Bro. Askia
New Member
WSSU's move up puts focus on NCCU
http://www.ncu.edu/campus/athletics
By MIKE POTTER, The Herald-Sun
July 8, 2004 12:23 am
http://www.herald-sun.com/sports/nccentral
N.C. Central's long-discussed ambitions of moving from NCAA Division II to Division I may have gotten a kick start on Wednesday.
That was when Winston-Salem State University, the Eagles' most spirited all-sports rival in the CIAA, announced its intentions to move to Division I.
http://p067.ezboard.com/fnccueaglesfrm2.showMessage?topicID=149.topic
The WSSU Board of Trustees approved the plan, which officially will begin on Dec. 1 when the university submits its official application. The step will start a five-year process that will end in WSSU teams gaining eligibility to compete for all Division I titles, except men's and women's basketball, during the 2009-10 seasons.
"Moving up to NCAA Division I advances our university's strategic plan and will offer our talented student-athletes even more challenging competition," WSSU chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr. said in a news release issued by the school. "Specifically, competing on a bigger stage will elevate awareness of WSSU and our reputation for excellence regionally and nationally, while creating opportunities to generate even more revenue from our athletic programs."
WSSU has about 4,100 students and the university is planning for that figure to top 6,100 by 2010. NCCU has more than 6,000 students, and Chancellor James Ammons has ex-pressed a goal of having more than 8,000 by 2,008.
"I had known for a long time they were doing a study," said NCCU athletics director Bill Hayes, a longtime head football coach at both WSSU and North Carolina A&T. "I think it's exciting, and I look forward to watching their progress."
Hayes' only comment about NCCU's situation was through a press release.
"We are continuing to move ahead with our feasibility study regarding a change to Division I, but we have not completed that process," Hayes said. "There are several steps still ahead before we can make a decision."
WSSU will be continue to be a full member of the CIAA for two more academic years before beginning to play a Division I schedule in various sports and will be in football's Division I-AA.
CIAA commissioner Leon Kerry could have exercised an option to immediately expel WSSU from the conference upon the announcement but chose to continue the relationship during the transition period.
"I am proud of the 59-year relationship that the CIAA has had with Winston-Salem State University but am heavy-hearted to hear of its departure," Kerry said in a statement issued by the conference. "As the oldest historically black athletic conference in the nation, I am well-pleased in saying that the CIAA has developed some of the strongest athletic programs competing in both NCAA Divisions I and II.
"Winston-Salem State's stride towards Division I further confirms the notion that the CIAA not only lays the foundation for its student-athletes to excel in sport and in life but has been instrumental in athletic program development. We wish WSSU the best of success in its move to Division I and look forward to possible future collaborations with the Rams."
Before WSSU's move, A&T has been the only historically black university in North Carolina to play at the Division I level. A&T is a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, an 11-member league stretching from Maryland to Florida that currently has eight members competing for the football championship.
WSSU almost certainly will apply for MEAC membership, and its chances for acceptance are considered near-certain. If NCCU applies to move to NCAA Division I, it probably would follow the same path and reunite with former CIAA rivals A&T, Hampton, Norfolk State and others in Division I-AA conference play.
The reclassification plan approved by Winston-Salem States Board of Trustees calls for spending $4 million during a five-year period to upgrade athletic facilities, with an additional $6.7 million to renovate the CE Gaines Center allocated through the university's capital plan, which would expand total facilities.
The Rams also plan to add six new sports, including baseball and women's golf, along with men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field.
The school also must increase athletic scholarships funding to $1.6 million in the 2005-06 academic year, meaning that at least 50 new full-time grants-in-aid will be awarded outside of football and men's and women's basketball. Also, 15 new athletics department employees will be hired, nine of them fulltime.
The Rams currently use city facilities for their two most visible sports, using 17,000-seat Bowman Gray Stadium for home football games and occasionally using 15,000-seat Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum for basketball.
Winston-Salem State's three men's basketball exhibitions this season are against Division I opponents -- at Radford on Nov. 3, against North Carolina at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill on Nov. 5 and a city squabble with Wake Forest at Joel Coliseum on Nov. 11.
