athletics, North Carolina Central University. "I am excited about our student-athletes and coaches having the opportunity to participate with Winston-Salem State University. Both schools are making great progress in their transition to Division I and I think this tournament will showcase what we have to offer to the Division I membership."
"We are excited about this opportunity," stated Dr. Percy Caldwell, Director of Athletics, Winston-Salem State University. "When you are a reclassifying institution and in transition to Division I you look for any opportunity to showcase your team and institution. I think it is a great opportunity not only for our basketball team, but also for our institution.
"We said since the beginning of our reclassification that this was not just an athletic transition, this is a transition for our University and an opportunity to showcase our University as a part of the MEAC."
Ticket books to the 2008 MEAC Basketball Tournament are on sale now and can be found through Ticketmaster outlets nationwide, at MEAC School Box Offices and at the RBC Center Box Office. Tickets can also be purchased at the MEAC administrative offices by calling (757) 416-7100 or logging on to www.meachoops.com.
The MEAC Basketball Tournament involves 11 additional Division I historically black colleges and universities located across the Atlantic coastline: Bethune-Cookman University, Coppin State University, Delaware State University, Florida A&M University, Hampton University, Howard University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina A&T State University, and South Carolina State University. This year's tournament takes place from March 10 to March 15 at the RBC Center.
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THE HERALD-SUN:
Eagles will face rival Winston-Salem State between championship games
By MIKE POTTER : The Herald-Sun (mpotter@heraldsun.com)
Dec 12, 2007
RALEIGH -- N.C. Central may be an independent in the its first season in Division I, but that doesn't mean the Eagles won't be playing at a conference basketball tournament.
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference announced Tuesday that the Eagles will take on first-year MEAC member and long-time rival Winston-Salem State in a "bonus game" between the women's and men's championship games at the conference tournament March 15 at the RBC Center.
The game against the Rams will follow a three-week layoff by the Eagles.
"We'll have plenty of time to get ready," said NCCU coach Henry Dickerson. whose team will have layoffs of seven, six, eight and 18 days after New Year's. "It's going to be a lot like getting ready for a season opener."
The championship Saturday tripleheader, which will be held as one session, begins with the women's championship game at 1 p.m., followed by the NCCU-WSSU game at 4:30 p.m. and the men's title game at 8 p.m.
The tournament, which is in its final year of a three-year contract with the RBC Center, will be held March 10-15. As teams in transition to Division I, NCCU and WSSU are not eligible for postseason NCAA Tournament play.
"We are excited that the North Carolina Central and Winston-Salem State men's teams will be competing against each other on championship Saturday," MEAC commissioner Dennis Thomas said. "We want to galvanize the Eagles' and Rams' fans bases. We feel this is an excellent opportunity for both teams to showcase their institutions."
Thomas said the game isn't necessarily a prelude to MEAC membership for NCCU, since the 12-member conference has declared a "moratorium" on new applications.
"At some point in time, we expect [membership] to be opened up again, and Central will be in on that process," Thomas said. "North Carolina Central is an outstanding institution with an excellent athletic program."
Thomas also said he has been happy with the tournament's run in Raleigh and that discussions to extend the contract are continuing.
NCCU interim athletics director Ingrid Wicker-McCree said she was enthusiastic about the chance for the Eagles to participate in the event.
"The MEAC is a great conference with a strong history and tradition, and we're honored to participate," Wicker-McCree said. "I'm excited about our student-athletes and coaches having the opportunity to participate with Winston-Salem State."
WSSU athletics director Chico Caldwell echoed Wicker-McCree's comments.
"We're excited about this opportunity," Caldwell said. "When you're a reclassifying institution and in transition to Division I you look for any opportunity to showcase your team and institution."
The contest will be the Eagles' 30th game of the year, with 26 of them against Division I opposition and 23 away from McLendon-McDougald Gym. The Eagles other MEAC opponents will be Coppin State in Durham on Jan. 16 and in Baltimore on Jan. 30, and Norfolk State in a single road game Jan. 7.
"This is an opportunity for us, and when opportunities knock, everybody answers," said Dickerson, whose team is 1-11. "We'll be there with our wings on and our colors. I'm just happy to be back here in 80-degree weather -- we've been to Akron and North Dakota and Iowa, and we've still got to go to Syracuse [for a game at Colgate] and to Omaha.
"I'm the old coach here [compared with second-year WSSU mentor Bobby Collins]. He's an outstanding young coach who's on the way up."
WSSU, which has been plugged into the full MEAC schedule this season, is 2-5 overall and 1-0 against MEAC opposition.
"We're certainly excited about the opportunity to play in the bonus game on championship Saturday," Collins said. "I've been in the MEAC 12 seasons [including time as an assistant coach], and we've played on Saturday six times and won three. ... Coach [Dickerson] and I are going to think about getting up and down the floor and getting the score up into the 100s."
