It’s a new day for athletics at Chicago State University. Last week the school announced that it was joining the Great West Conference. The Cougars become the seventh school in the conference, joining Utah Valley University, New Jersey Institute of
It’s a new day for athletics at Chicago State University. Last week, the school announced that it was joining the Great West Conference. The Cougars become the seventh school in the conference, joining Utah Valley University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Houston Baptist University, the University of North Dakota, the University of South Dakota and University of Texas-Pan American.
“I am very happy for our program to return to conference play,” said new CSU athletic director Sudie Davis. “This means a lot for the Chicago State Cougars, and the Great West will be a great assist in our recruiting efforts and our competitive spirit.”
Great West conference commissioner Ed Grom is looking forward to having Chicago State join his league.
“We are very pleased to add Chicago State to the conference,” Grom said. “Chicago State has been an NCAA Division I member for many years, and the new leadership is moving the program in the right direction.”
Crom said having a school in the nation’s third largest media market is big for the conference.
“Chicago State brings into the Great West a tremendous market for our other institutions to expose their programs,” Grom added. “With Houston and Newark/New York, the Great West has presence in three of the top six media markets.”
The Chicago State men’s and women’s cross country team, the men’s and women’s indoor track team, and the men’s and women’s outdoor track team will compete for Great West titles this season.
Meanwhile, the men and women’s basketball program along with the volleyball, baseball and women’s tennis team will begin playing a full Great West Conference schedule in 2009-10.
Moving into a conference is big for the Cougars’ men’s and women’s basketball programs. “We are extremely excited about our move to the Great West Conference,” Cougars men’s head basketball coach Benji Taylor said. “We are looking forward to competing against some common teams and having something to play for at the end of the year. This coupled with our beautiful new Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center signals a bright future for Chicago State basketball.”
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