SPARTANBURG, SC -- Elon University will become an official member of the Southern Conference on July 1, 2003. The Phoenix will replace Virginia Military Institute which leaves the SoCon the same day.
Elon will keep the Southern Conference’s membership at 12. The Phoenix was officially admitted by the conference on May 29, 2002.
Elon University sponsors 16 intercollegiate sports: seven for men and nine for women. The men’s sports include football, cross country, soccer, basketball, baseball, golf, and tennis. Women’s sports include volleyball, cross country, track and indoor track, soccer, basketball, softball, golf, and tennis.
The first official Southern Conference athletic event in which Elon will participate will be its season-opening football game at Furman on August 30.
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. College of Charleston, The Citadel, Davidson, Furman, Georgia Southern and Wofford comprise the South Division.
Founded in 1889, Elon has experienced rapid growth in recent years. With an undergraduate enrollment of 4,432, Elon is North Carolina’s second-largest private university, trailing only Duke and having a larger undergraduate student body than Wake Forest. Elon became an NCAA Division I member in 1997.
“We believe Elon will be a strong member of the Southern Conference,” said Commissioner Danny 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 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 College.
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