Oral Roberts University to Join Southland Conference
FRISCO,
Texas - The Southland Conference and Oral Roberts University announced Tuesday
that the institution will become the newest member of the NCAA Division I
league. The Tulsa, Okla.-based university will become the 10th member of the
Southland on July 1, 2012, and will begin competing for conference championships
in the 2012-13 academic year.
The
ORU Golden Eagles will participate in 15 of the Southland's 17 sponsored
championships, including men's sports basketball, baseball, cross country,
golf, tennis, and indoor and outdoor track and field. On the women's side, ORU
will compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and
outdoor track and field, and volleyball.
"The Southland Conference, after a unanimous
vote of its Board of Directors, is very pleased to extend an offer of membership
to Oral Roberts University," said Dr. Baker Pattillo, Southland Board Chairman
and the president at Stephen F. Austin State University. "Further, we are
honored to learn of the institution's acceptance of our offer, and we are
gratified by the approval of the ORU Board of Trustees, the leadership of
President Mark Rutland and the diligent work of Athletic Director Mike Carter.
The Southland presidents look forward to a beneficial partnership with ORU and
its athletic program."
"Our
number one consideration in this and all decisions is the well being of our
student-athletes. We look forward to being a competitive member of such an
excellent conference right here in our own neighborhood," Rutland, the ORU
president, said. "This change in geography that the Southland Conference
provides us will greatly benefit our athletes."
"The
Southland Conference presidents have studied the possibilities of membership
addition in the past few months," added Southland commissioner Tom Burnett.
"From the beginning of the process, the Board has only shown interest in
institutions that clearly bring added value to the league. That includes strong
academic performance, athletic competitiveness and achievement, excellent
playing facilities, geographic fit, media market size and presence in the
market, and strong fan support. ORU excels in all of these categories, and this
was evident as we began studying potential members."
ORU
will be the first Oklahoma-based institution in the Southland's 48-year
history, and will be the league's first private institution since charter
members Trinity University and Abilene Christian University departed the
conference in early 1970s. Tulsa is the nation's 46th largest city with a
population of 391,906, and the greater metropolitan area includes approximately
one million people. The area is also the 59th largest television market in the
United States.
"Our
league's geography provides travel and recruiting advantages in Texas,
Louisiana, Arkansas and now, Oklahoma, and our warm weather fosters competitive
and scheduling benefits for our teams," Burnett said. "Major airports in our
region also facilitate reasonable and convenient air travel throughout the
conference for our teams and fans when necessary."
Currently
a member of the Summit League, the Golden Eagle program has set a strong
competitive standard since joining the conference in 1997. Signifying
all-around excellence, ORU has won nine Summit League Commissioner's Cups in 14
years, and the Golden Eagles have totaled 75 NCAA tournament appearances in
that time. The athletic program has had 68 All-America selections since 1998,
as well as an indoor and outdoor track national champion and two Olympians.
"The
Southland Conference has proven that it is a strong and historic mid-major
conference, and we are excited about competing in the league," Carter, the ORU
athletic director, said. "The geographical footprint of the Southland will help
us in recruiting, both for athletics and for the university."
In
men's basketball, the Golden Eagles can boast defeating a team from a BCS or
powerful basketball conference every year since 2002-03, including wins over
No. 3 Kansas in 2006, No. 13 New Mexico in 2009, as well as other recent
victories over Arkansas, Utah, Georgetown, Oklahoma State, Stanford and
Missouri. The program has 13 postseason tournament trips in its history,
including five NCAA tournaments and an Elite Eight appearance in 1974.
In
women's basketball, the ORU program has advanced to five NCAA tournaments since
1999, and the team earned a WNIT appearance in 2010 after winning the Summit
League title.
In
baseball, ORU has made 23 NCAA regional appearances and has won a remarkable 14
consecutive Summit League championships. The 1978 team advanced to the College
World Series in Omaha, and the baseball program has played in seven regional
final games since 2002, and won a regional title in 2006.
Other
ORU sports have seen a considerable amount of competitive success, including
the women's volleyball team that advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight in 1995. The
men's golf program has a strong tradition with 12 NCAA tournament appearances,
four top 10 finishes in the NCAA championship, including national runnerup in
1981. The women's golf program has captured an impressive 14 consecutive Summit
League championships and 11 consecutive NCAA appearances.
Since
1982, ORU track and field athletes have claimed 55 All-America honors, and the
program boasts 106 NCAA championship qualifiers during the last 16 years. That
includes 2008 indoor and outdoor 400-meters national champion Andretti Bain,
who went on to win a silver medal as a member of the Bahamas' 4x400 relay team.
ORU's
athletic facilities rank among the nation's best, and the university has
recently invested resources into renovations at the 10,575-seat Mabee Center,
home of Golden Eagle basketball, and at the 2,418-seat Johnson Stadium, home to
ORU baseball. Additional improvements and new construction has also benefitted
volleyball, soccer, tennis, golf and track facilities.
