RALEIGH -- Last month, members of the St. Augustine's College men's basketball team and the school's president, Dr. Dianne Boardley Suber, posed for pictures with Gov. Bev Perdue at the state capitol.
Coach Lonnie Blow and his team were honored by the governor for their NCAA Division II season, which was memorable on and off the court. The CIAA champions went 27-5, the most wins for the team since 1997, and earned the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association highest grade-point average award among men's basketball programs.
"I am proud of the St. Aug's team," Perdue said on April 22. "Under the leadership of Coach Blow and President Suber, these guys won the CIAA and won the academic award, too. They are great athletes, but they are also great scholars. It is a privilege for me to be here with them."
A few hours earlier, the team enjoyed lunch at City Hall before receiving a proclamation from Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker that declared the day "Saint Augustine's College Day."
On that particular day, it was the men's basketball team attracting positive light to the college, but recently the athletic and academic success of the entire athletic program has garnered praise and attention for the small private school located in Southeast Raleigh.
With the baseball team winning the CIAA championship on April 17 for the first time in 11 years, the Falcons have won seven team conference championships during the 2009-10 season, producing one of the most successful seasons for the athletic department in the past 20 years.
Along with the baseball and men's basketball teams, the men's and women's track teams took four titles and women's cross country collected one title.
In addition, seven St. Aug's teams - men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, football, volleyball and baseball - produced the highest team grade-point averages in the CIAA.
The Falcons' success comes at a critical time as the university continues to raise financial support for its new George Williams Athletics Complex. The facility will be named after the current track and field coach who has led the school to 150 CIAA titles and 30 national titles since 1976.
Suber said the athletics department's recent success has sparked a renewed interest among donors in the facility despite rough economic times that have affected all institutions. She said the first phase of construction has been completed, with the second phase scheduled to start in the next few weeks.
"Our expectation is to play at least one game, at least the final game in that stadium for the 2010 football season," she said. "And certainly be ready to host track in the spring of 2011."
Changing perceptions
Suber spoke proudly of the school's recent academic success, saying that negative perceptions of student-athletes having lower academic standards are not always correct. She has looked for every opportunity to praise athletes, who make up less than a third of the roughly 1,400 students enrolled at the university.
With 3.35 team average, the volleyball team and women's basketball team carried the highest team grade-point averages in the athletics department. Men's cross country, (3.15), women's cross country (3.01), baseball (3.0), men's basketball (2.82) and football (2.73) rounded out the list.
"It's raised visibility and credibility," Suber said. "Other institutions and other organizations have begun to take a look and ask the question, 'How are you doing that? How is an institution with limited facilities able to do both?' "
Williams, also a former U.S. Olympic track and field coach, said the answer is simple: "Academics first, then athletics and then a controlled social life."
Athletes buy in
Baseball player Brian Clark, a redshirt junior with a major in communications, said some athletes are taking it upon themselves to exceed other's expectations. He has a 2.9 GPA.
"For us to be doing so well in the classroom, speaks highly not just about the school but the whole administration, from all the teachers to everyone," he said. "There's a lot of bad rep about student-athletes because they say they get away with a lot of things. But we've definitely turned that around by showing we can excel in the classroom as well as on the field.
Plus, he said, "We need the grades to play."
Women's basketball coach Margaret Richards told her players that if they didn't complete class work, they wouldn't play. It didn't take many examples of missed road trips for players to grasp the message.
"We let them know how serious we are," said Richards, whose team won the CIAA Western Division for the first time in 17 years.
Following a leader
In her second season, Richards has established the team's guiding principles, enforcing mandatory study hours on Sunday mornings, a time players would rather sleep late.
That type of discipline underscores Williams' success over 34 years. Last week, he was named as the conference's men's and women's outdoor track and field coach of the year, while also securing the honor of indoor men's track and field coach of the year.
He's glad to see the work paying off for others.
Blow and first-year baseball coach Charles Whitaker were chosen conference coaches of the year in their respective sports.
"It seems like they all want to be champions," Williams said. "Everybody's competing well. They feel like the track team can do it, why we can't do it. Now they know we can do it."
St. Aug's supporters are now fond of saying, "Look what we do without a stadium, imagine what we can do with one."
On the world stage
School officials often cite the accomplishments of world-class hurdler Bershawn Jackson, who, aside from winning a bronze medal in the 2008 Olympic Games, was to graduate on Saturday with a degree in human performance and wellness. He completed his degree despite leaving for the professional circuit.
They also tout success stories such as high jumper Joe Kindred, who was voted the 2009 NCAA Division II indoor and outdoor field athlete of the year. They mention sprinter Barbara Pierre, who shares the NCAA Division II record in the 100 meters. Or freshman quarterback Joaquin Green, who was chosen 2009 CIAA offensive rookie of the year.
So a new facility is certainly on the minds of those in the athletics department.
"That's kind of a sore spot when you ask me about that," Williams said. "I still can't understand how we cannot raise money, how people see how we've worked with young people and how we've worked with the community of Southeast Raleigh, and we can not get funds to benefit all.
"I'm puzzled about that. ... I can't figure it out yet, but I'm quite sure something good is going to happen."
Something else good already has happened.
