CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Johnson C. Smith will take a familiar stage this week, but the location is still taking some getting used to.
"Charlotte's preferred," Golden Bulls mens coach Stephen Joyner Sr. said. "It's a whole different feel when you have to get up and travel somewhere."
The CIAA Tournament will be played in Baltimore for the second-straight season after 15 consecutive years in Charlotte.
Joyner's mens squad enters with a 9-16 overall record, 5-11 in league play.
"It's a young team. Very, very young," Joyner said. "They've matured over the year. We just hope to continue to progress together and go up and make some noise in the CIAA Tournament."
JCSU is a No. 11 seed and will take on No. 6 Lincoln at 10 a.m., Wednesday.
The Golden Bulls women have had a tumultuous season.
Head coach Stephen Joyner Jr. departed a week into the season and ultimately took a job as athletic director at West Charlotte.
Elevated to the interim role, coach Dante Travis saw three of his players go down with ACL injuries.
"It's definitely been a rocky year," Travis said. "Our outlook has been the same. Nothing's changed. The realistic goal now is get some momentum going into the tournament and be able to shock some people."
The womens' squad has an overall record of 11-15, 6-10 in CIAA play.
They are a No. 8 seed will open play in the tournament Tuesday at 12:10 p.m., against No. 9 Virginia Union University.
On Monday night, players from each squad were named the top freshmen in the CIAA.
India Howard won on the womens side, with Ezekiel Cannedy took the honor home for the mens team.