The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- October 25, 1999

Notes

Conferences: The University of South Florida will join Conference USA as a football member in 2003, and East Carolina University and Texas Christian University will become members of the conference in all sports beginning with the 2001-02 season. The conference's board of directors, composed of the 14 institutions' presidents, voted unanimously to admit the three institutions during its fall meeting in New York City. "Considerations of other institutions nationwide were put in juxtaposition with scheduling, funding, geography and other factors," said Joseph Steger, president of the University of Cincinnati and chair of the league's board of directors. "However, at the current time, it seemed wise to take only one new member (in all sports) and we have invited TCU to join the league." Conference USA, which has 14 members and sponsors 18 championship sports, currently has nine football-playing schools, including the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of Cincinnati, East Carolina University, the University of Houston, the University of Louisville, the University of Memphis, the University of Southern Mississippi, Tulane University and the U.S. Military Academy. The decision to expand creates an 11-team football league and increases the number of men's and women's basketball and volleyball teams to 14. Division structure, scheduling and championship formats for football, basketball, volleyball and all other sports will be determined later.

Sports sponsorship: California Polytechnic State University has announced the reinstatement of men's golf and the addition of women's golf effective for the 2000-01 academic year. Cal Poly, a member of the Big West Conference, dropped its intercollegiate men's golf program after the 1975 season due to inadequate funding. The university did not field a women's golf program at the time. With the additional sports, Cal Poly will sponsor a total of 20 intercollegiate athletics teams.

Milestones: University of San Francisco men's soccer coach Stephen Negoesco coached his 750th career game at the school September 15. San Francisco upset 15th-ranked Hofstra University for Negoesco's 530th win ... Anson Dorrance, women's soccer coach at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, recently won his 450th career game. Dorrance is 453-19-11 in 21 seasons with the Tar Heels ... University of Houston women's volleyball coach Bill Walton recorded his 500th career victory to boost his all-time record to 500-214. Walton has coached for 19 seasons, including 14 at Houston. His 290 wins at Houston ties the school record.

--Compiled by Gary T. Brown