COMMISSIONER'S REPORT

The 2001-2002 athletic season has accomplished something that I did not think possible at the same time last year; it surpassed the accomplishments of the 2000-2001 season. Last year was arguably the best in CIAA History, however, when the door opened on the 2001-2002 season, the CIAA never looked back. From the Basketball Tournament to Women's Sports, this year was one for the record books!!

Photo by DigiStar Photo Group

Commissioner Leon Kerry

CONTINUING OUR LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE
The CIAA has continued its legacy of excellence in the area of marketing. In June, the conference won the prestigious Silver Anvil Award. The CIAA was also the subject of a 32 page article in Ebony. The CIAA also received coverage from Essence, and Black Voices Quarterly. The conference is currently negotiating with Black Entertainment Television (BET) to have the Tournament televised on its network. If BET comes aboard, CIAA television penetration would reach 100 million households.

THE CIAA TOURNAMENT
The 2002 Tournament was one of the best ever. Attendance soared to over 80,000, representing a 96% increase from just three years ago. This year, the Tournament ranked only behind the Southeastern and Atlantic Coast Conference Tournaments in attendance (when utilizing Division I calculations). The Championship Final between Johnson C. Smith and Shaw was second in attendance (20,432) behind only the ACC Final (Duke vs. NC State). The Tournament's economic impact in Raleigh/Wake County was $9.75 million in 2002 and has had a whopping $26 million economic impact in Raleigh since 2000. Black Voices Quarterly so aptly stated the Tournament as, "Not just the biggest, but simply the best college basketball tournament on the planet...This is the Olympics of Black College Sports."

Of course, the action on the court was just as exciting with Shaw bringing home its first CIAA Tournament Championship. Shaw also boasted the Division II Player of the Year in Ronald Murray, and advanced to the Division II Final Four. Murray was a consensus All-American.

On the women's side, Virginia State won its first CIAA Women's Tournament Title in 12 years. Regular season champ, North Carolina Central made it to the South Atlantic Regional Final before falling. Also, CIAA MVP Amba Kongolo, became the first woman from the conference to be drafted by the WNBA. (Phoenix Mercury).

CIAA WOMEN'S SPORTS
The CIAA successfully added two women's sports, Bowling and Women's Tennis. This places all of our institutions in compliance with Title IX. Also, this gives more opportunities to compete for our female students. Fayetteville State became the first conference champion in Women's Tennis and advanced to the South Atlantic Regional. North Carolina Central won the first CIAA Women's Bowling Championship in a hard-fought contest over Virginia State. The match was decided by a final tie breaker, a 5th baker game.

The CIAA Volleyball Championship was just as thrilling with Saint Augustine's defeating its cross-town rival, Shaw, for the Championship. St. Augustine's advanced to NCAA Regional play, but fell in a hard fought match to Indiana University-Pennsylvania.

Other Women's Champions included:
Women's Cross Country: St. Augustine's
Women's Indoor & Outdoor Track & Field: St. Augustine's
Softball: Elizabeth City State- also made history competing in the NCAA Regionals against Indiana University -Pennsylvania and Bloomsburg University.

CIAA FOOTBALL
The CIAA Football Championship Game was once again a success. The championship capped one of the most exciting football seasons in conference history. The race for the championship berths went down to the wire with Virginia Union and Winston-Salem State advancing. Virginia Union survived a last-minute comeback attempt by the Rams to bring home its first title since 1986.
We are also contemplating game sites for the 2002 Championship Game. Washington, DC, and Winston-Salem are potential sites for the game. We will make a decision on the venue for the game in the very near future. In spite of the success of the championship, we hope to garner more support from our member institutions as far as attendance and ticket sales.

This is an exciting time for CIAA Football. We are experiencing somewhat of a renaissance with the return of St. Augustine's and Shaw to the CIAA in 2002 and 2003 respectively. St. Paul's will return in 2005. Both St. Paul's and Shaw will play a club football schedule this fall. The Athletic Directors and Conference Office are working diligently to put a long-term schedule in place which includes the incoming institutions.

Other Men's Champions:
Cross Country: St. Augustine's
Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field: St. Augustine's
Tennis: Johnson C. Smith
Baseball: Shaw
Golf: Fayetteville State

2001-2002...A GREAT YEAR!!
The CIAA continues to seek corporate support to increase opportunities for its member institutions. While Coca-Cola, Bank of America, Ford, Reebok, and Food Lion have long supported the conference, we are still looking to recruit other companies such as Microsoft and Nationwide to bring our corporate partnership number to ten companies.

The CIAA was the recipient of two NCAA grants, the Strategic Matching Alliance, and Conference Enhancement Grants. The CIAA will utilize the grants to improve our conference with programs such as the SID Technology Seminar, and the CIAA Peer Review Program.

I would like to personally congratulate our first CIAA Scholar-Athletes of the Year. Katerina Glosova has had an outstanding career at North Carolina Central. She has a 3.97 GPA, and has won 14 CIAA Championships. She won the 800m NCAA Indoor Championship in February. Shawn Alexander of Winston-Salem State led the Rams in scoring and was a first team All-CIAA Basketball Player. He also maintained a 3.7 GPA. These outstanding scholar-athletes are what the conference is all about...training leaders of the future through academics and athletics.

I would like to congratulate everyone affiliated with our outstanding athletics programs for a great year! I look forward to an even better 2002-2003.