CONFERENCE CAROLINAS: No doom and gloom at St. Andrews

St. Andrews is in flux, but the Knights aren’t finished.

Just prior to the start of the 2011-12 school year, the NCAA rescinded St. Andrews’ membership in the organization due to accreditation issues and questions over the school’s forthcoming merger with Webber International University, an NAIA school in Babson Park, Fla.

Shortly thereafter Conference Carolinas followed suit, announcing that the Knights won’t be eligible to compete in league tournaments this year and will be considered a “scheduling partner” instead of a full CC member until the NCAA issues are sorted out.

The mood at St. Andrews, however, is far from doom and gloom.

“We’re going to get things resolved with the NCAA,” said athletic director Glenn Batten. “We’ve been working with them to find a solution.”

Batten said the main issue regarding the union with Webber International stems simply from the fact that it’s uncharted territory for an NCAA school to be absorbed by an NAIA institution.

“They’ve never dealt with this type of merger,” he said regarding the NCAA.

The only similar situation, Batten said, was the reverse scenario when an NCAA school, Northwood University, brought two NAIA campuses into its fold.

While Batten said going under the Webber International umbrella will cause significant changes for St. Andrews on the academic side, athletically not much will be different once the transition period is over.

“This campus is going to remain St. Andrews and we’re going to continue to be the Knights,” he said.

Batten added that he remains hopeful that the Knights will back in the good graces of the NCAA and competing for Conference Carolinas titles even before the end of the current school year.

“Our goal would be to get the spring sports in [league tournaments],” he said.

The Knights weren’t exactly a CC powerhouse in 2010-11, finishing last in the league’s all-sports Hawn Cup rankings. Men’s cross country recorded the school’s best showing last season with a fifth-place performance at the conference meet.

Once again, though, Batten said things are looking up.

“We’ve been in a rebuilding mode,” he said. “We grew by about 100 and some odd student athletes this year. All of our rosters are back to full strength or close to it.”

One of St. Andrews’ other top performing teams in 2010-11 was in the league’s glamour sport of men’s basketball. The Knights finished sixth in the regular-season standings with a respectable 9-9 mark in league play.

“I think we’ve had some very good, competitive men’s basketball programs in the past,” Batten said.

And those teams have enjoyed one of the best home-court advantages in Conference Carolinas.

“My Knight crazies are just incredible,” Batten said about the student section. “We try to keep it clean and spirited, but we have a good time.”

Batten also touted the graduation rate of the St. Andrews student-athletes, which he said is 10 percentage points about the NCAA average.

“Championships are great and I want all my teams to win them, but I want them all to have a 100 percent graduation rate,” he said.

While St. Andrews won’t be eligible for CC tournaments for at least the next few months, games against the Knights in all sports will still matter for King College and the other 11 schools in the league. Any matchups with the Knights during the NCAA review period will count just like any other CC game in the standings and for tournament seeding purposes.

Batten said the conference had no choice in temporarily rescinding St. Andrews’ full membership after the NCAA’s ruling and he added that the school remains eager to rejoin the league with tournament eligibility.

“The conference has been very supportive throughout the years,” he said.

While King is a Conference Carolinas newcomer, St. Andrews is already quite familiar with Bristol – although the school is more acquainted with the college on the Virginia side of town.

St. Andrews has a top-notch equestrian program and has clashed multiple times with the dominant riding teams at Virginia Intermont.

“They know us and we’ve traveled up there for many, many years competing against them,” Batten said about VI.

The Knights, however, are eager to get to know the Tennessee side of Bristol – and especially to see the Tornado come league tournament time once St. Andrews is back to normal standing in the eyes of the NCAA and Conference Carolinas.

“It’s going to be a neat marriage of strengths,” Batten said regarding his school’s union with Webber International. “We’re plowing new ground here.”

nhubbard@bristolnews.com | Twitter: @Hubbard_BHCSprt | (276) 645-2543

Know Thine Enemy

With King College beginning play this fall in Conference Carolinas, the school’s first NCAA Division II league, the BHC has taken a glance at each of the other 12 CC schools in a series ending today. The Hawn Cup ranking in the info box accompanying each story refers to the all-sports standings compiled by the league based on both regular-season and tournament results. Check out www.tricities.com if you’ve missed any stories for the info that will help you cheer – or jeer – when the Tornado’s new foes come to town.