SoCon Tabs ETSU, VMI, and Mercer to Be New Conference Members (After Departure of Elon, Davidson, App, & CofC)

Southern Conference (SoCon) Commissioner John Iamarino announced from the league’s spring meetings Thursday that invitations had been extended to two former Conference member schools, East Tennessee State University (ETSU), and the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), and  Mercer University, a founding member of the Atlantic Sun Conference.

East Tennessee and Mercer have already accepted invitations while VMI's addition must be ratified Friday by the school's Board of Visitors. "All indications are they will accept our invitation," conference Commissioner John Iamarino said.

East Tennessee was part of the Southern Conference from 1978 until 2005 when it left for the Atlantic Sun Conference. Founded in 1911 as East Tennessee State Normal School, ETSU, located in Johnson City, Tenn., claims an enrollment of more than 15,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. The school, which later became East Tennessee State Teachers College and eventually achieved university status in 1963, boasts 11 colleges and schools at its main campus, located in the northeastern tip of the state, bordered by Virginia and North Carolina.  ETSU was a member of the SoCon from 1978-2005 and won the Commissioner’s Cup during the 1982-83 academic year. The Buccaneers sponsor 17 sports and will restart the football program, which was dropped in 2003, in time for the 2015 season. A member of the Atlantic Sun since 2005, ETSU flourished in the league, winning the men’s all-sports  race each year from 2005-12, the women’s all-sports trophy in 2006-07 and the combined all-sports race each year from 2006-12. 

The Bucs have won 33 men’s regular-season and tournament titles and 19 women’s championships in their time in the A-Sun thus far, including a remarkable current run of seven straight men’s tennis tournament titles. ETSU’s baseball team recently won the A-Sun Baseball Championship and will represent the league in an NCAA regional this weekend.   ETSU also enjoyed a successful run in the SoCon, notably winning 13 regular-season and tournament titles in men’s basketball.

VMI competed in the Southern Conference for 79 years until 2003.

VMI, founded in 1839 in Lexington, Va., on the site of what was once one of three arsenals in the state of Virginia, is a four-year undergraduate college awarding bachelor of arts and bachelor of science degrees. VMI is the nation's first state-supported military college. Today, with a mission to prepare educated, honorable and steadfast leaders, VMI enrolls nearly 1,600 cadets.  

As a member of the SoCon from 1924-2003, VMI won several league championships. The Keydets won five gridiron titles in a 12-year span in the 1950s and 1960s and seven overall. VMI also won multiple men’s basketball regular-season and tournament titles and a baseball regular-season division title in 1988. The Keydets also produced 31 indoor and outdoor track championships, five cross country championships and 14 regular-season and tournament wrestling championships. VMI has continued to wrestle with the SoCon as an associate member since leaving for the Big South in other sports in 2003 and hosted this year’s championship. 

VMI's intercollegiate athletic history dates back to 1866 with the formation of a baseball team, but the first organized sport came in 1891, when cadet Walter H. Taylor served as captain and coach of the first football team. Famous VMI athletic alumni include General George Marshall, a football player from the class of 1901 who served as chief of staff in World War II and, as Secretary of State, was awarded the Nobel Prize for the Marshall Plan that re-built war-torn Europe; Jimmy Leech, class of 1921, who starred on VMI's undefeated 1920 squad and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame; and Bobby Ross, class of 1959, who distinguished himself in the college and professional coaching ranks and led Georgia Tech to a national championship in 1990 and the San Diego Chargers to the Super Bowl in 1995.  Today, VMI fields 18 varsity sports.

Mercer had been one of the A-Sun's founding members in 1978.  Founded by Baptists in 1833 and based in Macon, Ga., Mercer is an independent university that remains grounded in a tradition that embraces freedom of the mind and spirit, cherishes the equal worth of every individual, and commits to serving the needs of humankind. With more than 8,300 students enrolled in 12 schools and colleges on campuses in Macon, Atlanta and Savannah, Mercer is consistently ranked among the nation’s leading institutions by such publications as U.S. News & World Report and the Princeton Review. 
 

The last remaining charter member of the A-Sun, Mercer has enjoyed great success in the league since its inception in 1978. This year alone, the Bears won the men’s basketball and baseball regular-season conference titles, with the basketball team topping Tennessee in the first round of the NIT and the baseball team earning an at-large NCAA Regional berth for this weekend. In its A-Sun history, Mercer has won 15 men’s titles and four women’s titles, while both its men’s and women’s program won the league’s all-academic trophies in 1992-93 and 1993-94. 

The Bears will be adding women’s track and field and resurrecting football – which last played a game in 1941 – for the 2013-14 academic year, with the football team playing in the non-scholarship Pioneer League before making the move to scholarship play within the SoCon. Those additions will bring Mercer’s number of sponsored sports to 18.

 The SoCon had been one of the most plundered leagues recently with five of its 12 members choosing to leave since November.
College of Charleston began the exodus in November with its move to the Colonial Athletic Association. Appalachian State and Georgia Southern, two of the SoCon's most powerful football schools, left for the Sun Belt Conference, while basketball powerhouse Davidson will join the Atlantic 10. The latest departure came earlier this month when Elon bolted for the Colonial.

 "The addition of these three institutions will solidify the Southern Conference," Iamarino said, "and ensure our position as a vibrant league with a bright future."  All three are expected to join in July 2014, giving the league 10 members for the 2014-15 academic year.

Founded in 1921, the Southern Conference has been on the forefront of innovation and originality in developing creative solutions to address issues facing intercollegiate athletics. From establishing the first conference basketball tournament (1921), to tackling the issue of freshman eligibility (1922), to developing women’s championships (1984) to becoming the first conference to install the 3-point goal in basketball (1980), the Southern Conference has been a pioneer.

The SoCon’s membership for the 2014-15 academic year will be as follows: The Citadel, East Tennessee State, Furman, Mercer, UNCG, Samford, Chattanooga, VMI, Western Carolina and Wofford. 

“Our core members are committed to each other and the Southern Conference,” Iamarino said. “We look forward to welcoming East Tennessee State, Mercer and VMI to the SoCon.”