UNDER THE BANNER
What's Going On In and Around Black College Sports
SPENCE OUT AT NC CENTRAL: The run by the
North Carolina Central men's basketball team from a fourth seeding
to Saturday's final game of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic
Association Basketball Tourna-ment was obviously not enough to
save the job of embattled head coach, Phil
Spence. The school announced Monday that
Spence's contract would not be renewed. "We appreciate the service
and dedication that Phil has given to the men's basketball program
at NCCU during the past four seasons," said NCCU Athletics
Director William "Bill" Hayes, in a short statement. "At
this time, however, we feel we need to head in a new
direction." Spence, an NC State product who played on the
Wolfpack's 1974 NCAA Championship team, was given a
one-year contract after last season and had to endure speculation
all season long that this would be his last at the Durham
school. Had the Eagles won Saturday's finals, they would
have received an automatic bid to the NCAA Div. II
South Atlantic Regional Tournament. His final team finished at
16-13 and brought his four-year record to 49-64 (.434).
The school said the process to find Spence's replacement
will begin immediately.
WHO ARE THESE GUYS?: Don't look now but black college men's basketball teams
beyond the Central 
Intercollegiate Athletic Association
(CIAA) and the Southern Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference (SIAC) have shots at NCAA Div. II regional
playoff berths. West Virginia State (22-5), who finished the regular
season in first place in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference (WVIAC), Cheyney (21-6), who closed out the regular season
atop the Eastern Division of the Pennsylvania State Athletic
Conference (PSAC) and the University of the District of Columbia
(18-9), an independent, are third, fourth and fifth in the latest
NCAA Div. II East Region rankings. Cheyney and West
Virginia State can earn automatic berths into the regional by
winning their respective conference tournaments. The WVIAC
began first round tournament play at the home site of the
higher-seeded team on Tuesday. WVSC got a first round bye
by virtue of winning the regular season title. The rest of
the tournament will be played at the Charleston (W.Va.)
Civic Center on March 3-6. Cheyney is coached by
Cleo Hill, Jr., a former player and graduate of
North Carolina Central who also served as an assistant at
Shaw. The Wolves opened first round play Tuesday at home vs. West Chester and
will host the semifinals and finals Friday and Saturday if they
get a win. UDC is coached by former Howard head coach
and Elizabeth City State product Mike
McLeese. The tournament winner in the Virginia-Carolinas Conference, the
league that East Region top-seep Pfeiffer (22-2) plays in,
also receives an automatic regional tournament berth.
California (Pa.), the PSAC Western Division winner, is ranked
second in the region. McLeese's Firebirds are hoping to earn
a regional berth my maintaining a spot in the top eight of
the region following the tournament results. The NCAA Div.
II men's tournament field will be announced March 7 with
play to begin March 13. CIAA tournament champ
Virginia Union (25-4) receives that conference's automatic bid
into the South Atlantic Regional. They are expected to be
joined by Bowie State (22-5), who was second in the latest
regional ranking. Morehouse (21-5) and Benedict
(16-6), the top two seeds in the SIAC tournament, are ranked fifth and
seventh respectively in the South Region. The SIAC
tournament winner will also receive an automatic bid to the regional.
The NCAA 2004 Division II Basketball Championship
Playoff will include a field of 64 teams playing in eight regions.
Eight regional qualifiers will advance to a single regional
site. Eight regional tournaments will be conducted March 13,
14 and 16, to determine the eight quarterfinalists, who
will advance to the Elite Eight, March 24-27 at California
State University, Bakersfield.
© 2004 Azeez Communications, Inc.