1996-97 HIGHLIGHTS
- Adrian Jones selected NCAA Division II Player of the Week for tying a school record with three interceptions in one game on September 28, against Elizabeth City State.
- Tia Watlington collects 31 kills in a women's volleyball match versus Livingstone on October 9.
- Six football players selected to play in the Freedom All-Star Game at Texas Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys in Irving, Texas.
- Three football players play in the Capital City Classic, a black college all-star football game, in Birmingham, Alabama. Senior quarterback Brad McAdams named Most Valuable Player of the classic.
- Eagle football achieves an NCAA Division II national ranking as high as No. 5 (Oct. 22), after running off seven consecutive victories.
- Head football coach Larry Little collects more wins (8) than with any other team in his previous 12 years as an intercollegiate head coach.
- As a team, NCCU football boasts the CIAA's No. 1 offense and defense. The Eagle defense claimed the national title by finishing with the NCAA Division II's No. 1 pass efficiency defense rating (62.1), while also placing fourth in scoring defense (12.8 points allowed per game) and seventh in total defense (227.5 total yards allowed per game).
- Kerry Harbor named College Football Chronicle Unsung Hero All-America after being told by doctors not to play due to a severe shoulder injury, yet he returned to the team and earned All-CIAA and All-Region honors.
- Eagle head football coach Larry Little named to John Madden's All-Time Super Bowl Team, and featured on a "Where Are They Now" segment on FOX Sports during Super Bowl Sunday. The feature exposed NCCU to a world-wide television audience of more than a million estimated viewers.
- NCCU men's basketball captures its third First Union Harvest Classic Championship in four years with a 67-57 victory over Lenior-Rhyne in the title game. Eagle junior Michael Hadley earned M.V.P. honors of the Classic.
- Eagle head men's basketball coach Greg Jackson records his 100th career win on January 2 against J. C. Smith. Coach Jackson later becomes only the second head basketball coach in Eagle history to record four 20-win seasons.
- On Saturday, January 11, NCCU boasts game-high scorers of 30 points in both the women's and men's games against Winston-Salem State. Freshman Davita Watson netted a career-high 30 points to lift the Lady Eagles to a 71-63 win over the Lady Rams, and junior Michael Hadley collected a season-best 30 points in an 87-76 victory over the Rams.
- Senior guard Michelle Harrison ends her Lady Eagle basketball career in fourth place on the all-time NCAA Division II steals list with 382.
- NCCU men's basketball ranked as high as No. 4 in the NCAA Division II poll, wins the CIAA Southern Division Championship and makes a return trip to the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regionals.
- Elisha Marshall finishes two-1,000ths of a second shy of a national title in a photo finish of the women's 55m dash at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana.
- NCCU's women's tennis club team competed in first-known contest on Saturday, February 22, at Louisburg College.
- Senior cheerleader Shana Walker selected as one of 16 national winners of the fourth annual Sears Director's Cup Postgraduate Scholarship Awards. Walker earned a 3.93 grade point average (4.0 scale) in the classroom as a History Education major, while also staying active the community through volunteer work with the Children's Orphanage in Oxford, NC, and on campus as a cheerleader and NCCU Ambassador. A native of Wilmington, NC, Walker was chosen from 181 nominees from the NCAA Division I, II and III, and the NAIA. One of four winners in the NCAA Division II, she will receive a $5,000 grant to be used toward postgraduate studies. Walker is also the only winner from a N.C. school and the only winner from a historically black university.
- Rae Rice throws two no-hitters and a perfect game, averaging 2.1 strikeouts per inning on the Lady Eagle softball squad.
- Lady Eagle softball wins CIAA Southern Division regular season title with an 8-2 record in the division and a conference record of 14-2. NCCU advanced to the quarterfinal round of the CIAA softball championships, before an extra-inning loss to St. Augustine's. The Lady Eagles finished the banner season with an overall record of 24-16.
- Kimberly McPhatter and Nzinga Poteat make a clean-sweep in the women's high jump and 800-meter run, respectively, winning their events during the indoor and outdoor CIAA championships.
- Linebacker Tommy Dorsey signs a two-year contract with the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League.
