Grading CIAA basketball ahead of tournament week

JOHNSON C. SMITH ATHLETICS

Johnson C. Smith basketball is a long shot to hoist the CIAA basketball tournament trophy in Baltimore next week while Virginia Union is a favorite along with rival Virginia State and Bluefield State.

The CIAA Tournament runs Feb. 24-28 at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore.

For those of us not traveling, the entire tourney will be streamed on ESPN+, and the championship games on ESPNU. Money well worth spending.

So, without further ado, let’s get to it. And, for the 25th straight year, ladies first.

NORTHERN DIVISION

Bowie State: B-plus. The Bowie State family suffered a tremendous blow in the sudden death of vice president of athletics and recreation Clyde Doughty Jr. CC is sure the teams have dedicated the rest of the season to Doughty. CC upgraded the Bulldogs (8-1, 10-5) from B to a B-plus after knocking off Virginia State Wednesday and moving into sole possession of first place with one game left.

Coach Shadae Swan is in her 11th season. Bowie hasn’t won a championship during her tenure, and the team’s last postseason bid was in 2020, which it didn’t get to play because of COVID-19. The Bulldogs also haven’t won 20 games in a season since.

Bowie clinched the division title. That changes things some, but with four losses to Southern teams, can Bowie compete with the bigger boys, er girls, in the tourney?

Virginia State: B. The Trojans haven’t skipped much of a beat under first-year coach Milette Green, a former Wake Forest assistant. Hiring a Division I assistant coach has not always been successful at VSU. Who will EVER forget the dreadful hire of men’s basketball coach George White? OK, CC won’t!

The Trojans (7-3, 11-5) still have the third best conference record, and CC won’t be surprised to see them in the semifinals.

Virginia Union: C-plus. The Panthers finished 21-9 overall and 13-3 in the conference last season but were denied a postseason berth. So, they decided to participate in the inaugural Black College Invitational Championship and lost to Clark Atlanta and Livingstone. They also lost head coach Tierra Terry to Winston-Salem State.

New coach Alico Dunk has kept the team (6-3, 9-6) together and respectable, but they lost back-to-back games to Shaw! ‘Nuff said.

Bluefield State: C-minus. The Big Blue (5-5, 8-8) are discovering just how tough women’s basketball is in their third season in the conference. Before Wednesday, they had given VSU its only division loss, so they can’t be overlooked early on. But there’s not enough OOMPH to do any major damage.

Elizabeth City State: F. What has happened to the Vikings? Did former coach Tynesha Lewis put some roots on the team before leaving for UNC Asheville? ECSU is 13-36 overall, 7-24 CIAA since losing to Fayetteville State in the 2024 championship game. The team’s two conference wins this season are against Lincoln. Bye.

Lincoln (Pa.): F-minus. Did the Lions get the same root doctor as the Vikings? After winning seven conference games last season, they are 0-11 and on a 16-game losing streak. Bye. Bye.

SOUTHERN DIVISION

Winston-Salem State: A. The Rams’ loss to Fayetteville State kept them from getting an A-plus, but what more can be said about WSSU under first-year coach and alumna Tierra Terry?
The Rams are nationally ranked, have the most total wins (23) in program history and won 16 straight games before losing to the Broncos. After FSU’s loss, they are in sole possession of first place with Livingstone on the horizon. About the only thing that could go wrong is the pressure gets too much. The program hasn’t advanced to the semifinals since 2020.

Expectations are off the chain. Folks are talking national championship. The only way the tourney is not a bust is if they lose in the championship game to FSU, depending on how the seedings go. CC can’t wait for this drama to unfold.

Fayetteville State: B-plus. The Broncos have been the hunted for the past two seasons, and they have defended themselves just fine.

Their upset loss at Claflin is what it is, but it does nothing to diminish their capability of winning another title.

CC still gets ticked off at their postseason seeding last year. After advancing to the Sweet 16 in 2024, the NCAA made sure they got a lower seed for a tougher opponent in 2025. C’mon, how do you win your conference tournament and DROP in the regional rankings, huh?!!!

With all the hoopla over the Rams, and deservedly so, nobody has beaten the Broncos in two years and until that happens, CC is going with the champs.

Claflin: C. The Panthers (5-4, 10-5) finished second in the division behind FSU in 2023-24; then Livingstone took second and pushed them to third in 2024-25, and this year it’s WSSU that has pushed them to third again. Whatever the missing piece is to get them over the hump, they haven’t found it.

Livingstone: D. The Blue Bears surprised everyone last season with a second-place finish. Now they’re back to their losing ways (5-4, 7-8). Guess the college didn’t share any of that donation money toward scholarships.

Shaw: D-minus. After coach Jacques Curtis “retired,” CC just knew the Bears would do the happy dance all the way to the top of the division. Instead, Curtis is somewhere going “y’all thought it was me.”