URL for this article:
http://www.herald-sun.com/sports/nccentral/40-498627.html
http://www.ncu.edu/campus/athletics
By MIKE POTTER, The Herald-Sun
July 8, 2004 12:23 am
http://www.herald-sun.com/sports/nccentral
N.C. Central's long-discussed ambitions of moving from NCAA Division II to Division I may have gotten a kick start on Wednesday.
That was when Winston-Salem State University, the Eagles' most spirited all-sports rival in the CIAA, announced its intentions to move to Division I.
http://p067.ezboard.com/fnccueaglesfrm2.showMessage?topicID=149.topic
The WSSU Board of Trustees approved the plan, which officially will begin on Dec. 1 when the university submits its official application. The step will start a five-year process that will end in WSSU teams gaining eligibility to compete for all Division I titles, except men's and women's basketball, during the 2009-10 seasons.
"Moving up to NCAA Division I advances our university's strategic plan and will offer our talented student-athletes even more challenging competition," WSSU chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr. said in a news release issued by the school. "Specifically, competing on a bigger stage will elevate awareness of WSSU and our reputation for excellence regionally and nationally, while creating opportunities to generate even more revenue from our athletic programs."
WSSU has about 4,100 students and the university is planning for that figure to top 6,100 by 2010. NCCU has more than 6,000 students, and Chancellor James Ammons has ex-pressed a goal of having more than 8,000 by 2,008.
"I had known for a long time they were doing a study," said NCCU athletics director Bill Hayes, a longtime head football coach at both WSSU and North Carolina A&T. "I think it's exciting, and I look forward to watching their progress."
Hayes' only comment about NCCU's situation was through a press release.
"We are continuing to move ahead with our feasibility study regarding a change to Division I, but we have not completed that process," Hayes said. "There are several steps still ahead before we can make a decision."
WSSU will be continue to be a full member of the CIAA for two more academic years before beginning to play a Division I schedule in various sports and will be in football's Division I-AA.
CIAA commissioner Leon Kerry could have exercised an option to immediately expel WSSU from the conference upon the announcement but chose to continue the relationship during the transition period.
"I am proud of the 59-year relationship that the CIAA has had with Winston-Salem State University but am heavy-hearted to hear of its departure," Kerry said in a statement issued by the conference. "As the oldest historically black athletic conference in the nation, I am well-pleased in saying that the CIAA has developed some of the strongest athletic programs competing in both NCAA Divisions I and II.
"Winston-Salem State's stride towards Division I further confirms the notion that the CIAA not only lays the foundation for its student-athletes to excel in sport and in life but has been instrumental in athletic program development. We wish WSSU the best of success in its move to Division I and look forward to possible future collaborations with the Rams."
Before WSSU's move, A&T has been the only historically black university in North Carolina to play at the Division I level. A&T is a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, an 11-member league stretching from Maryland to Florida that currently has eight members competing for the football championship.
WSSU almost certainly will apply for MEAC membership, and its chances for acceptance are considered near-certain. If NCCU applies to move to NCAA Division I, it probably would follow the same path and reunite with former CIAA rivals A&T, Hampton, Norfolk State and others in Division I-AA conference play.
The reclassification plan approved by Winston-Salem States Board of Trustees calls for spending $4 million during a five-year period to upgrade athletic facilities, with an additional $6.7 million to renovate the CE Gaines Center allocated through the university's capital plan, which would expand total facilities.
The Rams also plan to add six new sports, including baseball and women's golf, along with men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field.
The school also must increase athletic scholarships funding to $1.6 million in the 2005-06 academic year, meaning that at least 50 new full-time grants-in-aid will be awarded outside of football and men's and women's basketball. Also, 15 new athletics department employees will be hired, nine of them fulltime.
The Rams currently use city facilities for their two most visible sports, using 17,000-seat Bowman Gray Stadium for home football games and occasionally using 15,000-seat Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum for basketball.
Winston-Salem State's three men's basketball exhibitions this season are against Division I opponents -- at Radford on Nov. 3, against North Carolina at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill on Nov. 5 and a city squabble with Wake Forest at Joel Coliseum on Nov. 11.
URL for this article:
http://www.herald-sun.com/sports/nccentral/40-498627.html