With the entry into the GCAC comes great fanfare as Stillman College has been selected as the host site of the GCAC 2024 Hope Credit Union Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships in early 2024. Talladega and Stillman both competed in the SSAC in 2022-23. The move to the GCAC is a return to conference rivalries with former SIAC opponents Rust College and Fisk University from the 1970s-80s, in addition to former NAIA rivalries from the 1960s against Dillard University, Philander Smith University, Talladega College and Tougaloo College. Four sports programs have had student-athletes become professional athletes, including 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist Jeff Henderson (track & field). National championships have been won by individuals in men’s outdoor track and field, and men’s basketball was declared the 2021 HBCU Small College National Champion. Through Stillman College’s more than 60 years of athletics history, the Tigers have produced more than 20 conference team championships across four sports, numerous individual conference track & field titles, and 30 national tournament appearances across five sports. The Tigers’ return to the NAIA in 2016 has been fruitful, with eight NAIA postseason appearances and more than a dozen individual or team conference championships across the department since 2018. Stillman will also become the first GCAC member to field bowling programs. Baker Barnes for the opportunity to join this historical conference as we continue to uplift and educate our communities and our students.”įielding 11 intercollegiate athletics teams, Stillman College’s addition to the GCAC, along with Voorhees, furthers the GCAC’s goal to add softball as a championship sport in 2025. We want to thank the Council of Presidents and Commissioner Dr. “We look forward to Stillman’s championship programs reigniting past conference rivalries and creating new rivalries. We believe our athletics footprint, geographical location, institutional values, academic standards, and historical lineage align with the GCAC standards,” said Whittle, who is also the head baseball coach. “The move marks a historical moment in the life of Stillman College as we are glad to be joining the only HBCU conference in the NAIA. Stillman returned to its NAIA athletics origins in 2016 and has competed in the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) from 2018 through the end of the current 2023-24 season.ĭirector of Athletics Terrance Whittle said the Tigers are excited to join the GCAC as its newest member in the 2024-25 academic year. Stillman College’s move to the GCAC is a return to an HBCU conference after previously competing off-and-on in the NCAA’s historical black Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) from 1978-2016. “I hope that academic partnerships will be among the benefits of our membership.” Page, the eighth president of Stillman College. Not only do we look forward to the friendly rivalries, but we also look forward to forging relationships with the other GCAC member institutions that will extend beyond competitive sports,” said Dr. “Stillman College is pleased to join the NAIA’s only HBCU conference. The expansions in 2024-25 will give the GCAC at least 10 teams in women’s volleyball, women’s basketball, men’s basketball, and baseball, earning each sport two automatic berths to the NAIA Championships. In 2022, the GCAC expanded to nine members with the addition of the University of the Virgin Islands, and in 2023, Talladega College (Ala.) returned to the conference, putting the membership at 10 schools. We are grateful to President Page and Athletic Director Whittle for leading the charge to join our conference.”įounded in 1981 the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference is the only conference in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) comprised solely of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). “Expanding our conference has been at the forefront of our organization’s goals, and adding Stillman is a major step forward for us. “This is an exciting week for the GCAC,” stated Dr. Stillman will join Voorhees University (S.C.) and Wilberforce University (Ohio), who were announced as new members this week. Kiki Baker Barnes also announced that Visit Tuscaloosa was awarded the bid to host the 2024 Hope Credit Union Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, which will be held at Stillman’s Birthright Alumni Hall February 28 to March 3, 2024. – The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) Council of Presidents voted unanimously to extend membership to Stillman College (Ala.) beginning July 1, 2024.
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