Nov. 30, 2007

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THE GAME North Carolina Central University participates in the inaugural Iowa Realty Invitational on Friday-Saturday, Nov. 30-Dec. 1... The Eagles play tournament host Drake University on Friday... Drake is coming off an impressive 80-59 victory at Milwaukee last Saturday... Unbeaten Cal State Northridge (3-0) and Duquesne (5-0) square off in the other first-round game Friday... Drake competes in the Missouri Valley Conference... This is the Eagles' eighth road game of the season and NCCU does not return home until Dec. 29.

THE SERIES This will be the first meeting between the Bulldogs of Drake University and the Eagles of North Carolina Central University.

UP NEXT In day two action of the Drake University/Iowa Realty Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 1, NCCU will play either Duquesne or Cal State-Northridge at 5:00 p.m. (CT) in Des Moines, Iowa.

FUTRELL NETS CAREER-HIGH NCCU senior forward Charles Futrell recorded a career-high 20 points during a 74-52 loss at Towson University on Tuesday (Nov. 27). Futrell has now scored double-figures in seven of the Eagles' eight games this season. The lone exception was at Davidson when he fouled out of the contest with nine points. The converted football receiver/quarterback in only his second season of college hoops, leads the team with an average of 15.1 points per game.

LUCKY SEVEN? NCCU rookie center Marius Vaskys has been a mark of consistency since first stepping foot on the floor for the Eagles. Since making his debut at North Dakota State (Nov. 19), the 6-9 center scored seven points in each of his first four college games. Vaskys has also pulled down seven rebounds twice. Lucky seven?

EAGLE GUARD RETURNS TO THE NEST NCCU junior guard Ashton Sauls is returning to his hometown this weekend for the Drake University/Iowa Realty Invitational. Sauls was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa. He earned all-conference honors as a two-sport athlete in football and basketball at Des Moines East High School, then attended Indian Hills Community College and Des Moines Area Community College before transferring to NCCU in Durham, N.C. Sauls has earned a starting job in the last four games for the Eagles, averaging 5.5 points and 2.5 rebounds per game so far this season.

IN THE EAGLES' NEST NCCU has not suffered a losing season at home since the 2000-01 campaign (3-8). Starting with the 2002-03 season, the Eagles have posted a 36-24 record inside McLendon-McDougald Gymnasium. The home stretch currently includes a four-game win streak following the Eagles 73-70 victory over Tennessee Tech, which also made it five consecutive home-opening wins for NCCU.

THE COACHES Henry Dickerson (Morris Harvey, 1973) is in his fourth season as head coach at North Carolina Central and enters the contest with a 40-52 record at NCCU and a 112-125 career record. Dickerson arrived at N.C. Central in 2004-05 after a five-year stint as head coach at Tennessee-Chattanooga, where he was 72-73 and won two Southern Conference divisional titles from 1997-2002. He also served as associate head coach at Chattanooga from 1989-97, and held assistant coaching positions at Marshall from 1983-89 and Charleston from 1979-83. Drake head coach Keno Davis was named Drake's 24th head men's basketball coach on March 21, 2007, succeeding his father, Dr. Tom Davis, who retired as head coach but remains at Drake as a special assistant to the athletic director. Keno Davis served six years as an assistant coach under former Drake head coach Gary Garner at Southeast Missouri State, before being named the fi rst assistant to join the men's basketball coaching staff at Drake under Tom Davis on May 19, 2003. He also served as an assistant coach at Southern Indiana from 1995-97 under coach Bruce Pearl who is now the highly successful coach at the University of Tennessee. Keno earned a bachelor of arts degree in communications studies from the University of Iowa in 1995.

EAGLES IN TRANSITION - FIRST YEAR OF DIVISION I North Carolina Central University, located in Durham, N.C., is in its first season of NCAA Division I competition. The Eagles will be eligible for the NCAA post-season at the end of the four-year reclassification process in the 2011-12 campaign.

WHERE IS NCCU COMING FROM? NCCU finished its final season in Division II with a 13-15 overall record. In their only regular-season game against Division I opposition, the Eagles were within two points of East Carolina University early in the second half, but the Pirates eventually sailed to a 68-47 victory. Among the team's highlights were victories over the eventual Division II national champions (Barton College, 11/18/06) and three other regionally-ranked opponents.

NCCU MEN'S BASKETBALL HISTORY LESSON For decades, the North Carolina Central University men's basketball program has been competitive among its peers in the NCAA Division II ranks. The Eagles have made six trips to the NCAA playoffs in the past 20 years, including a regional title in 1993 and the national championship crown in 1989. NCCU has produced Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer and legendary Boston Celtic Sam Jones. He played with the Eagles from 1951-54/1956-57, scoring 1,745 points under head coach John B. McLendon, also a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.

INDEPENDENT EAGLES TRAVEL 22,240 MILES NCCU's inaugural NCAA Division I men's basketball schedule includes several first-time meetings and a handful of ACC regular-season opponents. As an independent without a conference affiliation, the Eagles will be spending a significant amount of time on the road (21 road games, 7 home games, 1 neutral site game). NCCU will face 23 opponents for the first time, including three regular-season contests against ACC teams. The Eagles will also test their wings by traveling 22,240 miles (the equivalent of 1,249,226 basketball courts) in 22 road games. The Eagles will travel outside the Eastern time zone for six contests. NCCU plays five games in the Central time zone (Nov. 17 at North Dakota State; Nov. 30-Dec. 1 at Drake University Tournament; Dec. 20 at Creighton University; Dec. 22 at University of Nebraska) and one in the Mountain time zone (Jan. 22 at Utah Valley State).

EAGLES RETURN LESS THAN 19 PERCENT OF SCORING The Eagles lost 11 letterwinners, including four starters, from last season's squad. With more than 81 percent of the scoring load gone, NCCU looks to its lone returning starter, junior guard Bryan Ayala (6-3, 190, Norfolk, Va.), for leadership. Ayala averaged 9.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.2 steals per game in 2006-07.

EAGLES WELCOME RETURN OF TWO-SPORT STANDOUT Senior forward Charles Futrell (6-6, 205, Fayetteville, N.C.) made a surprise return to the Eagles line-up this season. Futrell, a four-year letterwinner and all-conference receiver on the NCCU football team, joined the basketball team after the start of the 2005-06 campaign when the need for post-players arose. He went on to average 10.0 points and 6.4 rebounds in 23 games to earn conference all-rookie team honors in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA). Futrell sat out last year's hoops season with an injury and competed in two N.F.L. camps (Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons) in the spring of 2007 before deciding to return to the hardwood.