Georgia State leaving A-Sun for CAA

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Posted 5:31AM on Tuesday, May 25, 2004

ATLANTA - Georgia State, which has been a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference longer than any school except Mercer, is moving to the more demanding competition and bigger cities found in the Colonial Athletic Association. Beginning in 2006, Georgia State will be competing for Colonial Athletic Association bragging rights, the school announced Monday. Georgia State joined the Atlantic Sun Conference, which before 2001 was known as the Trans America Athletic Conference, in 1983. Georgia State's men have won four of the last six all-sports championships in the A-Sun, and the women have won three of the past six. ``We're going to feel right at home,'' said school President Carl Patton, noting the Colonial Athletic Association includes other research universities based in major cities along the east coast. Georgia State athletic director Greg Manning said the move will give the Panthers a chance to compete against more familiar teams. Georgia State owns recent men's basketball victories over such teams as Auburn, Tulsa and Georgia, ``but nobody wants to play us,'' Manning said. ``I stand up on my desk and scream 'What do we have to do?''' The answer was to move to a conference with teams rated higher in the Ratings Percentage Index. ``You gain credibility and it helps your recruiting. It allows us to get into more homes,'' said Georgia State men's basketball coach Michael Perry. ``Of 31 or 32 leagues in the nation, we have been ranked between No. 19 to 21 in the Atlantic Sun. Now we are going to be between 10 or 12 in the Colonial.'' With the addition of Atlanta's Georgia State, the CAA will boast five of the nation's top 25 media markets: New York (Hofstra); Philadelphia (Drexel, Delaware); Washington (George Mason) and Baltimore (Towson). ``Our collective members believe Georgia State will expand and enhance our ever-growing image,'' said CAA commissioner Thomas Yeager. Georgia State will lose the convenience of bus rides to A-Sun schools like Mercer and Troy State, and the athletic department's travel budget will grow with more flights to Virginia, New York and Delaware, said the school's vice president, Tom Lewis. ``We have a goal to increase the athletic budget by at least $2 million the next two years to meet the travel needs,'' Lewis said. ``Probably some of the TV revenue will be higher to help offset that.'' The move to the CAA becomes effective July 1, 2006. Georgia State would have to buy its way out of the Atlantic Sun if it were to join the CAA before a two-year waiting period ends. ``I know for me as a coach, I would like it to be sooner,'' Perry said. ``Our kids can compete in that league right now.'' Georgia State will become the CAA's 11th member. The league also is considering adding Northeastern, located in Boston. Other CAA schools include Delaware, Towson, Drexel, Hofstra, UNC-Wilmington, Old Dominion, William Mary, Virginia Commonwealth, George Mason and James Madison. Georgia State does not field a football team, and the CAA is still looking to add a sixth football school to begin holding a championship in that sport.