By Harry Minium
Old Dominion University played its first basketball game at Norfolk State in 50 years Wednesday night, and in some quarters, that was the pre-game story line.
Why hasn't ODU played more often at NSU's Echols Hall was a question asked of ODU head coach Jeff Jones during a pre-game press conference.
It was a loaded question that requires a complex answer. And press conferences a few days before a rivalry game aren't always the best place to do that.
Here's some perspective: in the 20 times the teams have met, 12 have been played on neutral courts, including 11 at Scope, five at ODU and three at Norfolk State (the first was played in 1966 at the Rockwell Hall at the old Little Creek Amphibious Base in Virginia Beach).
Given the relative standing of both programs, that's a pretty good record.
Fact is, and this is where complexity gets involved, for most of the last five decades Norfolk State either played in a gym too small to accommodate large crowds or the Spartans were not yet in Division I. And Division I schools don't travel to play Division II teams.
ODU moved up to Division I more than two decades before Norfolk State and that accounts for a lot of years in which the schools did not play.
When Chartway Arena opened in 2002, it no longer made sense for ODU to play anywhere else in Norfolk. With 8,500 seats, including club seating and luxury suites, the venue generates far more revenue than any other in the region.
Should ODU have played Norfolk State more since the Spartans moved up in 1997? I think so. I said so in columns when I wrote at The Virginian-Pilot.
But that's not the fault of Jeff Jones.
When he came to ODU, he ended a 14-year hiatus in the rivalry by accepting an overture from NSU coach Robert Jones and scheduling a game with the Spartans.
That's not because he thought beating Norfolk State would enhance the team's NET rating. It won't.
It was because he's always been about playing local schools in games that are good for the community.
That was the way he was as head coach at Virginia, when he played ODU and VCU on the road. I was in the press room the night he lost to ODU at Scope and let me tell you, that one hurt.
But that did not dampen his determination to play mid-major teams.
Try as he might, since he came to ODU he hasn't been able to persuade Virginia and Virginia Tech to host the Monarchs. And he hasn't complained about it.
The series was renewed on Dec. 29, 2015, when a sellout crowd watched the Monarchs defeat the Spartans, 68-57, at Chartway Arena. Then came a neutral-court game at Scope two years later that drew so poorly officials decided to it was smarter to play at ODU.
As the pandemic roiled college basketball scheduling, NSU's Jones and ODU's Jones spoke again and agreed to a two-game series. They would play this season in Echols Hall, with a return game played at ODU in 2022-23.
Do the math. That's four games in eight seasons. And that's also not a bad record.
Some quick comparisons? UAB and Samford are just 12 minutes apart and have played once in the last 37 years.
Michigan and Eastern Michigan are only nine miles from each other and have played seven times in 22 years. They haven't played since 2014, when Eastern Michigan upset the Wolverines.
When Marty Miller was NSU's athletic director, and I was a reporter for The Virginian-Pilot, he said in an interview that he wanted to sign a long-term deal to play ODU at Chartway Arena. The deal didn't get done, but it would have been a smart move for NSU.
In 2015, the Spartans got a check for playing, avoided having to travel out of town and a chance to upset their cross-town rival.
Wednesday's game was hard-fought, up-tempo and entertaining. It was sloppy at times, but that's in part because both teams played such physical defense.
NSU trimmed what had been a 12-point lead to one with 5:26 left before ODU finished off the Spartans with a 9-0 run.
The game was televised locally over the air and nationally via a streaming broadcast and created a ton of interest. Twitter buzzed all night about the game.
I'm sure it will be the same in two years when the Spartans return to Chartway Arena.
And for that, you can thank Jeff Jones.
Contact Minium: hminium@odu.edu
Minium: ODU has Scheduled Four Games with Norfolk State Since 2015, and for That, You Can Thank Jeff Jones
