The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, and in football, in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) is a historically black public university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system.
Clarence Edward "Big House" Gaines Sr. was an American college men's basketball coach with a 47-year coaching career at Winston-Salem State University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Among his numerous honors for his achievements, he is one of the few African Americans to be inducted as a coach into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
The Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum is a 14,665-seat multi-purpose arena, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Construction on the arena began on April 23, 1987, and it opened on August 28, 1989. It was named after Lawrence Joel, an Army medic from Winston-Salem who was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1967 for action in Vietnam on November 8, 1965. The memorial was designed by James Ford in New York, and includes the poem "The Fallen" engraved on an interior wall. It is home to the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons men's basketball and women's basketball teams, and is adjacent to the Carolina Classic Fairgrounds. The arena replaced the old Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum, which was torn down for the LJVM Coliseum's construction.
Athletes and sports teams from North Carolina compete across an array of professional and amateur levels of competition, along with athletes who compete at the World and Olympic levels in their respective sport. Major league professional teams based in North Carolina include teams that compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS), and National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The state is also home to NASCAR Cup Series races. At the collegiate and university level, there are several North Carolina schools in various conferences across an array of divisions. North Carolina also has many minor league baseball teams. There are also a number of indoor football, indoor soccer, minor league basketball, and minor league ice hockey teams based throughout the state.
The Savannah State Tigers and Lady Tigers are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic teams that play for Savannah State University in Savannah, Georgia.
Bobby Lee Collins is an American college basketball coach and the former head men's basketball coach at Maryland Eastern Shore. Prior to Maryland Eastern Shore, Collins had been the head coach at Winston-Salem State University and Hampton University.
The Savannah State Tigers basketball team represents Savannah State University and competes in NCAA Division II as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference since July 2019. The Tigers play their home games in Tiger Arena on the university's Savannah, Georgia campus.
The 2005–06 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 6, 2005, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments and concluded with the 2006 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship game on April 3, 2006, at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Florida Gators won their first NCAA national championship with a 73–56 victory over the UCLA Bruins. This was the last Final Four site at the RCA Dome. The Final Four will return to the city of Indianapolis, but will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The North Carolina A&T Aggies football program represents North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in college football. The Aggies play in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision as a member of CAA Football, the technically separate football league operated by the Aggies' full-time home of the Coastal Athletic Association.
The Winston-Salem State Rams are the athletic teams that represent Winston-Salem State University, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Rams compete as members of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association for all sports.
The North Carolina A&T Aggies are the athletic teams that represent North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. The Aggies compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) in all sports with the exception of football and women's bowling. North Carolina A&T fields varsity teams in 13 sports, five for men and eight for women. The football team competes in Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, in the CAA's technically separate football arm of CAA Football.
Kermit Blount is an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Winston-Salem State University from 1993 to 2009, Delaware State University from 2011 to 2014 and at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina from 2015 to 2021. He is a Winston-Salem State alumnus who played quarterback for the Rams from 1976 to 1979, and was a teammate of future National Football League (NFL) player Timmy Newsome.
Connell Maynor is an American football coach and former player. He was the head football coach at Alabama A&M University until he was relieved of his duties December 2, 2024. Maynor previously served in the same capacity at Hampton University from 2013 to 2017 and Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) from 2010 to 2013. During his tenure at Winston-Salem State, the Rams won two Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) championships and advanced to the NCAA Division II Football Championship title game in 2012. He also played in the Arena Football League (AFL) from 1996 to 2006.
Carlos Fernando Terry was an American professional basketball shooting guard who spent three seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Washington Bullets. He played college basketball at Winston-Salem State University.
The North Carolina A&T–Winston-Salem State rivalry is an ongoing series of athletic competitions between historic rivals North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and Winston-Salem State University, both of which are located in the state of North Carolina. The intensity of the rivalry is driven by the proximity of the two schools, as both are only 30 miles apart via U.S. Interstate 40; the size of the two schools, as North Carolina A&T is the largest Historically Black College and University in the state and Winston-Salem State is the third largest; coaching personnel, and conference alignments, as both schools at one time were both members of either the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) or the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). Although a less intense and bitter rivalry than that shared between North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central University, both A&T and WSSU fans placed great emphasis on this rivalry.
Clarence "Jeep" Jones was an American community activist who was closely tied to the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston throughout his personal and professional life. Jones was the first African-American Deputy Mayor of the city of Boston. He had a 32-year career with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, serving as the Chairman of the board for 24 years.
Ricky Lane Duckett was an American college basketball coach. He served as the head coach of the Fayetteville State Broncos, Winston-Salem State Rams and Grambling State Tigers and compiled a 156–98 overall record.
Cleo Geoffrey Hill Jr. is an American basketball coach who is the current head coach of the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks men's basketball team. He played college basketball for the North Carolina Central Eagles and has previously coached at the collegiate level for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Shaw Bears, Cheyney Wolves and Winston-Salem State Rams.
The 2024–25 Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks men's basketball team represents the University of Maryland Eastern Shore during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hawks, led by first-year head coach Cleo Hill Jr., play their home games at the Hytche Athletic Center in Princess Anne, Maryland as members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).
