Courtesy of NCCU Athletics
DURHAM, N.C. – North Carolina Central University’s (NCCU) men’s basketball team unveiled its 2024-25 HBCU basketball schedule featuring 31 games, 17 of which are non-conference opponents with 14 opportunities to catch the home team in McDougald-McLendon Arena.
The Eagles open the season at George Mason University on Monday, Nov. 4. The game is slated for a 7 p.m. start time in Fairfax, Va., and will also be streamed on ESPN+. The last time the two teams met was in 2018 with the Patriots defeating NCCU.
NC Central will face multiple schools from the Big South Conference leading up to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play. Two of those teams include Gardner-Webb University and High Point University (Nov. 12). The Eagles have a home-and-home series with Gardner-Webb this season playing on Nov. 8 and Dec. 7.
Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, NCCU will battle in the Rock Hill Classic hosted by Winthrop University from Nov. 15-17. The other schools headlining the event include the College of William & Mary and Georgia Southern University. The men’s basketball team will also be traveling to Atlanta to face Georgia State University (Nov. 22) before returning home to host Carolina University (Nov. 25) and Virginia University of Lynchburg (Nov. 30).
Entering the month of December, the Eagles host Radford University (Dec. 5) and will battle on the road for three straight games including West Virginia University (Dec. 10) and Longwood University with the latter being a home-and-home as well within a six-day span (Dec. 14 and Dec. 20).
Two more familiar squads will play in Durham as NC Central welcomes Mid-Atlantic Christian University (Dec. 17) and St. Andrews University (Dec. 31) as both teams visited the Eagles last season.
The Maroon & Gray continues its HBCU basketball rivalry in Greensboro, N.C. against North Carolina A&T State University on Dec. 28 as part of the inaugural CBS Sports Classic: HBCU Showcase airing on CBS and Paramount+ at 2 p.m.
Slated for the new year, NC Central opens the MEAC regular season on the road in Baltimore, Md. facing Coppin State University (Jan. 4) and Morgan State University (Jan. 6). The home schedule of conference contests includes the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (Jan. 11), Delaware State University (Jan. 13), South Carolina State University (Jan. 25), Coppin State (Feb. 15), Morgan State (Feb. 17), Howard University (March 1) and Norfolk State University (March 3).
The 2025 MEAC Basketball Tournament takes place in Norfolk, Va. from March 12-15 at the Norfolk Scope Arena. All eight schools automatically qualify to compete for a chance to be named conference tournament champions.