Aggies open the season at home

2009-10 Men's Basketball Schedule
GREENSBORO, September 16, 2009 – The North Carolina A&T men’s basketball schedule offers the Aggies a smorgasbord of major Division I schools, mid-majors and Division II teams to feast on until the main course arrives – the MEAC Basketball Tournament.

The Aggies open the 2009-10 season at home when they play Division II Brevard College 7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 13 at Corbett Sports Center. The Aggies go on the road to face two mid-major schools in Marshall on Nov. 15 and Ohio University on Nov. 17. They return home on Nov. 20 to face Division II Davis & Elkin. Three days later they face Division I foe Middle Tennessee State at home on Nov 23.

“Our ultimate goal is to reach the NCAA Tournament,’’ said N.C. A&T head coach Jerry Eaves. “We need to see different styles of play, we need to play in certain type of venues and we need to build confidence going forward. We play in a very competitive conference, so we need to be ready for anything.”

The last week of November and all of December always consists of numerous road games for N.C. A&T. The road trips include games at Texas El Paso, New Mexico State, Lamar (Beaumont, Texas) and the Big 10’s Northwestern Wildcats (Chicago). Two more teams from major conferences have the Aggies on their respective schedules.

The Aggies head back to Coral Gables, Fla., for third time in five seasons with a Dec. 21 game against the Miami Hurricanes at the Convocation Center. Two days later they travel to Knoxville, Tenn., to take on the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson Boling Arena for the second time in three seasons. The Aggies end their December journeys in New Orleans when they take on Tulane on Dec. 30.

In between there many stops across the country, the Aggies will make a stop in Norfolk, Va., to play their conference opener against Norfolk State at Echols Hall on Dec. 5.

The Aggies don’t play at home again until Jan. 5 when they take on Division II Carson Newman College at 7 p.m. The first conference opponent they play at home is Howard on Jan. 16 at 4 p.m. Their big rivalry games against Winston-Salem State will be played on Jan. 25 in Winston-Salem and Feb. 22 at Corbett Sports Center. The annual MEAC Basketball Tournament will be held in Winston-Salem March 8-13.

“We have a lot of young players this season, so it’s important that our veteran players guide them along early in order to get them prepared for a grueling conference schedule,’’ said Eaves.