NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk State head coaches Jermaine Woods and Robert Jones will lead a four-player delegation to the 2026 MEAC Men's and Women's Basketball Media Day on Friday, Oct. 23, at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel in Baltimore, Md.
Woods will be joined by senior guard Cire Worley and senior forward Alexis Davis. Jones will bring sophomore guard Adrean Newton and freshman guard Jordan Skyers. Worley, Davis and Skyers were each named to the MEAC Preseason Watch List earlier this week.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The Spartans were picked to finish second in the MEAC preseason poll with 76 points, behind only Howard. Woods begins his second season after a first year in which Norfolk State went 18-15 overall and 11-3 in league play. The Spartans beat Morgan State and Maryland Eastern Shore in the MEAC Tournament to reach the championship game for the fifth straight season, then earned a WNIT berth.
Worley, a 6-foot guard from Philadelphia, played in all 33 games last season and started 32 of them. She averaged 7.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game, and led the team at the free-throw line at 77.9 percent. She scored a season-high 15 points against Morgan State and recorded a double-double against South Carolina State. Worley came to Norfolk State after a season at Coppin State. In high school she became Abington Senior High's all-time leading scorer with 1,777 points.
Davis is in her first season with the Spartans and has already earned a watch-list spot. The 6-foot forward from Glassboro, N.J., transferred from Monmouth, where she averaged 7.1 points and 6.1 rebounds in 31 games and posted three double-doubles. Before Monmouth, she spent two seasons at Buffalo, including a freshman year that ended in the MAC championship game. At Woodbury High School, she became the first player in school history to reach both 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
The Spartans were picked third in the MEAC preseason poll with 43 points and one first-place vote. They finished three points behind Morgan State and one point ahead of North Carolina Central. Jones enters his 14th season at Norfolk State. Last season the Spartans finished 8-6 in MEAC play, fourth in the league, and Elijah Jamison was named MEAC Sixth Man of the Year. In August the team played three games in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as part of a foreign tour.
Newton, a Norfolk native and Maury High School product, is coming off one of the best rookie seasons in the league. He started 24 of 27 games, earned MEAC All-Rookie Team honors, and was named MEAC Rookie of the Week four times. He shot 47.8 percent from three-point range. His go-ahead basket in the final seconds gave the Spartans a 66-64 win at Delaware State.
Skyers is a 6-foot-3 guard from New York City and the only freshman on the MEAC Preseason Watch List. He is one of the most decorated recruits Norfolk State has signed. The four-star prospect from Putnam Science Academy was ranked No. 22 nationally among combo guards by 247Sports and No. 40 by ESPN. He was named MVP of the EYBL U20 SuperFinal in Reggio Calabria, Italy. He gave Spartan fans an early look in Puerto Rico, scoring 17 points in an 82-81 win over the LBP White All-Stars.
Both programs open the 2026-27 season on Monday, Nov. 2, at Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall. The women tip off against Virginia State at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men against Regent University at 8 p.m.
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