Ram Ramblings: WSSU athletics has momentum leading into 2026-27

There's some definite momentum in Winston-Salem State's athletics program heading into the 2026-27 academic year.

Coaches are in place, the budget will be fully stocked if approved, and the fan base seems excited even if there still is no air conditioning in the aging Gaines Center.

Chancellor Bonita Brown and Athletics Director Eric Burns have quietly put all the pieces into place.

Now, it's a matter of seeing the wins on the field or on the court.

What has fans and alums excited is that all three of the major sports - football and women's and men's basketball - are fully funded in terms of scholarships.

Coach Tory Woodbury, who has brought tons of energy already to the football program, has 36 full scholarships at his disposal. That's the NCAA limit for Division II.

Tierra Terry, who guided the Rams to their first CIAA women's basketball title this past season, will have most of her key players back from a historic season.

That title for Terry, who was in her first season at her alma mater, helped get the momentum started. The women's track team followed that up with a CIAA title and the women's flag football program also won a CIAA title.

The budget talks

The WSSU Board of Trustees approved a $7.5 million budget for athletics for 2026-27. That was approved on April 24, but that doesn't mean it's a done deal.

According to Jeremy C. Alltop, the chief operating officer at WSSU, that budget still has to be approved by the UNC Board of Governors.

What this budget does is prove to alumni and fans that Brown and Burns are serious about their plans to elevate athletics at WSSU, which had around 4,800 students this past year.

It's safe to say that if the budget is approved, the Rams will likely have their largest in school history for athletics. And helping to utilize that budget will be Burns, who has a background in finance.

Even though Brown said she had more than 80 apply for the job, it was Burns, who was the interim AD, who didn't go anywhere and was given the job on a full-time basis.

"Mr. Burns rose to the top (of the list) because of his thoughtfulness, his strategy, and his understanding of the athletics world works," Brown said at a news conference last month.

Burns said it's important that the ‘Ramily' come together.

"We must reunite our village," Burns said. "We have a shared faith to move this community forward. At the core of my vision is a culture defined by integrity, accountability and competitive excellence. It will take all of the ‘Ramily.'"

Men's basketball update

In that same news conference that was mostly a pep rally, Brown introduced Jay Butler as the next men's basketball coach.

Butler, a veteran coach at Virginia Union, followed in Terry's footsteps and left Richmond for Winston-Salem. What was curious about the move was Butler is a Virginia Union alum but was lured away with a five-year contract for $145,000 a year plus several bonuses.

Another innovation that Butler brings is a developmental team. He'll have a main roster of scholarship players, but he'll also have another team of walk-ons that will practice and could earn spots on the varsity. It's something he also did at Virginia Union.

Terry, whose team was 28-4 for the best record in school history, has already been given a contract extension and is signed through 2033. Butler's contract runs through the 2030-31 season.

"It's a new day in the athletics world with a lot changing all the time," Brown said.

Burns first came to WSSU in the spring of 2025 for a financial role in athletics as well as the chief financial officer for the school. His experience includes working with finances at UNC Greensboro and Fayetteville State.

"I needed someone who had connections and networks and understood money, budgeting and resources, and how to bring people together," Brown told HBCU Gameday last month. "Someone who understood that student experience and was going to create that culture and environment."

While the budget is one aspect of a successful program, Burns told HBCU Gameday that raising money is still a priority.

"We will aggressively pursue new revenue streams through fundraising, corporate sponsorships and alumni engagement," Burns said. "By aligning athletics with institutional advancement efforts, we will create meaningful opportunities for our supporters to invest in the future of WSSU athletics."

Other sports are following

Last week, when women's track stars Charnessa Reid and Rainn Sheppard placed in the Division II national championships, it put the finishing touches on athletics for 2025-26.

Reid finished ninth in the 100-meter hurdles to earn second-team All-America and Sheppard was 18th in the 800 meters.

Coach Antonio Wells has built a consistent women's track program.

Also improving his program in men's golf is Charles Penny and his assistant Richard Guy. The Rams advanced to the Division II regionals and finished 12th overall.

Godrey Nsubuga was named All-Region and Penny was named Coach of the Year in Division II by the Black College Golf Coaches Association.

The last time there's been this much momentum in athletics was when the football team went to the Division II national championship game in 2012. It was after the attempt to move to Division I that didn't end well other than it gave the program more of a fighting chance in Division II.

Now, it appears that the Rams are ready to make another run at the national level. It certainly seems set up for the Rams to make noise in the CIAA in just about every sport.

"Athletics is the front door of the university," Brown said last month, "and under this leadership (of coaches), that door will open even wider to opportunity, visibility and success."

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This story was originally published May 27, 2026 at 5:45 AM.