BY JOE JOHNSON

jjohnson@heraldsun.com; 419-6667

DURHAM -- N.C. Central is back in the MEAC.

Dennis E. Thomas, commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, announced Thursday at a news conference in McLendon-McDougald Gymnasium that N.C. Central was accepted into the conference.

NCCU athletic director Ingrid Wicker-McCree said she was notified about the decision late Wednesday night.

"We knew they were going to make a decision [Wednesday]," Wicker-McCree said. "It was late when we got the notice. It was the best news I've heard in a while."

NCCU has been in a transition from NCAA Division II to Division I since July 2005 when the school decided to leave the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association in order to pursue a conference affiliation at the highest level. NCCU applied for membership in the MEAC during the winter of 2006.

Presently, the MEAC is comprised of 12 schools, including nearby North Carolina A&T State University and Winston-Salem State, which was accepted into the conference in 2007, also after leaving the CIAA. NCCU is scheduled to become a full member of the conference by the 2011-12 school year if it meets all of the NCAA requirements for Division I membership.

NCCU is in the third year of the five-year process to move up from Division II to Division I.

"We're in a provisional period right now with the NCAA and the MEAC," Wicker-McCree said. "We have to go through the NCAA certification process like every school in Division I."

Wicker-McCree said she expects that process to be completed in 2010. If NCCU meets all the requirements for Division I, it will be able to compete as a full member of the MEAC and reap all the competitive and financial benefits associated with conference membership.

The MEAC, like all conferences that participate in Division I basketball, gets money from the NCAA based on the league's performance in the NCAA Tournament. NCCU eventually will share in that once it has obtained full membership.

NCCU will be the 13th member of the conference, and Thomas said the league will continue to expand in order to add a 14th member.

"We're happy to have them back because they were one of the founding institutions," Thomas said. "It's a match for us. The support from the [NCCU] administration all the way down has been great. They have outstanding academics, which fits in terms of our institutions.

"Athletically, they're very competitive and they've already begun to play some of our institutions. All of this bodes well for Central."

The MEAC was founded in 1969 by seven universities, including NCCU, and competition began in football in 1971. NCCU competed in the MEAC until 1979 when it withdrew to remain at the Division II level. From 1979-2007, NCCU competed in the CIAA.

Wicker-McCree said MEAC membership will have other benefits, as well. Scheduling will be much easier, and travel expenses also should be reduced since most of the member schools are relatively close by. Most people think of football and basketball, but Wicker-McCree said the biggest beneficial impact on the athletics department would be for the non-revenue sports.

"Being in a conference helps in so many ways," Wicker-McCree said. "We're already competing with a number of MEAC schools. I'm confident we'll be contenders when we are finally full members."

News of NCCU's acceptance into the MEAC quickly reached alumni.

State Rep. Mickey Michaux, D-Durham, said he was ecstatic when he heard NCCU was back in the MEAC.

"I'm glad to see them back," said Michaux, a 1952 graduate of NCCU and 1954 graduate of the law school. "It's a good move. They've been founding members of two conferences. I'm glad for Central because they've been without a base for a couple of years."

Michaux, an avid football fan, played on the first tennis team at NCCU and is a member of the school's sports hall of fame.

"I think they'll come out great," Michaux said.