The MEAC is heading into its 50th season of competiton when winter sports start. It just completed its fifth decade of basketball competition and with the start of a new decade, we figured it would be a good time to look at the five best teams.
Problem is, there were six standout MEAC basketball candidates across the decade. So here’s a list of the top five, plus an honorable mention.
Let us know what you think of the top five (plus one) in the comments.
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Honorable Mention:
2016-17 North Carolina Central
After a big fall off during the previous season, NCCU was once again the underdog in MEAC basketball. And nobody was probably happier about it than LeVelle Moton. The previous season was the first for Patrick Cole, a Coppin State refugee who spent one season at Siena before coming to Durham. After a solid junior season in 2015-16, Cole was a man amongst boys in the conference as a senior. He averaged 19.6 points and 5.8 assists per game, winning player of the year honors.
Cole was flanked by a mostly veteran class that included several transfers from other Division I programs. Including Cole there were seven redshirt seniors on the squad. The team didn’t have a signature non-conference win like the 2014 team nor did it go unbeaten in conference play like the 2015 team, but it was dominant in the first two rounds of the MEAC Tournament and pulled off a solid win over Norfolk State in what was basically a home game.
The season came to an end in Dayton, Ohio as NCCU couldn’t get over the elusive hump and win a First Four game against UC Davis.
Key Players: Patrick Cole, Dejuan Graf, Del’Vin Dickerson, Pablo Rivas, Ron Trapps, Will Ransom