title image via Nick Sutton
Courtesy of By Alex Lehmbeck, Assistant Athletics Director for Sports Communication
The last time Norfolk State fans packed Echols Hall for a home showdown, the night culminated in a net-cutting ceremony after countless hours of work paid off with a victorious performance.
When the Spartans return to Echols on Monday evening to face Penn State Wilkes Barre, the schedule will flip. The night will open with a celebratory presentation of championship rings, before the work begins for the next five months.
Norfolk State tips-off the 2024-25 campaign at 8 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 4, coming off a MEAC regular season title and Colleginsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) championship the year prior.
Norfolk State rallied from an 18-point first half deficit to take down Purdue Fort Wayne 75-67 in the 2024 CIT Final, securing the first nonconference postseason title in the program’s Division I era.
The feat marked a historic achievement, no doubt, but the Spartans remain hungry for more. Graduate guard Christian Ings, who scored 17 points to earn Most Valuable Player honors in the CIT Championship, has his sights set on a return to the NCAA Tournament.
“We’re trying to use that championship as a springboard to launch us into this season to have a great year,” Ings said.
Despite the hype surrounding the team’s previous accomplishments, Ings emphasizes the squad must avoid becoming complacent.
“We try to just make sure that we’re always looking ahead and not behind,” Ings said. “As excited as we are that we won the CIT Championship and what that meant to us as a school and as a team, we’re really just looking forward to using that to push us forward into this new season.”
Ings landed on the Preseason All-MEAC Second Team this summer, joined by sophomore forward Chris Fields Jr. Fields played his way onto the MEAC All-Rookie Team, averaging 6.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per game during his freshman campaign.
NSU boasts a large group of senior returners, fully comfortable with the expectations and system set in place by head coach Robert Jones’ program. Kuluel Mading established himself as one of the conference’s top-shot blockers last year, averaging 1.0 rejections per game. Tyrel Bladen became one of the league’s most efficient players, shooting 59.6 percent from the floor in his final 20 games.
Local product Jaylani Darden, who enjoyed a breakthrough scoring and rebounding year in 2023-24, earned Preseason All-MEAC Third Team accolades entering his senior season. Terrance Jones and Jordan Leaks, both coming off redshirt years, round out the guard room.
Coach Jones beefed up the Spartan roster this offseason with several key additions in the transfer portal, starting with further veteran presence in the backcourt.
Sin’Cere McMahon nabbed a spot on the Preseason All-MEAC before his first game in the conference, and for good reason. The 6-0 guard averaged 14.4 point per game during his junior year at Winthrop, scoring a career-high 35 points in an explosive performance at UNC Asheville.
Brian Moore Jr., a significant contributor at Murray State, started his career as an NJCAA DI All-American at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. His 47-point outing against Seminole State marked the second-highest scoring game in school history.
“The newcomers come with a new vision, new focus, and new drive,” Ings said. “They just bring a whole new swag to the team.”
Jalen Myers, a graduate forward from UT Martin, and Dramane Camara, a sophomore guard from DePaul finished out the transfer class. The Spartans also brought in a pair of highly touted high school recruits: Melo Baines and My’kel Jenkins.
The class marked another strong recruiting output of Jones’ tenure, who shifted the praise towards his staff.
“They know exactly what I want and what I like and they are really diligent in finding those pieces,” Jones said. “They recognize what the program needs, and then they go out and get it.”
Norfolk State feared no challenge when building its 2024-25 schedule. The Spartans will go head-to-head with a slew of fierce opponents, including two opponents ranked in the Preseason AP Top 25 poll: No. 8 Baylor and No. 12 Tennessee.
The mid-major slate remains staunch as well. Norfolk State will play multiple schools who won games in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, travelling to the West Coast to battle Grand Canyon (Nov. 22) just a couple of weeks after hosting in-state foe James Madison (Nov. 9) for the first time in program history.
Despite arguably the toughest path the team has faced yet, the Spartans will hold themselves to the same standard that has produced three consecutive 20-win seasons. That success has brought heightened anticipation, a concept Jones embraces through the mantra “pressure is privilege.”