- Senior infielder Tia Watlington named to the 1997 GTE Academic All-District III Softball Team. She secured a 3.32 grade point average (GPA) as a History major and hit .392 (49-for-125) as an All-CIAA first baseman. Watlington is one of 11 softball student-athletes to merit this honor in District III, with nominations from the states of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
1996-97 ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
Football
Brad McAdams (CIAA Co-Offensive Player of the Year/First-Team All-CIAA)
Antoine Calloway (First-Team All-CIAA)
Tommy Dorsey (First-Team All-CIAA)
Kerry Harbor (First-Team All-CIAA)
Larfue Williams (First-Team All-CIAA)
Adrian Jones (First-Team All-CIAA)
Michael Lattimore (Second-Team All-CIAA)
Tyrone Odoms (Second-Team All-CIAA)
Trei Oliver (Second-Team All-CIAA)
Ken Hill (Second-Team All-CIAA)
Larry Blanton (Second-Team All-CIAA)
Warren Bell (CIAA All-Rookie Team)
Anuj Masih (CIAA All-Rookie Team)
Matt Green (CIAA All-Rookie Team)
Anthony Connally (CIAA All-Rookie Team)
Women's Volleyball
Tia Watlington (First Team All-CIAA)
Rena Armwood (CIAA All-Rookie Team)
Davita Watson (CIAA All-Rookie Team)
Cross Country (Women's)
Nzinga Poteat (All-CIAA, 4th place, 21:11)
Tamica Burnett (All-CIAA, 7th place, 22:06)
Indoor Track & Field (Women's)
Kimberly McPhatter (CIAA Most Valuable Field Athlete, All-CIAA - High Jump Champion)
Nzinga Poteat (All-CIAA - 800m Champion, 1st place, 2:22.5)
Elisha Marshall (All-CIAA - 55m dash, 2nd place, 7.13)
Indoor Track & Field (Men's)
Leroy Glenn (All-CIAA - High Jump, 3rd place)
Basketball (Men's)
Mike White (First Team All-CIAA)
Softball
Tia Watlington (Second Team All-CIAA, CIAA All-Tournament Team)
Michelle Harrison (Second Team All-CIAA, CIAA All-Tournament Team)
Marvel Wall (Second Team All-CIAA, CIAA All-Tournament Team)
Lynn Williams (Second Team All-CIAA)
Stephanie Spindler (CIAA All-Rookie Team)
Outdoor Track & Field (Women's)
Kimberly McPhatter (All-CIAA - High Jump Champion, 1st place, 5' 4")
Nzinga Poteat (All-CIAA - 800m Champion, 1st place, 2:17.08)
Tamica Burnett (All-CIAA - 400m hurdles, 3rd place, 1:03.81)
Latisha Johnson, Larae Junior, McPhatter & Burnett (All-CIAA - 4x400m relay, 3rd place, 4:05.06)
Tennis (Men's)
The CIAA does not select an all-conference team in tennis.
ALL-REGION & ALL-AMERICA HONORS
Football
Brad McAdams (CoSIDA NCAA Division II All-South Region Second Team, Football Gazette All-America Honorable Mention)
Tommy Dorsey (American Football Coaches Association All-America)
Antoine Calloway (CoSIDA NCAA Division II All-South Region First Team, Football Gazette All-America Third Team)
Buddy Crutchfield (CoSIDA NCAA Division II All-South Region First Team, Football Gazette All-America Honorable Mention)
Ken Hill (CoSIDA NCAA Division II All-South Region First Team, Football Gazette All-America Honorable Mention)
Kerry Harbor (CoSIDA NCAA Division II All-South Region Second Team, College Football Chronicle Unsung Hero All-America)
Adrian Jones (CoSIDA NCAA Division II All-South Region Second Team)
Indoor Track & Field (Women's)
Elisha Marshall (NCAA Division II All-America, 55m dash, 2nd place, 6.905)
Kimberly McPhatter (NCAA Division II All-America, High Jump, 4th place, 5'-7")
ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT HONORS
Softball
Tia Watlington (GTE Academic All-District III Softball Team)
1996-97 TEAM RECORDS
SPORT CIAA Won-Lost Pct. | Overall Won-Lost Pct.
