Elon University's membership in the Southern Conference became official July 1, and members of the campus community gathered for a short program in Koury Center to mark the occasion. Details...
The Phoenix was offered membership in the conference on May 29, 2002. All 16 varsity teams will begin competition in the league this fall.
The first official Southern Conference athletic event for Elon will be the football season-opener Aug. 30 at Furman.
Alan White, director of athletics, addressed the gathering of about 150 people and shared a congratulatory e-mail message from Southern Conference commissioner Danny Morrison.
“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 it has belonged. Over the last 23 years, Elon has won 53 conference championships and had over 500 student-athletes named to all-conference teams.”
The event also featured a large cake, complete with the Southern Conference logo and Elon’s athletics logo.
Elon already has many ties to the Southern Conference. Head football coach Al Seagraves is a former assistant coach at The Citadel. Defensive coordinator Will Holthouser has served at The Citadel, Western Carolina, Chattanooga and VMI. Baseball assistant coach Austin Alexander is a College of Charleston graduate.
In men’s basketball, Elon will be a member of the Southern Conference’s North Division along with Appalachian State, Chattanooga, East Tennessee State, UNC Greensboro and Western Carolina.
Elon became an NCAA Division I member in 1997 when it joined the Big South Conference.
The Southern Conference is an NCAA Division I athletics conference consisting of 12 member institutions in the states of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee with headquarters in Spartanburg, SC. Members include Appalachian State, College of Charleston, The Citadel, Davidson, East Tennessee State, Elon, Furman, Georgia Southern, UNC Greensboro, Chattanooga, Western Carolina and Wofford.