Sports

Gwinnett-Based Sports Conference Headed for Changes

SCAC to get several new members after 2011-12.

A Gwinnett-based sports conference is headed for some changes, but it's too soon to know the end result.

The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference announced this week that seven member schools -- including Oglethorpe, its only Atlanta-area member -- will leave the 12-member league after the 2011-12 school year. All standing commitments and schedules until then will be honored.

Departing will be Birmingham-Southern College, Centre College, Hendrix College, Millsaps College, Oglethorpe University, Rhodes College and Sewanee-The University of the South. Staying with the SCAC will be Austin College, Colorado College, University of Dallas, Southwestern University and Trinity University. Four of those schools are in Texas.

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Dwayne Hanberry, SCAC commissioner, said the league already has been getting feelers from schools interested in joining. An eight to 10-team league is envisioned after the changes.

"The SCAC has been around for 50 years," Hanberry said. "I am confident, as are the five presidents, that the SCAC will re-establish itself and continue to function as one of the most academically and athletically desirable destinations for Division III student-athletes in the nation.

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"We are in the initial stages of accessing where we want to go in regards to future membership."

The SCAC has been based in Suwanee since 2000 and Gwinnett since 1996; Hanberry is an Oglethorpe alumnus and has been affiliated with the conference since 1995.

“We are very fortunate to have Dwayne’s leadership during this exciting time for the SCAC,” Austin College President Marjorie Hass, chair of the SCAC Presidents Council, said in a news release. “His background, which includes 16 years of experience with the conference office, will be invaluable as we embark upon this new era for the SCAC.”

SCAC schools do not offer academic scholarships; before the changes, they competed in 21 sports.


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