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College of Charleston to join the CAA in 2013

Doug Wojcik

The great conference realignment continues.

Friday, the Colonial Athletic Association added the College of Charleston as the conference’s 10th member. Charleston’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously to accept the CAA’s invitation.

“We are very excited about joining the Colonial Athletic Association,” College of Charleston President P. George Benson said in a press release. “It is a great fit for the College, both athletically and academically. This move is a significant step forward in the College’s efforts to become a national university.”

Charleston exits the Southern Conference, which it had been a member of since 1998, to join the CAA alongside George Mason, James Madison, UNC Wilmington, William & Mary, Delaware, Drexel, Hofstra, Towson and Northeastern.

The addition of the Cougars improves the CAA’s basketball conference. CofC has won 20 games three of the last four seasons, with Bobby Cremins as the head coach. This season, under first-year head coach Doug Wojick, the Cougars are 4-2, including last week’s upset win over Baylor on the road.

A new multi-year, multi-million dollar deal the CAA recently signed with NBC Sports was another factor for Charleston’s jump.

The continuing CAA member institutions include four of the top eight largest media markets in the country, while seven of the nine current members are in top 50 markets. The landscape of the conference stretches along the majority of the East Coast and the number of television homes in the CAA market exceeds 20 million.

“Adding our great city of Charleston to that group creates the opportunity to bring tremendous positive recognition to our teams, our program, the College and our area,” said Charleston Athletic Director, Joe Hull said in the release. “This is an amazing opportunity for the College of Charleston. I am confident we are up to the challenge.”

The Cougars will officially join on July1, 2013.

Terrence is also the lead writer at NEHoopNews.com and can be followed on Twitter: @terrence_payne