Dec. 18, 2006
WINSTON-SALEM, NC - The Winston-Salem State University Rams will face their first ranked opponent of the 2006-07 season on Tuesday evening when they travel to Lawrence, Kansas to tip-off against the nationally-ranked Jayhawks of Kansas in the two teams first-ever head-to-head men's basketball meeting.
Setting The Scene...The Rams enter into tonight's contest with a 1-13 record overall. Winston-Salem State University is riding a 10-game losing streak as they followed up their only win of the season (over Anderson (SC) University by the score of 67-44 on November 14, 2006) with 10 consecutive losses to Auburn (95-62), Georgia State (94-87), Coppin State (81-65), Georgia Southern (70-41 and 59-49), Lipscomb (62-46), Notre Dame (90-45), the University of South Florida (63-43), Akron (79-67), and most recently at Georgetown (76-32) to drop to their current record of one win and 13 losses.
Looking At The Past Schedule...The Rams will be playing in their 15th game overall and their 12th game away from home. The Rams opened the season with three games, all losses, in
What's On Tap...The Rams are returning to the road, a place that has seen them play 11 games, all losses. WSSU is 0-11 away from home (which includes an 0-2 record at neutral sites) as they have yet to win a game away from the
Last Action...The Rams last action came this past Saturday (December 16) as the Rams traveled to
It's Been A Decade...The Rams have lost 10 consecutive games and have lost 13 of their last 14 contests. The Rams' nine-game losing streak is the most consecutive losses for WSSU since a 15-game skid that occurred during the 1991-92 season, a season in which the Rams finished the year with a 6-20 mark.
How Long Has It Been?...The Rams last losing season came in 1995-96 when
On The Radio...Though the Rams will not broadcast the game (the broadcast crew of Maurice "Big Mo" Stanfield and LA Batchelor will instead cover the WSSU women's basketball game versus Towson) the game will be broadcast by Kansas on the Jayhawk Radio Network. Bob Davis will call the play-by-play and Chris Piper will cover all the color commentary duties. Bob Newton will serve as the team's radio engineer and the game will be broadcast on the internet at KUAthletics.com.
On Television...The game versus
The Polls...The Jayhawks enter the game versus the Rams ranked 11th in the nation in the Associated Press poll and enter the contest ranked 12th in the Coaches Poll. The Jayhawks started the season ranked third in the nation, dropped to 10th following a loss to Oral Roberts, moved to fifth following a win over then-#1 Florida, and enter the contest sitting at 11th. The Rams are unranked.
Collins Versus The Jayhawks...The Rams' Bobby Collins who is in his first season as the head coach at
Collins Versus The BIG 12 Conference...Collins has never faced a team from the Big 12 conference during his head coaching career. He and the Rams have never faced a Big 12 foe, however, Collins was a member of the
Collins vs. Teams From
The Series...The Rams and Jayhawks have never met. The 2006-07 season is the first year of Division I classification for the Rams as they are in the second year of a five-year transition from the NCAA Division II level where they spent 61 seasons earning 10 conference (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association) titles, 23 NCAA Tournament appearances, and the 1967 NCAA Championship. The two teams will be meeting for the first time in history.
The Coaches...WSSU is led by Bobby Collins who is in his first year as the head coach of the Rams. He is entering into his fifth season as a Division I head coach and has posted a 66-70 overall record as he led
The Century Club...Senior guard/forward Curtis Hines appeared in his 100th game as a Rams when he played versus
A Look At The Jayhawks...The Jayhawks enter into the game with an 8-2 record overall and are currently riding a two-game win streak.
A Look At KU...The University of Kansas is located in
Size Mismatch...The Rams' projected starting lineup (see page one) is vastly undersized compared to the Jayhawks' projected starters. The Rams start a pair of 5'10" guards (Peake and Wray) while KU's guards are both 6'1". The Rams then start 6'5" Jamal Durham, 6'1" Darius Floyd, and 6'7" Greg Lewis. The Jayhawks will counter with 6'6" Brandon Rush, 6'8" Julian Wright, and 6'8" Darnell
A November Record...The Rams played 10 games during the month of November, turning in a 1-9 record. Until this season
11 Conferences Down...The months of November and December saw the Rams play teams from 11 different conferences. The Rams have faced the: Western Athletic Conference (WAC) when they played Fresno State, Big West when they played UC-Irvine, the Sun Belt when they played South Alabama, the Carolinas-Virginias Athletic Conference (NCAA Division II) when they played Anderson, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) when they played Auburn, the Colonial Athletic Conference (CAA) when they played Georgia State, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) when they played Coppin State, the Atlantic Sun (A-Sun) when they played Lipscomb, and the Big East when they played Notre Dame and the University of South Florida. The Rams added their 11th conference played when they faced the Akron Zips of the Mid-American Conference.
