Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 11, 1994 TAG: 9401110103
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Big South Conference took a blow Monday when Campbell University, one of the charter members, announced it was withdrawing effective June 30, thus costing the 10-year-old league its automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in 1995.
According to NCAA rules, a conference must have at least six schools who have been members for five consecutive years in order to be eligible for the automatic bid to the basketball tournament.
"If the conference has less than six members that have been in five straight years, then it will go on a one-year probation in which it loses its automatic bid," said Shane Lyons of the NCAA. "After that, its automatic bid may be restored provided that the conference has at least six members, three of which were charter members."
With Campbell's departure, only Radford University, North Carolina-Asheville,Winthrop, Coastal Carolina and Charleston Southern will have been in the league at least five years each. Other conference members are Liberty University, Maryland-Baltimore County, Towson State and North Carolina-Greensboro.
The conference executive committee, made up of the presidents of the member institutions, is scheduled to meet next week to consider Campbell's announcement.
Radford athletic director Chuck Taylor did not want to comment on the situation.
"I am not at liberty to make a statement that might have an impact on anything the executive committee might do next week," Taylor said Monday.
Campbell didn't specify what its plans were, although it is believed the North Carolina school's ultimate destination will be the Trans America Athletic Conference.
Campbell President Norman A. Wiggins said in a release by the school that the university "has developed needs over the years that make it desirable for us to move into a new setting, one that is more compatible with the needs of the university as they relate to recruitment, financial support and greater exposure."
The sudden departure will not be without a price. According to conference bylaws, a member must give two years' notice of its intent to withdraw or face the penalty of forfeiture of its share of the total assets of the conference. That penalty is not mandatory, however.
Campbell had been at odds with other members of the conference on the issue of games played on Sundays. Campbell, which has an affiliation with the Methodist Church, has effectively vetoed Sunday play for the entire league. The executive committee voted last year to allow Sunday play if it was in the best interest of the conference. According to a source in the conference, Campbell's decision is a result of that philosophical difference.
"I think that is the thrust of the entire issue," the source said.
Neither conference commissioner Buddy Sasser nor Campbell athletic director Tom Collins could be reached for comment Monday. Both were at the NCAA convention in San Antonio.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***