N.C. Central Moves One Step Closer to Making MEAC
Filed Under Curt Flood | Posted on December 14, 2007
The N.C. Central men’s basketball team will face Winston-Salem State in a bonus game at the MEAC Tournament in the RBC Center in March, a move that further signals the likelihood the Eagles will join that league.
N.C. Central has left the CIAA and has applied for membership in the MEAC.
Curt Flood, an N.C. Central graduate and chair of the Triangle MEAC steering committee, said the school’s target date to join the league is 2010.
%26quot;If all falls in place, we don’t see any great impediments in the way,%26quot; Flood said Tuesday %26quot;I think it’s going to happen. It’s a good thing for the MEAC and for Central.’
Having Central in the MEAC Tournament, he said, %26quot;will enhance attendance greatly.%26quot;
Flood said he’d be %26quot;astounded if Central didn’t get in.%26quot;
MEAC and N.C. Central officials are speaking carefully as the process continues. The Eagles are now in the NCAA re-classification process and looking to become fully eligible for Division I play. Ingrid Wicker-McCree, the Eagles’ interim athletics director, said the school is on target to meet NCAA benchmarks.
Wicker-McCree said the re-classification process would last through the 2011-2012 season.
However, she said the MEAC could admit N.C. Central sooner than that, although Central would not be eligible for posteason play.
The league currently has 12 members and is adding Winston-Salem State. The MEAC has a moratorium on expansion, but the MEAC school presidents could decide to lift that.
Asked about N.C. Central joining the league, MEAC commissioner Dennis Thomas said, %26quot;Right now, the conference has put a moratorium on making applications. At some point in time this year, we expect that to open up again. N.C. Central obviouslys will be in that process.%26quot;
N.C. Central and Winston-Salem State will play in the RBC Center on March 15 at 4:30 p.m. The women’s championship is that day at 1 p.m. and the men’s championship is at 8 p.m.
This will be the third and final year of the MEAC’s deal with the RBC Center, and attendance overall has been light. Adding Central and Winston-Salem State is a move to address that. .Thomas said the MEAC is interested in another three-year deal with the city.
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