Big South Conference
administrative history
Conference History
For more than 30 years, the Big South Conference has matured into a competitive leader in college athletics, actively pursuing excellence on the field of play and in the classroom. The League’s growing presence as an NCAA Division I athletic conference is evident by notable accomplishments on the national stage, innovative marketing and media partnerships, increased television packages, and quality athletic competition while intentionally fostering the academic, personal, social, athletic and leadership development of each student-athlete. This has evolved into the Conference’s mission of “Developing Leaders Through Athletics.”
On April 24, 1983, Charleston Southern (then Baptist College) Athletic Director Howard Bagwell and Augusta President George Christenberry began recruiting members into the Big South and less than four months later on August 21, the Big South Conference was formed when Augusta, Charleston Southern, Campbell, Coastal Carolina and Winthrop committed to the new League. One month later, Dr. Edward M. Singleton was selected as the League’s first Commissioner and continued to solicit new members. His efforts led to the additions of Armstrong State, Radford and UNC Asheville, giving the Big South more than the required six members to constitute an official conference. The Big South’s first year of competition was in the Fall of 1984, and in September 1986, the Big South Conference was granted full-fledged NCAA Division I status.
During its infancy and prior to securing automatic bids to NCAA Championships, the Big South made early strides in earning at-large berths in several national postseason events, including volleyball, women’s basketball and women’s golf. In 1989, George F. “Buddy” Sasser replaced the retiring Dr. Singleton as Commissioner, and in 1990, the League received its first automatic bid -- an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Baseball Championship. Under Sasser’s seven years of leadership, the Conference implemented its public relations and compliance programs, and introduced its first-ever men’s basketball television package, featuring the Big South competing against some of the finest teams in the nation.
In August 1996, Kyle B. Kallander replaced Sasser as the League’s third Commissioner, and in his 18 years at the helm of the Big South, Kallander has been instrumental in aggressively promoting the Conference to unprecedented new heights. The Conference has enjoyed record levels in marketing revenue during his tenure, as he has brought television coverage to Big South women’s basketball, baseball, softball, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball and women’s lacrosse for the first time in Conference history, as well as increased national television exposure to the League as a whole through aggressive and unique television packages.
Under Kallander’s leadership, the Big South developed and initiated its first long-range strategic plan, re-affirming the League’s vision as a distinctive athletic Conference committed to the quality of institutional life through athletic competition. He also spearheaded the efforts to add football as a championship sport, which came to fruition in 2002, and oversaw the additions of men’s and women’s indoor track & field in 1997 and women’s lacrosse in 2013. At the same time, Kallander has solidified Conference membership with double-digit member institutions for six consecutive years. Recent additions include High Point, Gardner-Webb, Presbyterian College and Longwood, plus the return of charter member Campbell University. Kallander’s long range vision has also included technological advancements, as the Conference introduced its first live video streaming event in 2005 and has since expanded its video offerings to more than 800 annually through a partnership with the member institutions, as well as the creation of several online and social media platforms.
Since 2000, the Big South Conference has experienced monumental growth and success in nearly every sport. During this time, the Conference has had an individual National Champion six times, has had more than 325 All-Americans, has reached the quarterfinals in the FCS Playoffs as well as the “Sweet 16” in men’s soccer, women’s basketball and baseball; has received national Top 25 rankings in football, men’s soccer, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball, men’s outdoor track & field, and men’s golf; had an individual selected to play in the NCAA Singles Championship eight times in addition to the first men’s tennis doubles at-large selection; had the first women’s golf program advance to the national finals; had the No. 1 ranked men’s golfer in the country; had the nation’s top scoring men’s basketball team five consecutive years as well as the national men’s basketball scoring leader twice; has received two at-large playoff berths in the Football Championship Subdivision since 2006; has had nine NFL Draft picks; and has had two institutions finish in the top 10 in the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships -- including the Conference’s highest-ever team finish in an NCAA event (fifth in 2007).
In 2006-07, the Big South was the only Conference nationwide to have an at-large participant in the football playoffs (Coastal Carolina), a team in the Second Round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament (Winthrop) and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Baseball Regionals (Coastal Carolina). In fact, Coastal Carolina’s baseball program has been a No. 1 seed four times -- including a national seed for the first time in 2010, while the Chanticleers’ FCS playoff berth in 2006 came in just the fifth-year of the Big South’s football existence. The 2009-10 season saw Liberty’s Sam Chelanga win two NCAA National Championships (cross country, 10,000-meter run); Coastal Carolina’s baseball team reach the Super Regionals for the second time in three years as well as being ranked No. 1 in the national RPI and as high as No. 3 in the national polls; and three women’s basketball teams reached the postseason for the first time in Conference history. In 2010-11, Chelanga won two more NCAA National Championships (cross country, outdoor 5,000-meter run), the Big South had its first automatic bid recipient in football (Coastal Carolina), UNC Asheville reached the Second Round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, Coastal Carolina’s women’s golf team was the first in Conference history to advance to the NCAA Championship out of Regional play, and a League-record 18 baseball players were drafted in the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft. In 2011-12, the Big South had a record five individuals selected for the NCAA Men’s Golf Regionals -- the most of any Division I conference, as well as a record 42 All-Americans.
In 2012-13, the Big South had 32 student-athletes earn All-America distinction, while another 12 were named Academic All-Americans. The Conference also had two football playoff teams – and two playoff wins -- for the first time, had a women’s basketball team win a postseason game for the first time since 2005, had a League-record four men’s basketball teams selected for postseason play, had two men’s soccer teams reach the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season, and had two men’s and women’s golf programs selected for NCAA Regional play. This past season produced the League’s first FCS playoff quarterfinalist, had four postseason wins in men’s basketball, had its second women’s golf team qualify for nationals, and tied the Conference-record with 13 Academic All-Americans.
Several former Big South student-athletes have also reached national prominence in recent years. Coastal Carolina’s Amber Campbell made the U.S. Olympic Team in 2008 and 2012, and was one of five former Big South athletes to compete in the 2008 Games; High Point’s Tamas Kovacs qualified for the 2012 London Games; VMI’s Reggie Williams has played in the NBA since 2010, UNC Asheville’s Ty Wigginton was named an American League All-Star in 2010, and Coastal Carolina’s Dustin Johnson has won eight PGA Tour events since departing the Big South Conference in 2007. Two former Big South baseball players made their major league debuts in 2014 (Eddie Butler and Tommy LaStella), while Avery Warley became the third Big South women’s basketball player to play in the WNBA three years ago.
The Conference’s tagline, “Developing Leaders Through Athletics” was unveiled in 2008-09 in conjunction with the Conference’s 25th Anniversary. The League also honored its heritage with the Top 25 “Best of the Best” moments in League history from 1983-2008, with Liberty University’s 10-year women’s basketball championship run from 1996-2007 being crowned the No. 1 moment in the Big South’s first 25 years. As part of the League’s 30th anniversary celebration in 2013-14, All-Decade Teams were recognized for the first time in each sport. The Conference’s on-field accomplishments have been duplicated in the classroom. For the past five years, nearly 50 percent of Conference’s student-athletes were named to the Big South’s Presidential Honor Roll for maintaining a 3.0 grade-point average for the academic year, and the League has had more than 120 Academic All-Americans in its history. Furthermore, the Big South has recorded double figure totals in NCAA Public Recognition Awards for APR progress the last five years.