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| Emory & Henry athletics photo |
Emory & Henry, a member of Division III and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference since its founding, has announced it is leaving both to pursue affiliation in NCAA Division II.
If approved for the move to Division II, the Wasps would earn provisional status in the fall of 2021 with plans to play a full conference schedule in the South Atlantic Conference for the 2022-23 season.
The SAC currently consists of teams from South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Emory & Henry is in the southwest corner of Virginia, an hour and 45 minutes southwest of Salem.
E&H is the sixth school in recent years to announce a departure for NCAA Division II, following D'Youville College, Frostburg State University and the College of Staten Island. Texas-Tyler also moved to Division II as well. Benedictine announced it was moving to Division II, but quickly recanted and remains a Division III member.
"We have been fortunate to belong to one of the top Division III conferences in the country with the ODAC as a charter member since 1975, and I think this move to the SAC will continue that high standard as the league is known for great competition on a national level," said athletic director Anne Crutchfield. "I think we will see greater opportunities in our future to compete for national championships."
The school has won 17 ODAC championships in all sports combined since the league was founded: 11 of them in football, three in women's tennis.
The next step in the potential move to Division II is completing the formal application to the NCAA that is due by Feb. 1, 2021. The NCAA Membership Committee will meet in mid-July to vote on the application. If accepted, Emory & Henry will begin the first of three provisional years in August 2021. If all benchmarks are met, the school would be eligible for full membership in August 2024.