Fayetteville State University men’s and women’s basketball programs were recognized for securing the best records in the conference’s south division along with highly regarded individual accolades to start the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) tournament.

Women’s basketball Interim Head Coach Tyreece Brown was named the Dr. Peggy Green CIAA Women's Coach of the Year after an impressive undefeated season at home and the program’s best record since 1997 at 24-2. Aniylah Bryant was also named the CIAA Women’s Player of the Year and Morgan Graham named Women’s Defensive Player of the Year. Both were selected to the Women’s All-Conference Team, along with men’s starting guard, Tairell Fletcher, who was selected to the Men’s All-Conference team.

“We’ve witnessed two superbly coached, very talented teams compete at a high level this season,” said FSU’s Athletic Director Todd Bennett in a press release. “I’m proud our women’s basketball coach and our student-athletes are being rewarded and recognized for such fantastic seasons.”

The women’s team goes into the CIAA basketball conference tournament as the favorite to win it all following a 17-1 conference record. They are also ranked nationally at No. 15 in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Top 25. The men’s team boasted an 12-1 home record, helping them to a 11-7 conference record and their third consecutive divisional championship.

With both teams winning the southern division, they’ve earned a first-round bye and will start playing today, Feb. 28, women’s at 4:30 p.m. and men’s at 6:40 p.m. The games are available on ESPN+.