George Mason leaving CAA for Atlantic 10
Commissioner Tom Yeager affirms that despite recent departures, the CAA will remain a viable conference.
TWO YEARS AGO, the Colonial Athletic Association celebrated its second men's basketball team in the NCAA Final Four in recent years. First, George Mason in 2006, then Virginia Commonwealth in 2011.
Now, both see the CAA in their rearview mirrors. George Mason is leaving after the spring sports season to compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference, which VCU joined in 2012.
Mason's CAA exit will mean the Fairfax, Va., university will forfeit about $2.65 million in funds. Mason's spring sports teams will not be eligible for CAA championships.
With the College of Charleston joining the CAA July 1, the conference will have nine schools for the 2013-14 seasons. Holdovers are Drexel, Delaware, Hofstra, James Madison, Northeastern, North Carolina-Wilmington and Towson.
Other recent defectors from the CAA are Old Dominion and Georgia State.
Asked about the viability of a nine-team CAA, commissioner Tom Yeager said Monday on a conference call, "We're going to stay viable. It's a new challenge."
Focusing on firming up the conference, Yeager said, "We've done it before, and we'll do it again."
According to a Drexel spokesman, no one from the university was available Monday to comment about Mason's leaving.
Yeager said he never comments on expansion plans, but he added the CAA is "actively involved" in plans to add teams.
To bolster the CAA, Yeager will have to pursue schools on the basketball level of Mason, VCU and, until this season, ODU.
A-10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade said George Mason is "a perfect fit for our league, with world-class academic programs and a nationally successful intercollegiate athletic program. The addition of Mason will allow us to continue to build on our national prominence and success in men's basketball and all sports."