CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The University of Charleston athletic department is weighing options put forth by fellow West Virginia Conference members to break-away from current conference membership to form a new NCAA Division II league.
On Monday afternoon, though, University of Charleston President Dr. Ed Welch told MetroNews his school had not made a final decision about its conference affiliation.
"That's a decision yet to be made," Dr. Welch said. "There are some good arguments for developing the new conference and there are some good arguments for the tight relationships that we have with the other private colleges in West Virginia."
Amos says the new league, which does not have a name yet, is in discussion with other schools to reach 12 members.
He says the presidents and many of the athletic directors of the schools forming the new conference met last week and decided unanimously to break away from the WVIAC.
However, President Welch says he was only asked if UC would be interested in such a move. "We're looking at it. We're interested in it. I want to be part of the conversations. I don't want to be out of the conversation, but this has happened rather quickly," Welch said.
"We'll continue to look at it. It's on a fast time schedule and, when we need to make a decision, we will certainly do it."
The initial plan calls for the new league to begin competition in the fall of 2013. The upcoming 2012-2013 academic year would not be affected.
The WVIAC is one of the nation’s oldest collegiate athletic conferences. It was formed in 1924 and included West Virginia University and Marshall University as charter members.
The conference, which is headquartered in Princeton, underwent a significant membership change in 2006 when charter member West Virginia Tech moved to the NAIA. The league then invited the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown and Seton Hill University. Those two schools were the first members from outside of West Virginia since 1932 when Morehead State left the conference.
A major move took place in 1994 when the WVIAC ended a long affiliation with the NAIA to become an NCAA Division 2 member.
The withdrawal will bring to an end the annual WVIAC Basketball Championship, which is the nation’s oldest continuous post-season tournament. The event began in 1936, which predates the NCAA Tournament (1939) and the NIT (1938).
