NC Central’s athletic director is stepping down. She transitioned the Eagles to D1
After leading North Carolina Central to new heights during its transition to Division I, Eagles’ athletic director Ingrid Wicker-McCree is moving on.
The announced Thursday that Wicker-McCree, who took over as AD in 2008, is stepping down.
“We commend Dr. Wicker-McCree for her 13 years of service and leadership of NCCU’s Department of Athletics,” Chancellor Johnson O. Akinleye said in a statement. “She was instrumental in the transition of our Athletics Program from Division II to Division I. Ingrid will be missed and her accomplishments are greatly appreciated by our faculty, staff, coaches, student-athletes and alumni. We wish her well as she starts the next phase of her personal and professional journey.”
The release added that Wicker-McCree is stepping down to “pursue the next chapter in her personal and professional career.”
Wicker-McCree will remain as the AD through the spring of 2022. The school will hire an executive search form to conduct a national search for its next AD.
Before taking over as the AD, Wicker-McCree was the NCCU associate athletics director for internal affairs. In that role until she took over as AD, Wicker-McCree played a huge role in the leap to Division I, overseeing the internal operations for the department, mainly compliance and eligibility programs.
Under Wicker-McCree, NCCU saw more than $2 million renovations and upgrades throughout its athletic facilities. Wicker-McCree was in charge when men’s basketball coach LeVelle Moton and former football coach Jerry Mack were brought on. Mack, now an assistant coach at Tennessee, won three straight MEAC titles and led the Eagles to the 2016 Celebration Bowl. Moton has led NCCU to four NCAA tournament appearances.
In 2017, she was named to the NCAA Division I Council. A former volleyball and softball coach at NCCU, Wicker-McCree was inducted into the NCCU Hall of Fame in 2004 and the CIAA John B. McLendon Hall of Fame in 2016.
This story was originally published August 26, 2021 at 4:00 PM with the headline "NC Central’s athletic director is stepping down. She transitioned the Eagles to D1."
