Johnson C. Smith athletic director named to Hall of Fame

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Johnson C. Smith University's director of athletics and head men's basketball coach, Stephen Joyner Sr., is one of the seven new members inducted into the elite John B. McLendon Jr. Hall of Fame.

The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association made the announcement Friday. A formal induction ceremony will be held at the 2014 Hall of Fame Breakfast on Feb. 28 at the Charlotte Convention Center.

Joyner, a Winston-Salem native, is in the midst of his 27th season as head men's basketball coach at JCSU.

After a stint as an assistant coach at Virginia Union University, he received his first head coaching position with JCSU's women's basketball team in 1980, building the Golden Bulls into one of the CIAA's most competitive programs. He guided the women's team to its first appearance in the NCAA South Atlantic Regional Tournament.

To get there, Smith won its first CIAA Southern Division Championship and finished second in the conference tournament.

After compiling a 92-87 record with the women's team, Joyner took over as the head men's coach in 1987. For almost three decades, he has taken the men's program to unprecedented levels, establishing JCSU as one of the most competitive teams in the CIAA. His career coaching record as head men's coach is 476-287.

Joyner has the most wins of any men's basketball coach in JCSU history, having recorded more than 475 victories. He led the Golden Bulls to the CIAA Western Division Title in 1992, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. He was selected as the CIAA Coach of the Year in 1992, 1997 and 2001 and NCAA Division II South Atlantic Region Coach of the Year in 2001.

WSOC