Cougars go DI with Ohio Valley Conference
Josh McCarty
Issue date: 8/22/08 Section: Sports
Arguably the biggest moment in SIUE sports history took place during the month of June, not on a field or court, but rather at a podium in the Morris University Center.
After fifteen months of speculation, SIUE officially announced it would be the 11th team to join the Ohio Valley Conference, taking a major step to complete its transition to Division I.
By a unanimous vote of the OVC Board of Presidents, SIUE was accepted into the conference.
SIUE Athletic Director Brad Hewitt recognizes the importance of finding compatibility in athletics, but it was the academic standards of the OVC that also drew his interest.
"As academic institutions, they have a very strong commitment to athletes and academic success," Hewitt said. "Every bench mark that's out there that people in higher-ed look at is very positive, which has always been a high priority for our institution."
With five conference rivals within 300 miles of SIUE, the proximity became another attractive quality.
"The mileage is a smaller travel than what the GLVC was for us," Hewitt said. "With gas prices and the cost of travel, we could not have found a better geographic fit for us."
The OVC also has a compact conference scheduling process across the board, which gives SIUE a lot of flexibility in scheduling non-conference opponents. That flexibility should allow SIUE to build some out of conference rivalries.
"There are 27 Division I schools within a three-hour radius of SIUE," Hewitt said. "Besides men's basketball, (Division I schools) will play you in every sport. All of our schedules are amazing with some of the big time schools we will be competing against."
Teresa Phillips is the Athletic Director at Tennessee State University of the OVC, and said SIUE was a good fit for many reasons.
"SIUE really had some great credentials to strengthen our conference," Phillips said. "They're similar to other OVC schools, and they have done quite well in many of our sports."
After fifteen months of speculation, SIUE officially announced it would be the 11th team to join the Ohio Valley Conference, taking a major step to complete its transition to Division I.
By a unanimous vote of the OVC Board of Presidents, SIUE was accepted into the conference.
SIUE Athletic Director Brad Hewitt recognizes the importance of finding compatibility in athletics, but it was the academic standards of the OVC that also drew his interest.
"As academic institutions, they have a very strong commitment to athletes and academic success," Hewitt said. "Every bench mark that's out there that people in higher-ed look at is very positive, which has always been a high priority for our institution."
With five conference rivals within 300 miles of SIUE, the proximity became another attractive quality.
"The mileage is a smaller travel than what the GLVC was for us," Hewitt said. "With gas prices and the cost of travel, we could not have found a better geographic fit for us."
The OVC also has a compact conference scheduling process across the board, which gives SIUE a lot of flexibility in scheduling non-conference opponents. That flexibility should allow SIUE to build some out of conference rivalries.
"There are 27 Division I schools within a three-hour radius of SIUE," Hewitt said. "Besides men's basketball, (Division I schools) will play you in every sport. All of our schedules are amazing with some of the big time schools we will be competing against."
Teresa Phillips is the Athletic Director at Tennessee State University of the OVC, and said SIUE was a good fit for many reasons.
"SIUE really had some great credentials to strengthen our conference," Phillips said. "They're similar to other OVC schools, and they have done quite well in many of our sports."
Be the first to comment on this story