About the Atlantic 10 | Media Links
Atlantic 10 Conference
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ATLANTIC 10 MEMBERSHIP HISTORY
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On March 2, 1975, the idea of what is now the Atlantic 10 Conference was conceived. What started as an eight-school, men's basketball-only affiliation has grown into a 14-university, 21-sport league that is universally hailed as one of the best conferences in the country.
That growth and prominence is a direct result of the ideals and commitments of the member institutions of the Atlantic 10 - the University of Dayton, Duquesne University, Fordham University, The George Washington University, La Salle University, University of Massachusetts, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, University of Rhode Island, University of Richmond, St. Bonaventure University, Saint Joseph's University, Saint Louis University, Temple University, and Xavier University.
The 14 member institutions of the A-10 are united and strengthened by their diversity. Each is extraordinary in its educational mission, whether of a Catholic faith, a private university or a land grant institution. The varied pursuits of each member prove that there are many threads that weave the fabric for a great conference.
The presidents and chancellors of Atlantic 10 institutions, in conjunction with Atlantic 10 Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade, have made a strong commitment to making the academic and athletics equation a successful one. Over the years, the league membership has strived to better recognize the academic accomplishments of its student-athletes. The Commissioner's Honor Roll, which cites every Atlantic 10 student-athlete with a 3.5 grade point average or better, recognized 1,162 student-athletes in the Fall 2008 while 1,164 were named to the Spring 2009 Honor Roll.
The league sponsors Academic All-Conference teams in each of its sports and honors one student-athlete per sport as the A-10 Student-Athlete of the Year. Moreover, the Atlantic 10 provides four postgraduate scholarship grants to qualified student-athletes. In 2000-09, 182 student-athletes earned Academic All-Conference recognition, while Charlotte's Lamarra Currie, Christa Dominick of La Salle, St. Bonaventure's Katelyn Murray and David Zenk of George Washington received postgraduate scholarship grants.
The Atlantic 10 Conference had 50 teams among the 767 Division I sports teams honored by the NCAA with public recognition awards for their latest multi-year Academic Progress Rate scores. These teams posted multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports. This represents an increase of 16 teams from a year ago and ranked the league fifth among 31 Division I Conferences. In 19 of the 21 sports sponsored by the Atlantic 10, the league's APR was at or above the conference average nationally according to the most recent data released by the NCAA. Moreover, 75 A-10 teams attained a perfect score in the NCAA's Graduation Success Rate Report.
The Atlantic 10 Conference, with a total population of nearly 74 million people within its geographic footprint of eight states and the District of Columbia, will crown champions in 21 sports this season: baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, field hockey, men's golf, women's lacrosse, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field, women's rowing, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's swimming & diving, men's and women's tennis, and women's volleyball.
2008-09 REVIEW
For the 15th time in Conference history and sixth since 2000, the Atlantic 10 Conference earned multiple at-large berths to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament as league champion Temple was joined by Xavier and Dayton in the field of 65. The A-10 was the only non-BCS conference to earn multiple at-large bids. Xavier advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the third time in six years and ended the year ranked 15th by ESPN/USA Today and 20th by the Associated Press. Duquesne and Rhode Island earned NIT bids, while Richmond reached the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational.
Off the court, Commissioner McGlade announced that Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., would serve as the site of the Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship in 2010, 2011 and 2012 and that the finals will be televised on CBS Sports for the first time in league history.
In women's basketball, Charlotte captured its first-ever A-10 Championship and was joined in the NCAA Tournament by Temple and Xavier. It marked the fourth time in five seasons that three teams from the Conference received NCAA berths. Dayton, Duquesne, George Washington, Richmond and St. Bonaventure garnered WNIT bids as an unprecedented eight A-10 teams represent the league in postseason play.
Saint Louis became the first A-10 volleyball program to go undefeated (13-0) in league play since 1997 and seized its second league championship. The Billikens were joined by Dayton in the 2008 NCAA Volleyball Championship, giving the Conference multiple NCAA teams for the third time in history. In men's soccer, Dayton captured its first A-10 Championship since 1998, while Massachusetts and Saint Louis earned at-large berths to the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship. It marked the first time since 1989 that three A-10 teams represented the Conference in the tournament. Charlotte claimed its second consecutive A-10 women's soccer championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAAs. In softball, UMass won its league-record 21st regular season and Conference Championships and advanced to the NCAA Regional finals. Richmond seized its eighth straight A-10 women's swimming & diving championship and Massachusetts took home the men's crown for the fourth consecutive year and 11th time in program annals.
Xavier captured its first-ever Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship and became the first team since 1999 to hoist the A-10 trophy with two wins on the final day of the Championship. In cross country, Richmond won its second-ever women's crown while Massachusetts' men's team claimed its first A-10 title since 1995. The UMass field hockey team seized both the regular season title and the A-10 Championship crown for the second consecutive year.
