VIKINGS PICKED TO FINISH FIRST IN CIAA NORTHERN DIVISION
April J. Emory 10/07/10

Cooke, Goldsmith Voted to Pre-Season All-CIAA Basketball Team

CHARLOTTE, NC- The 2010-2011 CIAA Basketball season kicked off Thursday afternoon as the preseason All-CIAA team and predicted order of finish was released at the annual basketball press conference at the Charlotte Convention Center.

The Elizabeth City State Vikings, last year’s runner-up for the CIAA Championship, were picked to finish atop the CIAA Northern Division as voted by the CIAA men’s basketball coaches association. In their first year back as a CIAA member, Winston-Salem State University was voted to finish first in the Southern Division.

Marquie Cooke and Paul Goldsmith were voted to the 2010-2011 All-CIAA preseason team. Cooke, the Vikings’ third leading scorer and top assist man last year, was an automatic qualifier as a member of the 2010 All-CIAA team. Goldsmith averaged 10.7 points and a team best 7.3 rebounds in 24 starts for ECSU last season.

The Vikings will begin the 2010-2011campaign when they host the ECSU Basketball Tipoff November 19-20 in Elizabeth City, NC. The complete CIAA preseason team and predicted order finish is listed below:


2010 Preseason Men’s Basketball Team

Travis Hyman (Bowie State), Mark Brown (Chowan), Marquie Cooke (ECSU), Paul Goldsmith (ECSU), Ronald Thornhill (Johnson C. Smith), Greg Henry (Livingstone), Donte Durant (Livingstone), Maurice Reevy (Saint Paul’s), Raheem Smith (Shaw), Brandon Plummer (Virginia State), Paul Davis (Winston-Salem State), Braxton Byerson (Virginia Union)

Predicted Order of Finish

Northern Division Southern Division

Elizabeth City State Winston-Salem State

Bowie State Johnson C. Smith

Virginia Union Shaw

Virginia State St. Augustine’s

Chowan Livingstone

St. Paul’s Fayetteville State

Lincoln (Pa.)