ETSU Expected To Lose Another Atlantic Sun Conference Opponent

The Atlantic Sun has possibly lost another team, and East Tennessee State University might soon lose another conference opponent.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Campbell University plans to leave the A-Sun and relocate to the Big South Conference for the 2011-12 academic year. A news conference is scheduled today in which Campbell is expected to confirm the move.

Campbell, located in Buies Creek, N.C., has been a member of the 11-team Atlantic Sun since 1994 and was originally a charter member of the 10-team Big South.

Mike White, ETSU associate athletic director for communications, said Campbell’s expected move is simply part of the fluid world of collegiate athletic conference affiliation, in which teams regularly come and go.

“They have to do what they feel is right for their program,” White said.

White stated that, while Campbell was a good conference member, very competitive in certain sports and a school ETSU enjoyed playing, Belmont, Lipscomb and Kennesaw State have become the Buccaneers’ main rivals in the A-Sun. ETSU moved from the Southern Conference to the Atlantic Sun in 2005, following the school’s decision to drop its football program at the conclusion of the 2003 season. The A-Sun does not offer football; the majority of Big South schools play football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level.

White said Campbell’s move away from the Atlantic Sun would definitely be noticed. But he also said the school’s expected departure would make scheduling easier, primarily because Campbell was often “the rotating travel partner,” in addition to being a religious-affiliated university that does not play games on Sunday.

White said ETSU has not been informed that the Atlantic Sun is looking to immediately replace Campbell.

“I think what you’ll find is, if the league needs to make a change, [it] will,” White said.

White said there are no current plans for ETSU to leave the Atlantic Sun. The university considered in February 2008 an initial offer made by the Ohio Valley Conference to re-enter the league, of which the school was a member from 1957-78. A 22-member committee composed of ETSU officials and area residents unanimously declined the offer.

“I like the A-Sun, and we think it’s improving,” ETSU President Dr. Paul Stanton told the Bristol Herald Courier on Feb. 28, 2008. “We’re developing rivalries, possibly faster than we thought we would.”

Stanton said at the time ETSU planned to remain in the A-Sun through at least 2011. White said he was not aware of any change in the school’s stance during the interim.

“We seem to have a pretty good fit there right now,” White said.

Campbell’s expected departure from the Atlantic Sun follows Gardner Webb’s decision to leave the conference in 2008 and relocate to the Big South. The Fighting Camels’ move from the A-Sun would leave only Belmont, Lipscomb, Mercer and USC Upstate as Atlantic Sun-member schools located within 250 miles of the ETSU campus.

“It’s our understanding [Campbell’s decision] had a lot to do with geography,” White said. “I do think for them, with the economy the way it is, they found that maybe they could save money on travel, those sorts of things. The Big South offered them more of a geographic fit.”

Atlantic Sun commissioner Ted Gumbart could not be reached for comment.

Campbell’s reported move to the Big South was first announced by The Fayetteville Observer.

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