Charlotte won its fourth-straight league title in men's golf, Massachusetts seized its second-ever A-10 lacrosse title and first since 2000, Xavier repeated as league champions in men's tennis and earned the accompanying NCAA automatic berth, while Richmond claimed the program's sixth A-10 women's tennis championship. Massachusetts captured its league-record 13th Atlantic 10 women's rowing championship, Charlotte defended its women's indoor and outdoor track & field titles, while the 49ers' men's team also captured the indoor and outdoor crowns. In all, 464 teams have represented the Atlantic 10 Conference in postseason play since the 1976-77 campaign.
Individually, the 2008-09 campaign was filled with extraordinary achievements both in competition and in the classroom. Saint Joseph's senior Ahmad Nivins, the 2009 Atlantic 10 Player of the Year in men's basketball, and Temple's Dionte Christmas, the league's first-ever three-time scoring champion, were named honorable mention All-Americans by the Associated Press. Nivins was selected by the Dallas Mavericks with the 56th overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft, while Derrick Brown of Xavier was drafted 40th overall by the Charlotte Bobcats.
Ta'Shia Phillips of Xavier garnered Associated Press honorable mention women's basketball All-America honors and represented the nation as a member of the 2009 World University Games team. George Washington's Jessica Adair was selected by the Phoenix Mercury with the 34th pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft. Calum Angus of Saint Louis was named to the NSCAA/adidas men's soccer All-America first-team, while Temple's J.T. Noone and Chris Salvaggione of Charlotte garnered second-team men's soccer All-America distinction. Charlotte women's soccer standout Hailey Beam was tabbed a third-team All-American, while Dayton's Kathleen Beljan earned freshman All-America honors. George Washington third baseman Sean Rockey garnered third-team All-America baseball honors, while Rich Devereaux of Duquesne, Dayton's Cameron Hobson and Zack Miller of Saint Louis received freshman All-America accolades. In addition, a record 16 student-athletes from the A-10 were selected in the 2009 MLB Draft.
Massachusetts senior Brandice Balschmiter received second-team All-America distinction in softball and became just the second student-athlete in league annals to garner four consecutive major awards for her sport as a four-time Pitcher of the Year. Teammate Carly Normandin was tabbed a third-team All-American. In swimming & diving, senior David Zenk of George Washington became the first swimmer in Conference history to be named A-10 Swimmer of the Year three times. Sammi McCloud of Saint Louis received third-team All-America honors in women's volleyball, while SLU volleyball head coach Anne Kordes was tabbed the CVU.com National Coach of the Year. Charlotte's Pat Springs earned All-America in women's outdoor track & field (long jump), while Jasmine Jennings (hammer throw) of Rhode Island became the program's first-ever women's outdoor track & field All-American.
Atlantic 10 student-athletes thrived in the classroom as well. In all, 17 Atlantic 10 student-athletes were named to ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America teams. First-team Academic All-America honorees were Ryan Bennett (baseball) and Theresa Lisch (women's basketball) of Saint Louis, Charlotte's Lamarra Currie (women's track & field) and Nikki Labuda Czaplicki (women's soccer), Temple's J.T. Noone (men's soccer) and Zack Simmons (men's soccer) of Massachusetts, who was tabbed the NCAA Academic All-American of the Year for men's soccer.
Second-team Academic All-Americans included Jimmy Baron (men's basketball) of Rhode Island, Charlotte's Hailey Beam (women's soccer) and Darius Law (track & field), Pat Disbennett (men's soccer) and Lauren Olson (women's soccer) of Saint Louis, Dayton's Amanda Gallow (women's soccer) and Alex Torda (men's soccer), Yves Mekongo Mbala (men's basketball) of La Salle, and St. Bonaventure's Katelyn Murray (women's basketball). Those named third-team Academic All-Americans included Charlotte's Adam Goss (men's soccer) and Kevin Lisch (men's basketball) of Saint Louis.
Women's volleyball standout Christa Dominick of La Salle earned an educational grant for the upcoming academic year through the NCAA postgraduate scholarship program, while Charlotte's Lamarra Currie received an NCAA Ethnic Minority Postgraduate Scholarship. Additionally, Priscilla Edwards of St. Bonaventure was among just 20 student-athletes nationally to be presented with the National Academic Momentum Award, while La Salle's field hockey team posted the highest team grade point average in the nation for field hockey.
Rhode Island's Jimmy Baron and Dionte Christmas of Temple were among the ten men's basketball finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. The Lowe's Senior CLASS Award recognizes student-athletes for great achievement during competition and in the classroom while celebrating the loyalty of seniors who honor their four-year commitment to their universities. The acronym "CLASS" stands for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School.
Finally, a trio of former Atlantic 10 basketball standouts were recognized for their play in the professional ranks as Xavier's David West (2003) and Jameer Nelson of Saint Joseph's (2004) were selected to play in the 2009 NBA All-Star Game, while Temple's Candice Dupree was named a starter in the 2009 WNBA All-Star Game.
