THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 27, 1995 TAG: 9501270873
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 122 lines
Norfolk State, planning for its future as a Division I school, has applied to join the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, a move that would end a 33-year association with the Division II CIAA.
``We have made application for it, and we want to get in as soon as we can,'' athletic director William ``Dick'' Price said Thursday.
Both Norfolk State and its closest rival, Hampton University, have been formally invited to join, MEAC commissioner Kenneth A. Free said.
``The ball is in their court,'' Free said. ``The sooner the better for us. We can accept them by conference call.''
Hampton, which has been accepted as a Division I member, could join the conference in September. Athletic director Dennis Thomas could not be reached for comment Thursday. The school previously had announced plans to compete as a Division I independent, but Thomas also said Hampton was exploring conference options.
Norfolk State's acceptance in the MEAC would be pending its approval as a Division I member. School officials are in the process of completing the paperwork and will submit it to the NCAA before the June 1 deadline, Price said. There is a two-year wait for schools hoping to go from Division II to Division I; Norfolk State wouldn't be a Division I member until Sept. 1, 1997, said Shirley M. Whitacre, membership coordinator for the NCAA.
``That's the legislation,'' Whitacre said. ``I'm not aware of any waivers of the two-year requirement.''
Approval as a MEAC member could come much more quickly. Once the paperwork arrives, Free says he'll put Norfolk State's application to a vote of the conference's presidents.
``All it takes is for our conference to vote them in, which is almost done already,'' Free said. ``We might do a site inspection, but then again the site inspection might be waived. I've been on that campus hundreds of times (as a former CIAA referee) and know the facilities.''
The MEAC, based in Greensboro, N.C., currently has nine members: Bethune-Cookman, Coppin State, Delaware State, Florida A&M, Howard, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Morgan State, North Carolina A&T and South Carolina State.
``Our hole in Virginia would be filled, and now the only hole we'd have would be in Georgia,'' Free said.
The MEAC has been courting Norfolk State and Hampton for years, and even held its basketball tournament at Norfolk's Scope from 1991 to 1993. With the closest member school about three hours away, the tournament drew poorly in Norfolk and was moved to Baltimore last year.
``We like to think we have got the conference to a point where it is more attractive now than it was when we went after them before,'' Free said. ``Now's the right time, and we would love to have them.''
Norfolk State made a presentation to Free and other MEAC officials at the Heritage Bowl in Atlanta last month. Hampton officials already had met with the MEAC, Free said.
The move to the MEAC was not prompted by dissatisfaction with the CIAA, Price said. Norfolk State has been a CIAA member since 1962 and has built long-standing rivalries with schools like Virginia Union, Virginia State and Elizabeth City State, as well as Hampton. It's simply time for Norfolk State to move on, Price said.
``I still respect the CIAA,'' he said. ``I grew up in that league. I wish them the best.''
Norfolk State will continue to play as many CIAA members as it can, Price said.
Hampton already was planning to leave the CIAA. If Norfolk State goes as well, that would leave the Hampton-based conference with 12 members, many of them smaller schools like St. Paul's, Livingstone, Shaw and St. Augustine's.
To keep Hampton and Norfolk State, there had been talk among conference presidents of splitting the CIAA into two tiers, one Division I and the other Division II. Price said he didn't know the status of that plan. CIAA commissioner Leon Kerry was out of town Thursday and could't be reached for comment. A league spokesman also declined comment.
One downside of joining the MEAC would be that new Division I members are not eligible for an automatic bid to the NCAA basketball tournament for eight years. They may, however, receive at-large bids.
The MEAC will lobby to change that rule, Free said.
``That is the current rule but it might not always be the rule,'' Free said. ``We would make every effort to get some consideration from the NCAA as it relates to that.''
Another negative is that once Norfolk State submits its application to enter Division I, under NCAA rules it no longer would be eligible for Division II championships. This would mean that the men's basketball team, for example, could not compete for a Division II title in the 1995-96 season.
Norfolk State also would have to give up the CIAA basketball tournament, an immensely popular event that many fans plan their vacations around. Last year, the tournament final in Winston-Salem, N.C., drew more than 14,000 spectators.
However, sources said that with Norfolk State and Hampton in the conference, the MEAC tournament could move back to Hampton Roads when the agreement with Baltimore expires after this season. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
WHAT IT MEANS
What does Norfolk State gain by going to Division I? A higher
profile is the biggest asset. The Spartans would be competing at the
highest level of college athletics and eventually would be eligible
to play for national championships in all sports - including the
lucrative NCAA men's basketball tournament.
What's next before Division I? Norfolk State already has enough
men's sports - eight - to meet Division I requirements. The Spartans
have just six women's sports and would have to add another to meet
the Division I minimum.
Norfolk State also would have to meet financial-aid criteria
outlined in the 1993-94 NCAA manual. There are a number of ways it
could do that:
By providing 50 percent of the maximum allowable scholarships in
each of 14 sports - at least seven men's and seven women's -
required for membership in Division I. Scholarship maximums vary
according to sport.
By providing a minimum aid figure in men's and women's sports,
not counting football and men's and women's basketball. For 1994
it's $250,000 each for men and women.
By providing a minimum of 25 men's and 25 women's scholarships,
not counting football and men's and women's basketball.
Norfolk State already may meet minimum criteria in some sports.
But to be competitive, most schools attempt to offer more than the
minimum.
by CNB