GREENVILLE, SC – The Conference Carolinas presidents have voted unanimously in favor of adding UNC-Pembroke and Francis Marion University to their NCAA Division II conference.
UNC-Pembroke and Francis Marion have accepted their invitations to join the league as the 12th and 13th members of the conference. They will begin conference play in the 2021-2022 academic year.
UNC-Pembroke was a member of the Conference Carolinas from 1976-1992 before leaving to join NCAA Division II. The Conference Carolinas transitioned into the NCAA for the 1995-1996 academic year. It will be Francis Marion’s first time as a Conference Carolinas member.
Fifteen of UNC-Pembroke’s 16 varsity sports will compete in Conference Carolinas, while the football team will continue to be an associate member of the Mountain East Conference.
Francis Marion President Dr. Fred Carter and UNC-Pembroke Chancellor Dr. Robin Cummings said that it was important the Francis Marion and UNC-Pembroke join the conference together.
Carter and Cummings said in a press release, “Preserving a natural rivalry that has spanned nearly half a century is extremely important for both universities. The magnitude of the rivalry between the Braves and the Patriots has intensified greatly since the first meeting between our athletic teams in 1971, and that has been overshadowed only by the sportsmanship that has been shown by the student-athletes, coaches and fans from both sides. We are extremely proud and excited to now continue that rivalry as part of Conference Carolinas.”
The move has two major benefits for UNC-Pembroke – less travel and having 15 of their 16 teams in the same conference. Only 11 of the Braves athletic teams currently compete in the Peach Belt Conference, while women’s swimming, wrestling and both men’s and women’s indoor track and field were all members of the Mountain East in the 2019-20 school year.
With the move UNCP’s longest conference round trip will be to King University in Bristol, TN – a distance of slightly more than 600 miles. In the Peach Belt, UNCP had 6 road trips of more than 600 miles. On average the Braves’ road trips for conference games will be 170 miles shorter in the new league.
The addition of Francis Marion and UNC-Pembroke gives the Conference Carolinas 11 schools in North Carolina and South Carolina. Other North Carolina league members are Barton, Belmont Abbey, Mount Olive, Chowan and Lees-McRae. Other South Carolina members include North Greenville, Converse, Erskine, and Southern Wesleyan. King (TN) and Emmanuel (GA) are the other league schools.
Three Bladen County grads are currently freshman members of UNC-Pembroke athletic teams. East Bladen’s Ja’Tyra Moore-Peterson is on the basketball team, and West Bladen’s Conner Brisson and Carley Dawson are on the softball team.
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