The 2005-06 North Carolina Central University Athletics campaign was arguably the most successful in school history. NCCU captured four Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Championships and had four teams qualify for the NCAA playoffs; both were single-season firsts for the Eagles.
The women’s cross country team started the CIAA Championship stretch by winning its first ever conference crown. The football team then snapped a 25-year skid by winning the CIAA Championship on a last-second field goal. The women’s volleyball team swept through the competition to repeat as CIAA Champions. The softball team capped the banner year by claiming its first CIAA Championship since 1999, while also winning a school record 35 games along the way.
The record-setting four NCCU teams that qualified for the NCAA post-season were volleyball, football, women’s basketball and softball. In other national events, five men’s sprinters earned six All-America citations to place sixth at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships, marking the highest finish for the Eagles at an indoor national championship meet. NCCU’s women placed ninth at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the Lady Eagles best-ever finish at the national championship event. At the same meet, the NCCU men placed sixth with 30 points, the highest point total under 17-year head coach Michael Lawson and equaling the third-highest in school history, matching the Eagles of 1964 and 1971.
Several individual accomplishments also highlighted the 2005-06 season. Sophomore Yolanda Barber won her second consecutive women’s cross country title. Senior Danielle Johnson-Webb was voted as the CIAA Volleyball Player of the Year. Junior Cassie King became the school’s all-time leading women’s basketball scorer with 1,623 career points. Freshman Brandon Jones won three track events during the CIAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships en route to being named male track event MVP. Freshman Sophia Blue was named the CIAA Softball Rookie of the Year. Freshman Jessica Mills captured a national title in the women's outdoor triple jump with the ninth-longest leap in NCAA Division II Championship history. Junior softball pitcher Clarisse Steans and senior golfer Steve Wright repeated as First-Team selections on the ninth annual CIAA Commissioner's All-Academic Team, while tennis junior Emily Nwakpuda earned Second-Team honors.
For the fourth time in the past seven years, North Carolina Central University received the Loretta Taylor All-Sports Trophy, recognizing the top all-around women's program in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
Three NCCU Athletics administrators also received conference awards. Bill Hayes was selected as the 2006 CIAA Athletics Director of the Year. Kyle Serba was presented with the 2006 John Holley Sports Information Director's Award as the conference SID of the Year. Lastly, Ingrid Wicker-McCree received a special award from the conference office in recognition of her service as President of the CIAA Executive Board for the past two years. She is only the second female to ever hold that position in the CIAA's history.
Three NCCU coaches were also presented with awards as the CIAA Coach of the Year in their respective sports. NCCU's honorees were Ingrid Wicker-McCree for women's volleyball, Michael Lawson for men's and women's cross country, and Larry Keen for softball.
