DATE: Friday, May 30, 1997                  TAG: 9705300003

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial

                                            LENGTH:   45 lines

NSU SPORTS NEW TO DIVISION I

Come September, Norfolk State University will be a Division I school.

That's the highest of the NCAA's three sports divisions. Currently NSU is a Division II school.

Reaching the top division means greater exposure for the school through its athletic teams. Academics aren't directly affected, except that greater exposure could aid in the recruitment of good students - athletes or not - and should help in fund raising down the road.

One of the most exciting aspects of the division change is that it opens the way for Old Dominion University and NSU to play again.

From 1965 through 1982, the cross-town schools played 15 basketball games, with NSU winning five. Old-timers say the games generated crowds and excitement.

Division I status means televised games and should mean that more people see the NSU marching band. A treat's in store for those viewers.

Mainly Division I means that Norfolk has reached the highest sports rank there is. No NSU student need ever hear again, ``Isn't that just a Division II school?'' No, the Spartans will be Division I. The NCAA announced it last week.

In our sports-crazed society, the rise to Division I status matters, even though outstanding academic programs were offered when the school was Division II.

NSU will be in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with Florida A&M, Delaware State, Morgan State, South Carolina State, Hampton, Howard and Bethune-Cookman.

Basketball opponents next year include Auburn, Pepperdine, Cal-State Fullerton, Long Beach State, Colorado, Wyoming and, within the state, Radford, Liberty, Virginia Commonwealth and James Madison.

Our congratulations to the school and especially to its president, Harrison B. Wilson, who decided 10 years ago that the school should go to Division I. He has always dared to dream big.

``With the growth of the university,'' Wilson said, ``looking ahead . . . this is the only way to go. It makes all the difference in the world when you're playing Division I.''

Now let's schedule some games between the two Norfolk universities and everybody have a stomping good time.

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