It was him, but Shaw (2-7, 5-10) hasn’t looked any better. The bad shooting, a lack of defense and discipline are still there. The Bears’ two losses against the Broncos and Rams averaged 36 points. Then they lost by 18 at Livingstone Wednesday, and Fayetteville on Saturday. The entire program needs an overhaul.

Johnson C. Smith: D-minus. Welcome back to the CIAA, Vanessa Taylor (1-10, 4-13). Recruiting season is right around the corner.

Men

NORTHERN DIVISION

Virginia Union: A. You knew the Panthers weren’t going to be down for long. After two subpar seasons, coach Jay Butler has VUU second (8-2) in the division and second for the best conference record (13-3). And with a 24-3 overall mark, they should get a good NCAA seeding no matter what happens in Baltimore.

Folks are still talking about the Panthers’ win over West Liberty back in November, which had never lost to a CIAA team and is the conference’s postseason nemesis. Hope is high that if any CIAA team can FINALLY get out of the Atlantic Region, it’s the Panthers. Winning the tournament still means a lot to teams and alumni, but something tells CC Butler and staff have much higher aspirations.

Virginia State: B-plus. A month ago, the defending champs might have received a C-minus, especially after that 28-point loss to VUU in January. But leave it to a Lonnie Blow team to right the ship at the right time. VSU is 8-0 since that blowout loss and first in the division after winning the rematch on Saturday. Will the teams have anything left for the tourney?

Bluefield State: B. Is anybody surprised that new coach Lou D’Alessio has Big Blue in contention? Being third place is certainly no shame, not to mention Bluefield gave the Panthers one of two division losses. If there’s a team that can upset VUU or VSU, it’s D’Alessio. And, admit it, don’t you want to see a Bluefield vs. Fayetteville State matchup after the head coaches switched teams? Must-see TV.

Lincoln (Pa.): D. The 2024 tournament champs advanced to the semifinals last year before losing to the Trojans. This season is a different story. The Lions (2-8, 4-12) are on a seven-game losing streak after their loss to ECSU Wednesday. Bye.

Elizabeth City State: D-minus. So, did Lewis put roots on the men (2-7, 3-12) as well as the women?

Bowie State: D-minus. The magic is gone from men’s basketball (2-8, 5-11). The Bulldogs haven’t advanced to the semifinals since the 2017-18 season. On a positive – and somewhat sad – note, Jolisa Williams has been promoted to interim vice president of athletics and recreation.

SOUTHERN DIVISION

Fayetteville State: A. Critics might say that new coach Devin Hoehn is winning with former coach D’Alessio’s players, but Hoehn also was successful at Bluefield State. He led Big Blue to the NCAA Tournament last season and almost upset West Liberty. That’s what got him the job in Fayetteville. That and politics.

Whatever is in the water at Fayetteville, they need to ship some to Lincoln and Elizabeth City State. FSU wrapped up another division title after defeating Claflin. The Broncos are on a 13-game winning streak and have a chance to go undefeated in the division with a win at Shaw Saturday. That shouldn’t be too hard.

And to repeat it again for the folks in the back row, who doesn’t want to see a Bluefield-Fayetteville matchup during tourney week?

Claflin:  B. The Panthers will finish either first or second in the division for the last four seasons but have no championship ring to show for it. They did win the inaugural Black College Invitational Championship last year. Claflin (12-4) is tied with Virginia State with the second-best conference record, so a deep run in the tourney won’t be a surprise.

Shaw: C-minus. Two weeks ago, the Bears had a D-rating, but they pulled up their jockstraps and went on a short winning streak. Still, losses to ECSU, Bowie State and Livingstone are unacceptable for a team coach Bobby Collins swore during the preseason was his best one yet.

The Bears (5-5, 7-9) have not advanced to the semifinals in Collins’ five-year tenure. They need to at least get that far or else it’s time for a change.

Johnson Smith: C-minus. The Golden Bulls earned an upgrade from a D-plus after Wednesday’s win over WSSU. JCSU is 24-26 overall since Steve Joyner Sr. retired. Last season’s third-place finish looked hopeful for the program and took the interim tag off head coach Antwain Banks. At least they’re not moving down the food chain.

Livingstone: D-minus. CC said last year that coach James Stinson has done more with less than any other coach. But it’s obvious the school is not sharing any of those big donation dollars with basketball. If Stinson had more to work with, the Blue Bears (2-7, 5-10) would be a better team.

Livingstone’s last winning season was 2021-22. Stinson is in his 22nd year AND he’s deputy athletics director. It’ll be interesting to see what happens if the Blue Bears exit early again.

Winston-Salem State: F-plus. Don’t laugh. The plus is only because Cory Thompson is gone. Another bad hire down the drain. The women’s success makes the men (0-9, 2-13) look even worse than their 11-game losing streak. Fans are already hollering for Chris Paul. Keep hollering!

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