North Carolina Central University

FOOTBALL

     PETERSBURG, Va. - Six North Carolina Central University Eagles have been voted to the 2006 Preseason All-CIAA Football Team, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association announced Thursday at the league's annual gridiron media luncheon.
     NCCU senior center Robert Duncan (6-0, 255, Winston-Salem, N.C.), senior running back Greg Pruitt, Jr. (5-10, 200, Cleveland, Ohio) and junior kicker Brandon Gilbert (5-10, 165, Graham, N.C.) were named to the All-CIAA Offense Team, while senior lineman Greg Peterson (6-5, 280, Beulaville, N.C.), junior linebacker Derrick Ray (6-0, 210, Raleigh, N.C.) and junior punt returner Brandon Alston (5-8, 173, Durham, N.C.) were recognized on the All-CIAA Defense Team.
     As a team, Eagles were snubbed by the CIAA Football Coaches Association, who voted the reigning conference champions as the second place team in the CIAA Western Division behind Fayetteville State University. 
     NCCU, which finished with a 10-2 record last year and was a No. 2-seed in the NCAA regional playoffs, is a preseason No. 3 pick in the nation by Street & Smith's magazine, yet Fayetteville State is the preseason favorite coming off a 6-4 season, according to a poll of the conference coaches. 
     NCCU head coach Rod Broadway did not speak about the second-place prediction during his trip to the podium, but FSU head coach Kenneth Phillips jokingly referred to the Presidential election of 2000 and asked for a recount. "Someone did not count the votes right to put Fayetteville State ahead of North Carolina Central," Phillips said.
     Broadway brushed aside comparisons to last year's championship team by saying, "It's a new season." 
     "We have a chance of being a pretty good football team this year," he added, "but we just hired three new coaches a week before our players report and we have a very competitive schedule."
     NCCU opens its 2006 campaign with home games against Albany State (defending SIAC champions), Shaw (2004 CIAA champions) and Lenoir-Rhyne (NCCU won in overtime last season in Hickory, N.C.), before road games against Division I-AA Southern University (hungry after its first losing season since 1992) and Bowie State (defending CIAA Eastern Division champions). NCCU's other non-league contest is against Langston (Okla.) University, which posted a 7-3 overall record last season and won the 2005 Central States Football League Conference Championship. 

2006 CIAA Football Predicted Order of Finish
(as voted by the CIAA Football Coaches Association)

Western Division
1. Fayetteville State
2. North Carolina Central
3. Saint Augustine's
4. Livingstone
5. Johnson C. Smith

Eastern Division
1. Bowie State
2. Virginia State
3. Saint Paul's
4. Shaw
5. Elizabeth City State
6. Virginia Union

More details ... 2006 NCCU Football Preview / 2006 NCCU Football Quick Facts

The Herald-Sun coverage

News & Observer coverage

NCCU's 2006 Preseason All-CIAA Football Team honorees:

Greg Pruitt, Jr.	Robert Duncan	Brandon Gilbert
Greg Peterson	Derrick Ray	Brandon Alston