JOHNSTOWN —
The Pitt-Johnstown athletic department had a “bombshell” dropped on it this morning.
Six years after joining the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the Mountain Cats found out they will be left behind as the nine football-playing members of the NCAA Division II league are leaving to form their own conference.
“We just got a bombshell,” UPJ Athletic Director Pat Pecora said this morning, shortly after being notified of the split. “That’s been it. Right now, I don’t know what the full impact is.”
The move will not take effect until the beginning of the 2012-13 academic year.
Seton Hill, which is in Greensburg and is the only Pennsylvania school in the conference aside from UPJ, has joined Charleston, Concord, Fairmont State, Glenville State, Shepherd, West Liberty, West Virginia State and West Virginia Wesleyan in leaving the WVIAC.
“The intent of a new conference is to align like-minded institutions in terms of budget and goals,” the presidents from the nine institutions said in a joint statement this morning. “We strongly believe that a twelve-member all sports conference creates a solid foundation for its membership. The investment required for an all-sports league will level the playing field for all of its member institutions while positioning its members for growth.”
Pecora said UPJ has a number of options in moving forward, including trying to join together with the remaining schools Alderson-Broaddus, Bluefield State, Davis & Elkins, Ohio Valley and Wheeling Jesuit to form a new conference. Current NCAA Division II regulations require a conference to include at least eight schools and WVIAC Commissioner Barry Blizzard said that number will increase to 10 in the near future.
UPJ also could look at the possibility of joining the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, which would be a good fit geographically. But the PSAC currently has 16 full members and all but Mansfield have football programs. C.W. Post is an associate member that plays football in the PSAC.
Pecora also didn’t rule out the possibility of adding a football program at UPJ.
“I think we have to look at all options,” he said.
Tuesday’s print and online editions of The Tribune-Democrat will have much more on this developing story.
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