The CIAA and MEAC Conferences are back for the new year as teams finally get into intense league play, and basketball fans around the 804 looking forward to next weekend’s Freedom Classic in Richmond, VA. The annual “Battle of the 804” between arch-rivals Virginia Union and Virginia State Universities has been quite lopsided in recent years as Union has defeated the Trojans in 24 consecutive meetings and they have won 13 straight Freedom Classics over VSU dating back to 1999.
With the Panthers having an umusually poor start to the 2012-2013 season, Trojan fans believe this could be the year that Virginia State breaks the infamous “Coliseum Jinx”. The 2013 Freedom Classic Festival is a 3-day event annually held on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Weekend at the Richmond Coliseum. This year’s contest will be Sunday, January 20th at 7pm.
In the meantime, Virginia State travels to Winston-Salem State on Thursday evening, while Virginia Union entertains the Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith University tonight at Barco-Stevens Gym on the VUU campus. In the MEAC, the Hampton Pirates defeated James Madison University at the PirateDome on Monday, while the Spartans of Norfolk State enjoyed a big win over Navy last Saturday. The Spartans will visit Maryland-Eastern Shore on Saturday night, while Hampton will travel to DC for a meeting with arch-rival Howard University.
In CIAA football news, sources tell me that Virginia State is close to naming former University of Richmond head coach Latrell Scott as the Trojans next football coach. Several candidates were interviewed to replace former Trojan coach Andrew Faison, who was recently reassigned.
