July 1: So long, farewell... hello new friends

Goodbye…

A Thank You From Conference USA
As we close the book on the first 10 years of Conference USA history, I would like to extend my thanks to the student-athletes, coaches and administrators at our departing schools – Army, Charlotte, Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette, Saint Louis, TCU and USF.

These schools have provided us with many exciting memories, from Final Four appearances to Bowl victories, they have truly written many chapters in the first decade of C-USA.

We wish them continued success and want these student-athletes to know we will always be proud of them for representing Conference USA.

Commissioner Britton Banowsky & the Conference USA Staff

Hello…

It's On To The A-10, Charlotte 49ers Officially Join New Conference, July 1
The Charlotte 49ers will become official members of the Atlantic 10 Conference on Friday, July 1. Charlotte, which announced its move to the A-10 in November, 2003, joins the new league along with Saint Louis. Existing members of the now 14-team A-10 are Dayton, Duquesne, Fordham, George Washington, La Salle, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Richmond, St. Bonaventure, Saint Joseph's, Temple and Xavier.

"This is an exciting time for all of us in the Atlantic 10 Conference," said A-10 Commissioner Linda Bruno. "In Charlotte and Saint Louis, we are adding two members who will tremendously boost the national profile of all of our sports and expose our programs to two new markets in which our universities actively recruit. As we begin our 30th anniversary season, the A-10 membership has never been as strong as it is now. I am very enthusiastic about the 2005-06 season and the future of the A-10."

"We are delighted to be joining a conference with institutions that have similar academic and athletic priorities," said 49ers Director of Athletics Judy Rose. "We are looking forward to being a strong contributing member with hopes that our membership will help to further enhance the Atlantic 10."

The A-10 boasts a rich basketball tradition, with eight of its members having participated in an NCAA Final Four. Over the last 10 years, the A-10 has sent six teams to the Elite Eight, including 1996 Final Four participant Massachusetts. In addition, the league has produced at least three NCAA Tournament teams in eight of the last 10 years and the current 14-team alignment has made 20 NCAA trips in the last six years (3.3 per year). In addition to quality teams, the A-10 regularly boasts some of the nation's top individual talent. Since 1990, four National Players of the Year have come from schools in the Atlantic 10: La Salle's Lionel Simmons (1990), UMass's Marcus Camby (1996), Xavier's David West (2003) and Saint Joseph's Jameer Nelson (2004). And that list doesn't even include current and former NBA stars like Julius Erving (UMass), Bob Lanier (St. Bonaventure), Larry Hughes (Saint Louis), Lamar Odom (Rhode Island), Norm Nixon (Duquesne) and Delonte West (Saint Joseph's), not to mention Charlotte's own Cedric Maxwell (Boston Celtics) and Rodney White (Golden State Warriors).

The league also boasts impressive women's basketball, a softball league that has sent a team (UMass) to the College World Series three times since 1992 and now a men's soccer league that includes 10-time National Champion Saint Louis. The league sent three women's basketball teams to the NCAA Tournament in 2005 (George Washington, Richmond, Temple), with Xavier qualifying for the Women's NIT. US Olympian Dawn Staley, who carried the American Flag in Athens, is head coach at Temple.

Speaking of coaches, both Temple's John Chaney (1988) and Saint Joseph's Phil Martelli (2004) have been named National Men's Basketball Coach of the Year. And, did you know, that A-10 schools are sort of a breeding ground for great coaches. For instance, storied football coach Vince Lombardi (Fordham), revered Boston Celtics great Red Auerbach (George Washington), Pittsburgh Steelers Chuck Noll (Dayton) and Major League Baseball's legendary New York Giants skipper John McGraw (St. Bonaventure) all graduated from schools in the Atlantic 10.

For Charlotte, the Atlantic 10 is the school's fourth league since becoming an NCAA Division I school in 1970 (Sun Belt Conference, 1976-91; Metro Conference, 1991-95; Conference USA, 1995-05).

 

metro...rip.

 

sunbelt...rip

 

So who's in the C-USA now or did it go out of business.

 

a bunch of jokers

 

oh so kinda just like before...

but now just different...

:imagestor

 

Memphis is the best bball team and they suck.

 

Memphis is for fatasses.

 

yeah Charlotte, Cincinnati, Louisville, DePaul, and Marquette were jokes of programs


The "best" teams left in the new CUSA will be Memphis and UAB. now that's sad

 

Never though I would see "Memphis" and "best" in the same sentence.