Women's Volleyball 11-7 .611 | 13-15 .464
Football 5-3 .625 | 8-3 .727
Women's Basketball 2-16 .111 | 5-20 .200
Men's Basketball 14-4 .778 | 20-6 .769
Softball 14-2 .875 | 24-16 .600
Men's Tennis 5-7 .417 | 6-12 .333
Women's Tennis -- -- --- | 1-6 .143
1996-97 North Carolina Central University Department of Athletics
ALL-SPORTS AWARDS BANQUET
Sunday, April 27, 1997
Regal University Hotel - Durham, NC
AWARD RECIPIENTS Name Year Hometown
Men's Basketball
Scholastic Award: Corwin Holland Sr. Hinesville, GA
Most Valuable Player: Mike White Jr. Temple Hills, MD
Captains Award: A.G. Hall Sr. Jacksonville, FL
Most Improved Player: Corwin Holland Sr. Hinesville, GA
Women's Basketball
Scholastic Award: Michelle Harrison Sr. Salem, VA
Most Valuable Player: Davita Watson Fr. Ahoskie, NC
Most Improved Player: Vikki Goings Sr. Chicago, IL
Coaches Award: Quiana Quarles So. Louisa, VA
Coaches Award: Simoneque Shearin Jr. Charlotte, NC
Cheerleaders
Scholastic Award: Shana Walker Sr. Wilmington, NC
Most Valuable Player: Stephanie Jones Sr. Garner, NC
Captains Award: Stephanie Jones Sr. Garner, NC
Captains Award: Shayla Nunnally Jr. Petersburg, VA
Most Improved Player: Kourtney Broome Sr. Clinton, MD
Coaches Award: Marsha Perry Fr. Raleigh, NC
Men's Cross Country
Scholastic Award: LeRoy Glenn So. Lewisville, NC
Most Valuable Player: Andre' Davis Sr. Smithfield, NC
Coaches Award: Reginald Bledsoe Sr. Dunn, NC
Women's Cross Country
Most Valuable Player: Nzinga Poteat Jr. Harrisburg, PA
Captains Award: Tamica Burnett Sr. Philadelphia, PA
Most Improved Player: Elisha Marshall Jr. Fayetteville, NC
Coaches Award: Latisha Johnson Fr. Richmond, VA
Football
Scholastic Award: Ansel Brown So. Winston-Salem, NC
Most Valuable Player: Brad McAdams Sr. Canton, NC
Outstanding First-Year Player: Anthony Connally Fr. Greensboro, NC
Outstanding Def. Lineman: Tyrone Odoms Sr. Shelby, NC
Outstanding Off. Lineman: Merrill Phifer Sr. Charlotte, NC
Outstanding Linebacker: Tommy Dorsey Sr. Fayetteville, NC
Outstanding Wide Receiver: Antoine Calloway Sr. Charlotte, NC
Outstanding Defensive Back: Adrian Jones Jr. Durham, NC
Outstanding Offensive Back: Shawn Gibbs Jr. Black Mountain, NC
Outstanding Special Teams: Monte' Southerland Sr. Henderson, NC
Coaches Award: Ken Hill Jr. Henderson, NC
Courage Award: Kerry Harbor Sr. Winston-Salem, NC
Courage Award: Michael Lattimore Sr. Shelby, NC
Men's Indoor Track & Field
Scholastic Award: LeRoy Glenn So. Lewisville, NC
Most Valuable Player: Tavius Walker Fr. Raleigh, NC
Most Improved Player: Justin Dupree Fr. Camden, NJ
Women's Indoor Track & Field
Scholastic Award: Tamica Burnett Sr. Philadelphia, PA
Most Valuable Player: Elisha Marshall Jr. Fayetteville, NC
Captains Award: Kimberly McPhatter Jr. Carthage, NC
Most Improved Player: Tamica Burnett Sr. Philadelphia, PA
Men's Outdoor Track & Field
Most Valuable Player: Tavius Walker Fr. Raleigh, NC
Most Improved Player: Chris Hill Jr. New Smyrna, FL
Women's Outdoor Track & Field
Scholastic Award: Tamica Burnett Sr. Philadelphia, PA
Most Valuable Player: Elisha Marshall Jr. Fayetteville, NC
Most Improved Player: Latisha Johnson Fr. Richmond, VA
Coaches Award: Kimberly McPhatter Jr. Carthage, NC
Softball
Scholastic Award: Farrah Murden Jr. Paoli, PA
Most Valuable Player: Lynn Williams So. Burlington, NC
Captains Award: Tia Watlington Sr. Winston-Salem, NC
Captains Award: Jura Gerald Jr. St. Paul, NC
Most Improved Player: Teneesha Hyman Fr. Kenly, NC
Coaches Award: Farrah Murden Jr. Paoli, PA
Coaches Award: Stephanie Spindler Fr. Vancouver, WA
Men's Tennis
Scholastic Award: Robert Rusher Fr. Shaker Heights, OH
Most Valuable Player: Traci McCluney Sr. Shelby, NC
Captains Award: Traci McCluney Sr. Shelby, NC
Most Improved Player: Glenn Thomas So. Atlanta, GA
Coaches Award: Quiana Quarles So. Louisa, VA
Volleyball
Scholastic Award: Tia Watlington Sr. Winston-Salem, NC
Most Valuable Player: Tia Watlington Sr. Winston-Salem, NC
Captains Award: Vivian White Jr. Hubert, NC
Captains Award: Heather Witherspoon Jr. Durham, NC
Most Improved Player: Davita Watson Fr. Ahoskie, NC
Coaches Award: Rena Armwood Fr. Durham, NC
Sports Medicine
Student Trainer of the Year: Tamika Alston Sr. Henderson, NC
Training Room Junkie Award: Michael Lattimore Sr. Shelby, NC