Academically,
ORU sports teams have earned a 3.0 or better grade point average in 13 of the
last 14 years. In the NCAA Academic Performance Program, Golden Eagle athletic
teams have excelled, none are currently penalized, and all but one team
performing significantly higher that the new proposed penalty cut rate of 930.
ORU's Academic and ELI (Education, Learning and Integrity) Center foster
accomplishments in the classroom and prepares Golden Eagle student-athletes for
life beyond college and athletics.
Founded
in 1963, Oral Roberts University serves 3,259 students on its 263-acre campus
in south Tulsa. The university offers 63 undergraduate major programs, 14
master's programs and two doctoral degrees through its six colleges. Accredited
by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, ORU ranks among the
"Best in the West" universities by the Princeton Review, and has produced eight
Gates Millennium Scholarship recipients and two Fulbright Scholars.
The
university has approximately 24,600 graduates and serves a total alumni
population of more than 38,000.
"For
nearly half a century, the Southland Conference has proven itself as a
consistent model of athletic and academic achievement, principled leadership,
and innovation," Burnett added. "Since its founding in 1963, the Southland has
focused on providing its member institution's student-athletes the best
possible competitive and academic opportunities. Our league has experienced
significant episodes of transformation during in its five decades, but has
always found ways to work through changes and come out in a better position.
The addition of ORU does this for us again, and we expect the Golden Eagles to
excel and make our Conference even better.
The
Southland Conference has excelled competitively throughout its history,
including winning five various national championships in football, and
advancing four men's basketball teams to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen and one to the
NIT Final Four. The league has also sent a women's basketball team to the NCAA
Final Four, another team to the NCAA Elite Eight and two squads to the WNIT
championship game. In 2011, the Southland ranked as the eighth-best Division I
baseball conference in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), and has produced
numerous major league players, including 25 draft choices this year.
Southland
softball teams have defeated nationally-ranked teams every year since 1995, the
league has produced a women's volleyball NCAA Final Four participant, and track
and field individuals have won a combined 32 NCAA championships. The Southland
placed three men's golf teams into the 2011 NCAA regionals, and has produced
two top-10 national NCAA team finishes since 2006.
Academically,
the Southland has experienced the best improvement of all Division I
conferences in the NCAA Academic Performance Program during the past five
years, and in 2009-10, its men's basketball programs collectively had the 10th
best yearly Academic Progress Rate (APR) among the 31 conferences. The league
celebrates and honors academic achievement with its F.L. McDonald Postgraduate
Scholarship Award, the Scholar-Athlete Award, the Commissioner's Honor Roll and
the All-Academic Teams.
In
2008, the league developed the award-winning Southland Conference Television
Network that provides more than 30 annual live productions of various sports
events to more than two dozen regional and national affiliates.
Burnett
added that the Southland will likely continue to review membership
possibilities. "The Southland Board considers its membership review process
open, and in the coming weeks and months, it is expected that the conference
will primarily focus on the possibility of adding institutions that currently
sponsor football or plan on doing so in the future," he said.
What others are
saying...
Dr. Jimmy Simmons,
President, Lamar University
"We
welcome a first-class university to our conference!"
Robert Hill,
Athletic Director, Stephen F. Austin State University
"We
are very happy to have ORU join the Southland Conference. They will strengthen
our conference RPI, especially in men's basketball and baseball. We are
fortunate this opportunity became available, and we look forward to competing
against them."
Brad Teague,
Athletic Director, University of Central Arkansas
"The
University of Central Arkansas is very pleased with the addition of Oral
Roberts to the Southland Conference. ORU's participation strengthens an already
formidable league, and the program is solid and represents success on many
levels. Our programs look forward to competing against them next year and we
welcome them to the Southland Conference."
Larry Tidwell,
Women's Basketball Coach, Lamar University
"With
the addition of Oral Roberts University to the Southland Conference, the bar
has definitely been raised in both the athletic and academic arenas. ORU has a
long history of athletic achievement in all programs and will bring even more
credibility to a tradition-rich conference. In particular, men's and women's
basketball play at a very high level, and women's coach Jerry Finkbeiner and
men's coach Scott Sutton are two of the best coaches in the country. Yeah, the
Southland definitely got better by adding Oral Roberts!"
Greg Burke,
Athletic Director, Northwestern State University
"Amid
the ongoing landscape of Division I conference membership changes and
realignment, I am proud of the Southland Conference for attracting a quality
institution and athletic program like Oral Roberts University to its
membership. The Southland Conference is a better league today as a result of
the addition of ORU."
Tommy McClelland,
Athletic Director, McNeese State University
"Oral
Roberts University will add great value to our league. Not only from an
athletics standpoint, but from an academic one as well. The addition of ORU
addresses an immediate need for scheduling, but also addresses the longer term
need of adding value to our already great league."