The Pendulum
Sports
Thursday, August 28, 2003 *Page 19
Phoenix’s new home enriched in long tradition
Nick Palatiello
Sports Editor
During the last year, Elon’s
faculty has been greatly anticipat
ing the school’s move as an ath
letic and academic member of the
Southern Conference.
Elon became the conferences
42''^ member this summer. But
many have been asking why there
is so much hype about the move
to the new conference.
The Southern Conference, is
the fourth oldest intercollegiate
conference in the United States. It
was created in 1921 with 14 mem
ber institutions. Only the Big Ten
(1896), Missouri Valley (1907)
and Pac-10 (1915) are older than
the Southern Conference.
The Southeastern Conference
(SEC) and the Atlantic Coast
Conference (ACC) originated
from the Southern Conference.
The SEC was formed in 1932 and
took 13 of the 23 members of the
SoCon; then in 1953 the ACC
took seven schools out of the
conference.
What does all this mean for
the Phoenix? Elon becomes the
first member of the conference to
be admitted since the University
of North Carolina at Greensboro,
Wofford College and the College
of Charleston were given admit
tance in 1995.
“[Elon] is joining a highly
competitive league and highly
recognized for its excellence as
well as having a lot of proud his
tory,” Dr. Alan White, Dean of
Athletics said of the move to the
new conference.
The SoCon is regarded as one
of the best athletic conferences in
the country for small schools. Not
only as the level of competition
increased with the move, but so
has the amount of national atten
tion that the Phoenix will receive
from the media as well as
prospective recruits.
“We are playing schools better
known than the competition in the
past and that will give of the name
recognition that we need,” Dr.
White said, “Recruits know the
schools that we are playing and
will give a harder look at Elon.”
The SoCon’s winning percent
age in post-season football play is
remarkable. A SoCon team has
won five of the last seven
Division I-AA championships
and the league has a .624 winning
percentage in the post season.
The conference has also had at
least one team in the Top 10 in 19
consecutive seasons.
The Southern Conference also
has history on the hardwood. In
1980 the Southern Conference
was asked by the NCAA to exper
iment with a 22-foot three-point
line. The first shot was made by
Ronni Carr of Western Carolina
University and the three-point
line is now a key mark in colle
giate and professional basketball.
A few well-known coaches
and athletes have come out of the
Southern Conference as well.
Some of the most notable partici
pants in SoCon athletics are
golfer Arnold Palmer and coach
es Lefty Driesell and Paul “Bear”
Bryant. Palmer medaled in the
1948 and 1949 tournament and
was a runner-up in 1950. In 1949
and 1950 Palmer medaled at the
NCAA Golf Championship
before becoming a member of the
PGA Tour.
Lefty Driesell, the current
Georgia State University basket
ball coach, led Davidson College
to the SoCon conference champi
onship in 1966, 1968 and 1969.
He also received the SoCon’s
Coach of the Year award four
consecutive years from 1963-
1966.
Bryant, better known for his
accomplishments at Alabama
University (a former SoCon
member) began his coaching
career in 1945 at Maryland
University.
These are just a few of the
names that have come out of the
Southern Conference.
The competition level in the
conference is much higher than
that of the Big South, which the
Phoenix has participated in for a
number of years. It may take a
while to adjust to the pace of
competition and it is not a
process that will happen quickly.
Elon will get its first taste of the
conference competition this
weekend with the match-up
between the Phoenix and Furman
University. The team that has the
advantage with different compe
tition levels is the Phoenix base
ball team, which has competed
against some of the top teams in
the country including many
SoCon teams.
As the level of competition
rises for all Elon athletics so does
the talent that follows. The talent
pool that could possibly be pulled
in may be better than any that the
Phoenix have had before.
Contact Nick Palatiello at pendu-
lum@elon.edu or 278-7247.
Seagraves shines spotlight on future, shadows past
Kristin Simonetti
Reporter
It’s hard to see where the Phoenix football
team ends and its head coach begins. Ask
the coach a question about himself and when
he finishes answering, you realize that he s
managed to subtly turn the question into an
opportunity to focus on his team.
Such is the enigma of A1 Seagraves. Last
fall, it was fashionable to discuss the short
comings of the Phoenix football team and
declare that Seagraves should be fired.
Students spoke as if they knew him person
ally. Few knew him as more than the man
who paced the sidelines of Rhodes Stadium,
barking orders into a headset.
For example, how many knew that
Seagraves led the 1999 Phoenix team, which
finished 9-2 on the year, to one of the great
est records in Elon football history? Who
remembers that Seagraves’s teams went 16-
6 in their first two years m Division I-AA
competition, while playing the nation’s
toughest schedule according to the NCAA?
Or that even though the 2001 Phoenix team
finished with just two wins, it ranked eighth
Al Seagraves
out of 122 Division I-AA programs in rush
ing offense?
In this “What have you done for me late
ly?” era of instant gratification, it would be
easy to overlook these accomplishments.
But that didn’t make the criticism any quieter
or easier to take.
“It’s made me do a lot of soul searching
for sure,” Seagraves said. “Sometimes when
you go through a 2-9 and a 4-7 season, it
takes a toll on you physically and mentally.
But I certainly haven’t abandoned my coach
ing philosophy or coaching principles, and I
can honestly look everybody in the eye and
tell them I’ve never been more excited and
enthused about a football team in my life.”
Seagraves is comfortably in place for the
2003 campaign, and could be the team’s
biggest asset entering its first year of
Southern Conference competition. He spent
10 seasons assisting at The Citadel, a SoCon
member since 1936, serving as the offensive
coordinator. During his tenure, the Bulldogs
competed in the NCAA I-AA playoffs three
seasons and defeated six NCAA I-A oppo
nents, including South Carolina and
Arkansas. He was honored as SoCon
Assistant Coach of the Year in 1990.
“The one thing [I have] is experience,
having been in the conference,” Seagraves
said. “I can share some views with the play
ers that they may not necessarily understand
because they haven’t been a part of the con
ference.
“Anybody in this conference is capable of
beating anybody else on any given Saturday.
You have to maintain your focus and con
centration every single week.”
Seagraves shied away from making a
bold prediction about the team’s prospects
this season. He won’t forecast how long it
will take for the Phoenix to adapt to SoCon
play, stating emphatically that he “can’t see
into a crystal ball.” But he is sure that the
Phoenix is making the right moves to suc
ceed. And if he has any say in the matter,
he’ll be around for years to come, leading his
team to the greatness he firmly believes is
near.
“I see a renewed vigor, a renewed amount
of energy and enthusiasm out here on the
football field. We’re excited about this
opportunity to play in the Southern
Conference. I honestly believe that the
future is bright for this team, as well as the
present.”
Contact Kristin Simonetti at
pendulum@elon.edu or 278-7247.