It might not be as groundbreaking as Louisville’s recent move from the Big East to the ACC, but Wednesday afternoon, the Western Athletic Conference announced that it would be adding Chicago State to its conference, effective July 1, 2013.
“We are pleased to welcome Chicago State University to the WAC family,” WAC Interim Commissioner Jeff Hurd said in a statement. “As the Western Athletic Conference continues to evolve, we look forward to their contributions including the addition of another large media market to our league. We are also thrilled to be able to provide Chicago State with many more championship opportunities for their student-athletes.”
Chicago State is currently a member of the Great West, a conference that also including Utah Valley, Houston Baptist, Texas-Pan American, and NJIT. The Cougars are 2-7 so far in 2012-13 after finishing 4-26 last season.
The WAC has been in a state of major transitions over the past few seasons, having lost San Jose State and Utah State to the Mountain West, along with Louisiana Tech and UT-San Antonio to Conference USA. Texas State and UT-Arlington also defected, having moved to the Sun Belt. Idaho also took its basketball program to the Big Sky, while Denver to the Summit League.
Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_
