Hampton coach wrote his script

Say this for Hampton men's basketball coach Ed Joyner Jr., he has a sense for the moment.

"What better script can you write?" Joyner asked Thursday, the day before his 16th-seed Pirates were to face top-seed Duke in a second-round NCAA tournament game at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Joyner, 38, a Winston-Salem native who attended Charlotte's Harding High before playing and coaching at Johnson C. Smith, had this script already etched in his mind two weeks ago, as Hampton prepared for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Association tournament in Winston-Salem.

Hampton U. coach looking for any advantage before playing Duke

CHARLOTTE, N.C. —— Ed Joyner Jr. was taking suggestions Thursday for tools he might use to demonstrate that the task at hand is difficult, but not impossible.

In advance of Friday's David vs. Goliath matchup against No. 1 seed Duke in the NCAA tournament, Hampton University's head coach planned to show his players video of the Pirates' upset of second-seeded Iowa State in the 2001 NCAA tournament.

Joyner said, only partly in jest, that he would show them the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team's Miracle On Ice upset of the Soviets, the movie "Rudy" and anything else he could think of.

"I think they're already pumped up," he said. "Anything to show them it has and should be done."

Hampton's chore, 10 years later

From the NCAA tournament in Charlotte:

Meant to say earlier, I thought Hampton coach Ed Joyner was amusing Thursday during his media session, especially when a natural question was raised about a former Hampton U. tournament upset – 10 years ago in Boise, Idaho.

The 15th-seeded Pirates beat No. 2 Iowa State 58-57 that day – how about that; Iowa State (3-13 in the Big 12 this year) was a No. 2! And Joyner was asked why, as a Hampton player noted earlier, he’d not used that video as motivation for his team, seeded 16th, against No. 1 Duke on Friday.

“Everything, I believe, is timing,” he said. “It ain’t the right time yet. Trust me, they’re going to see it tonight along with “Miracle,” “Rudy”, anything else you can find.”

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Duke Blue Devils 49, NCCU Eagles 14

Devils rule in cross-town romp

DURHAM, N.C. Early last week, Duke coach David Cutcliffe said the Blue Devils were not a "good" football team - a candid remark that represented the team's ineffectiveness and inconsistency in three previous games. On Saturday against N.C. Central, the Devils made strides to change their coaches' perspective, pounding the Eagles to capture a 49-14 victory at Wallace Wade Stadium in the first game between the neighboring schools.

The game, billed as the "Bull City Gridiron Classic," attracted 26,390 fans, many who showed up early to tailgate and enjoy the joint festivities planned by the two schools. A steady downpour did not turn away the faithful, who had talked about this game for weeks. The Eagles, who are in their third year of a transition from NCAA Division II to Division I, pulled the score to within a touchdown in the second quarter, cutting Duke's early lead to 21-14. Thereafter points were harder to acquire, with the Devils standing firm on defense and opening the game with an offensive outburst that continued into the fourth quarter.



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Game summary

Rucker Understands What Tonight's Game Was All About

Kinney Rucker, more than any other Duke player -- with the possible exception of freshman running back Desmond Scott -- understood what the first Bull City Classic was all about. The Blue Devils' senior defensive tackle reveled in the moment as he walked out to the center of the field before the kickoff of Duke's 49-14 victory over North Carolina Central. The Durham native was appointed a co-captain for the first historic meeting between Durham's two universities. "I moved down here in the sixth grade," Rucker said. "I went to Central games. I went to Duke games. For this to happen, is huge. "I went to the pep rally Thursday, just to see the camaraderie. It is amazing how much this community has come together and how much times have changed. Growing up, you never thought you'd see Duke and Central playing on the same field. As they moved up another division, it made it possible."

NCCU Eagles Tim Shankle scores on 1-yard TD run against the Duke Blue Devils.

'A LONG TIME IN COMING'

DURHAM -- The rain fell, but it did not seem to bother Duke and N.C. Central University alumni who gathered late Saturday before the historic first meeting of the Blue Devils and the Eagles football teams at Wallace Wade Stadium. In addition to the rain, beer flowed, and there was plenty of chicken, barbecue and other good picnic food as fans gathered at Blue Devil Alley for the pregame tailgate parties for the historic first meeting of the two schools' teams. Much has been said and written about this game as an event that bridges a historical divide between Duke and historically black NCCU. Members of the Omega Zeta Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity -- the first black fraternity at Duke, established in 1974 -- were on hand celebrating that historic milestone along with the evening's game.

Attendance: 26,390 at Wallace Wade Stadium, Durham, N.C.

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