bsc NCAA vote makes men’s basketball team Athletics eligible for 2005 tournaments

Birmingham-Southern’s men’s bas- are thrilled for our guys, particularly the seven seniors we will have ketball team will not have to wait next year.” another year to be eligible for the The waiting period issue affects only the sport of men’s basketball. NCAA Tournament after all. The previous NCAA rules prohibited a men’s basketball program The NCAA Management Council from receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA postseason tourna- approved a measure April 19 that ment if it did not meet the qualifications of a core member of a will, in effect, waive BSC men’s bas- Division I conference. To be a core member, an institution had to ketball’s wait for eligibility for the Big have been a full NCAA Division I member for at least two years. South Conference Tournament and Because BSC only became a full member in September 2003, the the NCAA Tournament automatic men’s basketball team wouldn’t have been eligible for an automatic bid that comes with it. The legisla- bid until the 2005-06 season. tion was later approved by the The measure approved by the Management Council makes a core NCAA Board of Directors on April member of a Division I conference any full member, meaning there 29. is no waiting period once an institution is accepted to NCAA “This is truly a win for Division I status. Birmingham-Southern College’s Birmingham-Southern was 20-7 overall and 12-5 in Big South reg- men’s basketball program, but more ular season play in 2003-04. Reboul’s team tied Liberty for the Big Duane Reboul importantly for deserving student-ath- South’s regular season championship and received praise from nation- letes everywhere,” BSC men’s basketball Head Coach Duane Reboul al media such as ESPN.com and Sports Illustrated as a team both said. “To prevent young men on a basketball team from even having unfortunate victims of the NCAA’s current rules and as deserving of the opportunity to play for a berth in the NCAA Tournament based an NIT berth. on their school’s decision to move to Division I only hurts the kids. BSC’s men’s basketball team returns all but two players from last Fortunately, the NCAA has recognized this and made it right. We year’s regular season co-champions.

squeaker to Winthrop in the semifinals of the tournament. The Panthers finished 25-34 overall and notched a 6-6 ledger in league play on the season. Sophomore Nikki Rombough, a First Team All-Conference selec- tion, led Birmingham-Southern with a .343 batting average on the season. The Hayward, Calif., native saw her home run total drop to just one from her record-breaking freshman number of six in 2003, but she was second on the team with 29 RBIs and slugged .417 on the season. Junior right fielder Dawn Treadwell of Trussville was a Second Team All-Big South pick for the Panthers. Sophomore hurler Kristina Villavicencio of Longmont, Colo., led the BSC pitching staff with a 13-12 overall record. She tossed four shutouts and 12 complete games. In her 144 , she Freshman shortstop Jennifer Wellborn of Parker, Colo., is greeted at home struck out 101, walked just 29, and notched a 2.81 ERA. plate after her second-inning grand slam, the first in BSC history, in the The 2004 season featured Birmingham-Southern hosting both Panthers’ 7-2 Big South Conference Tournament win over Radford. Auburn and Alabama at the BSC Softball Park. While BSC lost both matchups, the Panthers did sweep two games against Samford in the Softball Panthers make Big South campaign and downed in-state rivals Jacksonville State,Troy State, Alabama A&M, and Alabama State. Birmingham-Southern also split Tournament semifinals a regular season series with Big South power Coastal Carolina. “We had an up-and-down season,” Head Coach Tyra Perry said. The 2004 Birmingham-Southern softball team finished its season in “We finished strong, making the Big South semifinals, but we wanted grand fashion, hosting the Big South Conference Softball to accomplish more. I’m excited that all but one player return next Championships at the BSC Softball Park May 13-15. year and we’ll finally have a big senior class. That leadership will help While defending champion and affiliate league member Texas us tremendously.” A&M-Corpus Christi won the tournament behind the nearly unhit- Shannon Cantrell of Phoenix, Ariz., the lone senior on the Panther table pitching of league of the Year Sarah Pauly, BSC lost a softball team, is the only player not slated to return for 2005.

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