N.C. Central is part of basketball, and North Carolina, history.
The game is at 9 p.m. Friday with the Tar Heels heavily favored. So that might affect the crowd that shows up at the Smith Center.
The Eagles, now in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, are 1-3 after opening the season with a 48-point blowout loss at N.C. State followed by closer defeats at Virginia and App State.
They are coached by LeVelle Moton, in his 17th season and a former star at his alma mater, who has been honored numerous times as a player and coach for Central. He grew up in a crime-infested neighborhood in Boston until his single mother moved him and an older brother to Raleigh and a safer place to live.
He was an all-conference and all-state high school star at Sanderson, averaging 23 points as a junior and just under 30 as a senior, putting up 51 points against Cary High School before signing with Central and becoming the university’s third all-time leading scorer with the nickname “poetry in motion.”
As an honorable mention All-American at Central, he was the 1996 CIAA Player of the Year and was inducted into the NCCU Hall of Fame in 2004 as the Eagles’ career leader in 3-point field goals (213). Moton has been mentioned over the years as a candidate for several bigger jobs but has remained in Durham with his wife Bridget and raised their two children. His Velle Cares Foundation has an annual event “Single Mother Salute” and celebrates more than 100 single mothers each year across the Triangle and gives out a Single Mother of the Year Award (named for his mother Hattie McDougald).
Moton holds a career coaching record of 278-219, including eight MEAC regular season and tournament championships. The last of those titles came in 2019 and 2020 before NIL and eventually revenue share began, which has made it even more difficult for mid-major schools.
The Eagles play in the 3,500-seat McDougald-McLendon Arena. It is named for long-time Durham civic leader Richard McDougald and former NCCU coach John McLendon, who in 1944 helped organize “The Secret Game” between what was then called North Carolina College and the Duke University Medical School, which was the first fully integrated college basketball game.
Central also has a rich athletic heritage in track & field under Olympic coach Leroy Walker. The Eagles football team was coached by former UNC All-ACC lineman Rod Broadway, who later had undefeated seasons at Grambling and North Carolina A&T.
Sam Jones, who won 10 NBA championships with the Celtics as one of the greatest shooters in the game, played at Central and returned there to coach for two seasons in the 1970s. As a five-time NBA all-star, his fame and presence made the Eagles games must-attend. The gym filled up an hour before tip-off, and the drum line didn’t stop until the game was over, win or lose.
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.
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Art Chansky reviews the rich basketball history of North Carolina Central before the Eagles visit the Dean Smith Center tonight.
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