Hampton College is formally altering athletic conferences, once more. After just a few weeks of hypothesis, the Pirates are leaving the Huge South Convention to affix the Colonial Athletic Affiliation (CAA) on July 1 of this yr.
Officers inside Hampton Athletics mentioned the transfer has been a aim of Hampton President Dr. William Harvey for greater than three many years. Hampton will develop into the primary HBCU to ever be a part of the CAA.
“The transfer to the Colonial Athletic Affiliation is the following step within the evolution of Hampton College athletics,” Dr. Harvey mentioned in a narrative reported by Yahoo. “A number of establishments within the CAA are positioned in our geographical footprint, which signifies that our student-athletes will proceed to spend much less time touring and extra time in courses on campus.”
That is Hampton’s second time transferring conferences within the final 4 years. The college determined to depart the MEAC, a convention composed of HBCUs, to go to the Huge South in 2018. The choice to depart the MEAC got here with a ton of scrutiny from many within the HBCU group. Many felt that the College made the improper by leaving the gathering of HBCU colleges and depriving their fan base of conventional HBCU rivalries.
Hampton will now be in a convention with colleges corresponding to William & Mary, Faculty of Charleston, Towson, and Elon. Dr. Harvey, who will likely be retiring this yr after 44 years on the helm of the college, says that this transfer retains issues within the correct perspective for Hampton and their student-athletes.
“This transfer continues to maintain the right give attention to lecturers, which is our motive for being,” mentioned Harvey “The convention’s geographical footprint, in addition to the occasional contests towards establishments within the northeast, will scale back journey bills whereas permitting for competitors in a number of of the nation’s high media markets.”
Whereas the journey prices might lower for Hampton, time will inform if their fan base will modify to watching the Pirates tackle CAA opponents. HBCU sports activities followers are a really area of interest viewers and lots of of them wish to see their establishments battle with each other in their very own group. That’s the primary motive why HBCUs outdoors of the MEAC, SWAC, CIAA, and SIAC are usually forgotten about through the season.
“Being an HBCU is a badge of honor,” Hampton Athletic Director Eugene Marshall Jr. mentioned within the Yahoo story. “ I believe for a few years, some individuals related HBCUs in an unfavorable gentle, however, what they’re discovering out with all of the give attention to HBCUs, is that now we have a number of the brightest college students and student-athletes on this nation.
“Like Monmouth and Stony Brook, that are public colleges (Hampton is a non-public college) everyone has an opportunity to raised ourselves and I believe we did. Beneath Dr. Harvey’s management, we mapped out a plan (to affix the CAA) and I’m ecstatic about it as a result of there are quite a lot of related tutorial colleges, and now we have sturdy alumni bases the place (virtually all) CAA colleges are positioned,” Marshall continued.
“We love that William & Mary and Richmond are shut, as a result of we’ve (lengthy) been rivals with them academically and athletically. I believe it’s a pure rivalry and we play them in several sports activities, anyway. I prefer it and I believe it’s going to be a windfall as a result of we’ll have extra individuals at video games.”
It’ll be attention-grabbing to see how this transfer impacts North Carolina A&T which lately joined the Huge South convention after formally leaving the MEAC in July of 2021. The Huge South has seen a number of colleges go away in the previous few months and will immediate A&T officers to begin their choices once more.
Hampton, Tennessee State, and North Carolina A&T stay the one division one HBCUs that don’t play within the MEAC or SWAC.
