RALEIGH, N.C. - The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) held its annual basketball press conference Friday, Oct. 13 at the Marriott Crabtree to announce the pre-season all-conference teams and the predicted order of finish in the western and eastern divisions for both men and women as selected by the CIAA Basketball Coaches Association.
Winston-Salem State University, led by coach Rick Duckett, returns in 2000-01 looking to defend its CIAA Tournament title, as well as the western division championship and the Rams are picked to do just that. Finishing the 1999-2000 campaign with a regular season record of 26-4 and a conference mark of 14-2, the Rams are led by senior guard Rob Williams of Johnson City, Tenn., the lone pre-season all-conference performer for WSSU.
In the eastern division, coach Dave Robbins' perennial power Virginia Union is coming off a 24-4 campaign and a 15-1 mark in the CIAA. The Panthers, which were upset by North Carolina Central University in last season's tournament semifinals, are expected to make another run at the division title behind pre-season all-conference selections Sadiki Tingling (6-6, 220) of Portsmouth, Va. and Kadiri Richard (6-7, 210) of Columbia, S.C. Elizabeth City State University, which finished second in the east last season (18-9; 9-7) looks to challenge VUU once again.
Last season Andrew Mitchell's Livingstone squad finished the regular season second in the western division behind Johnson C. Smith University, before marching to the CIAA women's title game and defeating Bowie State in a 63-62 thriller. That effort and the combination of pre-season All-CIAA selections Erica Deas of Sumpter, S.C. and 6-5 senior, center Julie Tarrence have landed the Blue Bears as the western division favorite in 2000-01.
Last season's CIAA Women's Coach of the Year, Vanessa Taylor of Elizabeth City State University led her team to the eastern division title with a 22-5 overall record and a 14-2 mark in the CIAA. In the tournament, however, the Lady Vikings were tripped up in the semifinals by Livingstone. In 2000-01, the CIAA Women's Basketball Coaches' Association seems to think the same two teams are on a crash course again. The Lady Vikings are picked in the eastern division with Bowie State picked to finish second.
There will be new coaches trolling the sidelines for a number of schools in the CIAA for the first time this season. New skippers of their respective schools will be Edward Joyner coaching the Livingstone College men, Phil Spence taking the helm of the North Carolina Central men, Jeff Bernstein will guide the St. Paul's College men and Joel Hopkins, who coached NBA star Tracey McGrady at Mt. Zion Academy in Durham, will lead the Shaw Bears. Additionally, Spence is no stranger to basketball in the Research Triangle, he was a key member of the 1974 North Carolina State University NCAA championship team.