(Zoom press conference with MEC commissioner Reid Amos & ABU AD Carrie Bodkins)
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Mountain East Conference quickly returned to full strength Friday as Alderson Broaddus University was unanimously approved for membership into the Division II Conference.
The Battlers will immediately join the MEC, with their teams competing in the 2020-2021 academic year.
“There are some challenges but I definitely think it is something we can accommodate,” said ABU athletic director Carrie Bodkins.
“In the situation we are in nationwide, every conference and every institution is battling different things when it comes to scheduling. I think it is a good time to come in because we can make that work.”
“With their willingness to make that transition immediately at their request, that is something our board of directors elected to accommodate,” said MEC commissioner Reid Amos.
Urbana University announced on April 21 that their school was ceasing operations, leaving the MEC to search for a new member. ABU is now reunited with many of their regional rivals, including Davis & Elkins College, West Virginia Wesleyan College, Glenville State College and Fairmont State University.
The Battlers relaunched their football program in 2013. This move allows the MEC to field a dozen football-playing members. Davis & Elkins does not compete in football but UNC-Pembroke recently joined as an associate member, competing in football.
“Being able to manage our schedule, we can consistently count on having twelve football playing teams,” Amos said.
“It is extremely important that Alderson Broaddus brought football to the table for this decision.”
Alderson Broaddus was a member of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference until the league ceased operations in 2013. The Battlers have since competed in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. In the GMAC, AB faced lengthy conference road trips to locations such as Tennessee and Kentucky.
“Our men’s basketball team would travel Wednesday through Saturday so we were taking four-day trips there,” Bodkins said. “So there is extensive savings. Football will be the same way and we will minimize our overnight trips with football. It impacts us across the board.”
“Geography has taken on increased importance across the country at all levels of collegiate athletics,” Amos said. “It was very timely that Alderson Broaddus expressed the interest that they did. Geography is certainly beneficial to the Mountain East and AB as well.”
ABU sponsors 19 of the MEC’s 23 championship sports. The Battlers feature 27 intercollegiate sports programs.