Four Conferences To Go...The Rams have faced 11 different conferences thus far in 2006-07 and will face an additional four other conferences this season. In the upcoming weeks the Rams will face the Big 12 when they face Kansas (December 19), Conference USA when they face UAB (December 23), the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) when they face Georgia Tech and Wake Forest (January 3 and February 6) and the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) when they face Alabama A&M (February 12) giving the Rams a total of 15 different conferences faced this season.
Season Highs...Jamal Durham's 22 point, 13 rebound performance versus Auburn set five season records as Durham tallied a WSSU team season high 22 points (which Brian Fisher tied with 22 points versus Georgia State), a WSSU team season high 13 rebounds, a WSSU team season high eight offensive rebounds, a WSSU team season high eight made field goals, and a WSSU team season high 37 minutes played.
Opponent Game Highs...Unfortunately for the Rams, their 95-62 loss to
Home, Sweet Home?...The Rams have played three games at home and have lost two of the three contests. The Rams defeated Anderson (SC) and lost contests to
No Rest For The Wicked...It gets no easier for the Rams after a pair of home games as they once again return to the road for seven consecutive road contests. The Rams took to the road on December 8, 2006 as they traveled to face
Lewis Gets Starting Three-Peat...Greg Lewis started his first career game for the Rams versus the Bulls of the
On The Receiving End...The Rams were again on the receiving end of another team record as the
Wonge Scoreless No More...Darrell Wonge who turned in three consecutive scoreless games in the month of December broke his scoreless drought as he tallied 14 points versus Akron. Wonge posted a five-of-eight shooting night and hit three of his four three-point field goal attempts.
Only 20%...The Rams shot a chilly 20.4% from the field on Saturday versus the Hoyas of Georgetown as WSSU hit only 10 of their 49 field goal attempts. The Rams have shot less than 40% in 12 of 14 games this season and have posted a loss in all 12 of those games.
Road Tripping With The Rams...During the month of November, the Rams faced nine teams away from the friendly confines of the CE Gaines Center. WSSU spent a total of 21 days on the road as they traveled to Fresno, CA for three games; traveled to Auburn, AL for a game against the Tigers of Auburn University; traveled to Atlanta, GA for games against Georgia State and Georgia Southern; traveled to Nashville, TN for a game against Lipscomb; and traveled to South Bend, IN for a contest versus Notre Dame. December will see the Rams travel 18 days as they hit the road for games in
Frequent Flier Miles...The Rams will travel over 25,000 miles round trip this season as they play 23 road games this year. The Rams will travel by plane to visit 12 opponents and will travel by charter bus for the remaining 11 opponents.
Unique Opponents...The Rams will face 27 unique opponents during the 2006-07 season. The Rams will play only the Georgia Southern Eagles and the North Dakota State Bison more than once during their first year as a Division I team.
Trailing At The Half...The Rams have led at halftime four times this season and have posted a 1-3 record when doing so. WSSU has trailed at the half nine times and WSSU has posted losses in all nine of those contests.
Have To Hold `Em Under 30%...The Rams' lone win of the 2006-07 season came when they held their opponent to under 30% shooting from the field. When opponents shoot 40% or better from the field the Rams are a collective 0-12 on the season.
Margin Is High...The Rams have lost eight games by 17 points or more. They have lost one game by 20 points, one game by 16 points, two by 12 points, one by 10 points, and one by seven points. WSSU has had no contest decided by less than seven points. In contrast,
Don't Bet On Black...The Rams have lost nine games away from home (non-neutral site games). However, WSSU has lost six of those games while wearing their alternate black jersey and lost only three games wearing their road red jersey (the other two losses coming in a neutral-site game away from home when they wore their home white jersey).
Transition Year Two...The Rams are currently in the second year of a five-year transition from the Division II level to the highest level of competition in Division I. The Rams are an independent team this season but will join the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in 2007-08. The Rams will become a full-fledged Division I member that is eligible for all NCAA championships in the 2010-11 season.
