Coach Xavier Carrington and the North Carolina A&T Legacy Basketball team have reached the top once again. The women’s intramural basketball team upset the Angelo State Impact 59-56. This is the second championship for the Aggies in three years.
Xavier Carrington, A&T’s intramural sports director and a visual arts professor, is in his third year of coaching.
A graduate of Valdosta State University, Carrington lives by the quote, “It doesn’t matter how small the task is at hand. You should always take pride in accomplishing it because you never know who is watching. Perception is everything.”
The team started working out in late November. The ladies found success early in the season going 8-0. A&T’s Legacy won both the Martin Luther King Invitational at Wake Forest University, as well as the NIRSA Regional Basketball Tournament at the University of Maryland securing their bid to the National NIRSA Tournament.
The team took its first two losses at the University of Georgia bringing their record to 9-2. That humbling experience was just what the team needed to prepare them for the remainder of the season.
They ended the season 19-3 and claimed the NIRSA National Intramural Women’s Basketball Championship.
Missing the championship game last year, Brianey Winslow wanted redemption. Brianey Winslow, a junior from Capitol Heights, Md., was an important piece to this year’s Championship team.
“Although I tend to come down on myself, I knew that my teammates had my back.” Throughout the tournament, Winslow recorded 27 points, 14 rebounds, 6 steals, and 5 blocks.
”It’s an amazing feeling. We worked hard as a team this season. There were so many emotions going on at the time. The entire team was overjoyed. We grew not only as a team, but they are my family. I love them,” said Winslow.
“I’m very proud of the ladies for accomplishing their final goal as national champions. The hard work that was put forward in 6 a.m. practice, grueling condition drills while maintaining their academic excellence was all worth it in the end.
With this being the last season for only one player, All Tournament Senior, Tiffany Williams, we will have a lot of experience returning.
Moving forward into next season, I feel confident that the A&T Legacy will be in a position to be a major contender for the National [title] again.”
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- Janay Boone, Contributor