Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 3, 1991                   TAG: 9104030266
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

METRO WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS INTO FOLD TODAY

Virginia Commonwealth, which league sources said also has been accepted into the Metro, did not have a news conference planned as of Tuesday night, a school spokesman said.

Metro commissioner Ralph McFillen will attend news conferences at UNCC and South Florida, said sports information directors at each school. South Florida's gathering is on its Tampa campus at 9:30 a.m.; UNCC's conference is on its campus at 2:30 p.m.

The possibility remained that McFillen's third stop Wednesday would be Richmond and VCU's campus, but that could not be confirmed.

The three new schools will join Metro members Virginia Tech, Louisville, Southern Mississippi and Tulane, unless the Green Wave leaves for the Southwest Conference.

"We expect an invitation to be granted," South Florida SID John Gerdes said. "Should an invitation be granted, we'll certainly accept."

UNCC officials would confirm only that McFillen would attend the news conference.

Sun Belt Conference schools South Florida and UNCC have been unofficial Metro members for some time, participating in conference calls about league expansion for at least a month. The Metro initially planned to announce the two-school addition during the basketball tournament in Roanoke in March.

But the official announcement has been held up while the Metro figured out what to do about Tulane, which is exploring its options with the SWC.

A source close to the Metro said Tuesday that Tulane would not choose its course until the SWC league meetings conclude in June.

The Metro's response, sources said last week, was to vote to add VCU as the league's seventh member to guarantee the league would stay at six teams even if Tulane left. The Metro already has lost Florida State, South Carolina, Cincinnati and Memphis State to other leagues effective at the end of this school year.

The three-team addition would take effect at the end of the school year, a league source said last week. The seven-school Metro, however, will be required under new NCAA rules to go one year without an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Under the rules, the Metro would regain its automatic bid in 1992-93.