CONWAY — The addition of Oral Roberts University to the Southland Conference was welcomed by both Central Arkansas basketball coaches.
Oral Roberts announced Tuesday that it will join the Southland Conference, effective July 1, 2012. The school, which is leaving the Summit League, will be the 10th member of the conference and will be eligible for postseason competition immediately.
Oral Roberts, located in Tulsa, is the first Oklahoma-based institution in the Southland’s 48-year history and is the first private school to be a part of the conference since Trinity University and Abilene Christian in the early 1970s.
The Southland is losing Texas State, Texas-Arlington and Texas-San Antonio to the Western Athletic Conference after this school year. The Houston Chronicle reported Tuesday that Houston Baptist University will meet with the Southland on Nov. 9. Houston Baptist, which plays in the Great West Conference, will add football if it can join another conference.
Oral Roberts will compete in 15 of the Southland’s 17 sponsored sports. But the school does not have a football team, joining Texas A&M-Corpus Christi as the only nonfootball schools as of July 2012.
In men’s basketball, Oral Roberts defeated Kansas in 2006 when the Jayhawks were ranked No. 3 nationally.Since the 2002-2003 season, the Golden Eagles have also earned victories over Arkansas, Georgetown, Stanford and Missouri.
“I think it’s going to be great for our conference,” UCA men’s Coach Corliss Williamson said. “I think it will be good for our school, period. That’s going to pretty much be our closest game. We have players from Oklahoma. We’ve recruited in Oklahoma. It opens up another recruiting base for us.
“I think for our conference, Oral Roberts is going to be a great addition. They’ve had some good years in athletics and some good teams. It’s good for us to bring in some new teams.”
The Oral Roberts’ women’s basketball team finished 23-11 and won the Summit League championship last season. Oral Roberts has played in five NCAA Tournaments since 1999 and went to the WNIT in 2010.
“I’m very familiar with their style of play,” UCA women’s Coach Matt Daniel said. “I know both of their staffs there, men and women. I know what they’re going to bring to the league, basketball-wise. They throw a lot of money into basketball, the way they pay their coaching staffs. That’s interesting news, to say the least.
“It also shows from a women’s basketball standpoint what women’s basketball in this league is capable of being.”
When it joins the Southland, Oral Roberts will be the closest school to UCA. Tulsa is 243 miles west of Conway.
“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,” Southland Commissioner Tom Burnett said in a news conference on Tuesday. “Major airports in our region also facilitate reasonable and convenient air travel throughout the conference for our teams and fans when necessary.”New look
Oral Roberts University is joining the Southland Conference in July 2012. Here is a list of the conference’s schools once Oral Roberts officially becomes a member: SCHOOL (CITY) Central Arkansas (Conway) Lamar (Beaumont, Texas) McNeese State (Lake Charles, La.) Nicholls State (Thibodaux, La.) Northwestern State (Natchitoches, La.) Oral Roberts (Tulsa) Sam Houston State (Huntsville, Texas) Southeastern Louisiana (Hammond, La.) Stephen F. Austin (Nacogdoches, Texas) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Corpus Christi, Texas)
Sports, Pages 21 on 10/27/2011