12th MEAC Member...On July 20, 2006, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) announced that it will expand its membership to 12 members next year, as the league voted to admit
Tough Tests...The Rams have one of the most difficult schedules in the nation. They face 11 different conferences and will face 27 unique opponents. The Rams will face #11/#12
It's In The Game...With their transition to the Division I level, the Rams have been included in the latest installment of Take 2 Interactive's NCAA 2K7 video game for X-Box, X-Box 360 and Sony Playstation 2. The Rams are rated a 68 overall and are ranked higher overall than all but two Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference teams.
A New Era; A Proud History...The Rams are entering into a new era at WSSU as they are heading into the Division I ranks. However, the Rams have a history of basketball excellence as they have recorded 49 winning seasons including 10 consecutive winning years. The Rams have posted 23 20-win seasons and a 30-win season in 1967 when they won the NCAA Championship with a 31-1 record.
1000-Plus Wins All-Time...
First In Shooting...The Rams were first in the CIAA in shooting percentage last season as they hit 47.6% of their shots. WSSU shot 50% or better from the field in 11 of their last 15 games in 2005-06 and posted an 11-4 mark over that stretch. This season the Rams have yet to crack the 50% shooting barrier in any game.
Turnover Differential...The Rams ranked first in the CIAA in turnover margin as they turned in a plus (+) 3.04 turnover ratio last season. This season the Rams are forcing two-tenths of a turnover more per game than they commit.
Injury Update...Heading into the eighth week of the 2006-07 season, the Rams are again healthy with no players on the injury chart. All 14 active roster members will be at head coach Bobby Collins' disposal for Tuesday's game.
Jamal Durham Up To His Old Tricks...WSSU sophomore forward Jamal Durham is starting the 2006-07 season right where he left off last season, a season that saw him earn CIAA All-Rookie honors.
The Last Time WSSU Scored 100...The last time that the Rams scored 100 points was on December 2, 2005 versus
The Last Time WSSU Gave Up 100...The last time that the Rams gave up 100 points to an opponent was on February 14, 1998 (Valentine's Day) at Capel Arena in
The Last Time WSSU Held An Opponent To Under 30% FG Shooting...The last time that the Rams held an opponent to less than 30% shooting from the field was on November 14, 2006 when they held the Trojans of Anderson University (SC) to a 28.6.0% shooting percentage as the Trojans converted only 14 of 49 field goal attempts. The contest was a 67-44 win for WSSU at the
Deep Bench...Despite being young, the Rams, and head coach Bobby Collins have a deep bench. Through 14 games of the 2006-07 season,
The Last Time WSSU Had Two Players Record Double-Doubles In The Same Game...Was on December 1, 2001 at
The Last Time WSSU Had A Player Record An Assist/Points Double-Double...Was on January 31, 2006 as Alleggrie Guinn scored 26 points and added 10 assists in WSSU's 82-75 loss to the Broncos of Fayetteville State University at the LJVM Coliseum Annex.
The Last Time That A WSSU Player Led The Rams In Points/Rebounds/Assists...Was on December 7, 2004 at
The Last Time WSSU Defeated A Ranked Team...Was on February 11, 2006 in Charlotte, NC as the Rams handed the 23rd-ranked (NCAA Division II) Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith University an 81-57 defeat at Brayboy Gymnasium. The Rams have defeated at least one ranked team each season for four consecutive seasons (the Rams were a Division II team for 61 years with the 2006-07 season marking their first year as a Division I program).
A Look At The University...
From the beginning, the school has insisted upon the vital importance of elementary school teachers in building an improved citizenship. Emphasis has, therefore, constantly been placed upon the quality and quantity of training for these teachers. In 1925, the General Assembly of North Carolina recognized the school's leadership in this field and granted the school a new charter, extending its curriculum above high school. The school changed its name to
The
In 1957, the North Carolina General Assembly revised the charter of the college and authorized the expansion of the curriculum to include secondary education and any other specific types of training as directed and determined by the State Board of Higher Education.
The North Carolina General Assembly of 1963 authorized the changing of
The present day
On March 5, 1998 the University's "Strategic Framework for Change" was unveiled to the Board of Trustees and the
The pass rate for
In the 90's, Fortune 500 corporations increasingly recruited business, economics, and accounting graduates. Recently, the University's student chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants was recognized in the national competition at the Association's annual meeting.
WSSU are all partners in this exciting venture.
The pass rate for
In the 90's, Fortune 500 corporations increasingly recruited business, economics, and accounting graduates. Recently, the University's student chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants was recognized in the national competition at the Association's annual meeting.
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