Aggies ranked in recent mid-major poll

GREENSBORO, November 27, 2007 – When Jerry Eaves took over the North Carolina A&T men’s basketball program five years ago, he inherited what many considered the worst Division I program in the country.  

 Today, enough voters think Eaves has a team worthy of being ranked among the best mid-major programs in the country. After defeating DePaul 96-93 on Saturday, the Aggies find themselves ranked No. 25 in the collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. Mid-major schools are schools that are not a part of the BCS conferences such as the ACC, Big 10, Big East, Pac 10, SEC, Big 12, etc.

The Aggies face one of those teams on Tuesday when they play the Associated Press’ No. 7 ranked team in Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn.  

“We are starting to be recognized on a national level and that’s great for the program,’’ said Eaves. “To be ranked among some of the mid-majors that have made great runs in the NCAA Tournament like George Mason, Gonzaga, and Winthrop is a great honor. But our goal is to make to the NCAA Tournament. Anything we earn as a team along the way is secondary to that goal.

Butler is the No. 1 team in the poll. Gonzaga, Southern Illinois, George Mason and St. Mary’s are also among the Top 5. The Aggies are 4-2, which is their best start in 16 seasons. Standout guard Steven Rush is coming off of a 40-point performance in which he hit a school record 10 3-pointers, breaking the record he set last season when he had nine 3-pointers against Norfolk State.

The Aggies, who are on a four-game winning streak, return home on December 5 to play Southern Virginia at 7 p.m. They enter conference play 6 p.m., Saturday, December 1 when they travel to Norfolk, Va., to face the Norfolk State Spartans at Echols Hall.