Elon to replace Virginia Military as Southern Conference member

The addition of Elon will keep the league's membership at 12. Virginia Military officials announced last fall that VMI would leave the SoCon for the Big South Conference. Elon is currently a member of the Big South.

"We are delighted to have Elon join the Southern Conference," said Bruce Grube, president of Georgia Southern and chairman of the league's Council of Presidents. "The institution fits all of the criteria we were seeking in a new member. It is within our regional footprint, it has a competitive football program and it has quality academic programs."

Elon sponsors 16 intercollegiate sports. Men's sports include football, cross country, soccer, basketball, baseball, golf and tennis. Women's sports are volleyball, cross country, track, indoor track, soccer, basketball, softball, golf and tennis.

"Elon's football program has been able to crack the national rankings in recent years," said Sam Baker, GSU's athletic director. "While many consider the Southern Conference to have the best brand of football in I-AA, I would expect Elon should provide strong competition during the league schedule."

The conference's expansion committee visited the Elon campus on April 8-9 and was impressed by both the academic and athletic programs.

"A number of our members who had not been on the Elon campus in over a decade were both amazed and impressed with the beauty of the campus and the quality of the facilities," said Ted Monroe, faculty athletics representative from Wofford and conference president. "Furthermore, while one could easily recognize the tremendous improvement in the physical plant, as a faculty member it was also great to see that same kind of improvement in the academic program. Just as importantly, we were very impressed with their leadership."

"This is a strong, positive step forward for the Southern Conference," said David Knight, faculty athletics representative at UNC-Greensboro. "Elon's stature, on both the regional and national levels, is growing annually."

Elon became an NCAA Division I member in 1997. In just a short period since moving up from the Division II level, the Phoenix have experienced some high profile success. The football team defeated Furman in 1999, a year in which the Paladins would tie for the Southern Conference crown and earn a berth in the NCAA playoffs. The Phoenix baseball team defeated national power Miami in two of three games this season and also beat the Hurricanes in 1999, a year in which UM won the national championship.

Founded in 1889, Elon has experienced rapid growth in recent years. With an undergraduate enrollment of 4,160, Elon is North Carolina's second-largest private university, trailing only Duke and having a larger undergraduate student body than Wake Forest.

"We believe Elon will be a strong member of the Southern Conference," said Morrison. "Elon has been a very competitive member of every conference in which they have belonged. Over the last 23 years, Elon has won 53 conference championships and had over 500 student-athletes named to all-conference teams."

Back to Sports: 06/06/02.