SoCon Didn't Issue "Deadline"

On Tuesday, the SoCon released a statement saying it did not give a deadline to some of it's member school that are being courted by the CAA.

“Additionally, despite numerous published reports citing a July 4th deadline, the conference office has not issued any ultimatums to its member schools regarding conference affiliation.”

A Burlington Times-News article sums it up this way ...

While there certainly never was any sort of established deadline, the Southern Conference had hoped its member schools in play with the Colonial Athletic Association would reach their decisions by Wednesday.

I personally just love how the writer of this entry on the blog App State Nation (great site by the way) put it ...

How did the rumor get started? Well basically, the Burlington Times reported it citing unnamed sources. The Charleston Post & Courier cited the Burlington Times. The Virginia Gazette cited the Charleston Post & Courier. Then the Winston-Salem Journal cited the Virginia Gazette.

Where do I think this whole "deadline" idea got started? Message boards. I read a ton of message boards and have a ton of very quiet sources who let me know about stuff well in advance. However, I try to wait until an actual news group or journalist published something. I always try to link to the source and quote it as much as possible as well. That way you can go read the story for yourself. If I've misrepresented what was written, you guys can leave a comment telling me as much. In this case it seems like a tweet got changed by a message board and picked up by another paper and then ... BOOM ... it was on. I still love Twitter, though.

As for an actual SoCon-CAA timeline, it seems UNCW Chancellor Gary Miller (who is chairman of CAA's Council of Presidents) expects another 6 months before things begin to really take shape.

"Christmas is a realistic goal," he said of a time frame for announcing new members.

"It's a difficult question to answer, because the schools we want to talk to have time constraints, they're in conferences already, they have exit strategies. We would like to see some things happen quickly – and definitely by next year."

Apparently, this saga will go on for quite a while.

Spartans Jump Ahead Early, Hold on Late

UNCG 62 - Elon 55

News & Record
Burlington Times News - Game Story
Burlington Times News - Coach Jensen
UNCG Athletics
Elon Athletics

* I'm sorry that this post isn't up until now. I thought it had posted Friday before I left for a weekend trip to Charlotte.

Positives
- First half --- UNCG has been notorious this season for starting slow at home. On Thursday night, the Spartans bolted out to a good lead and went to the locker room ahead 31-16.
- Poise --- After having a very good lead for most of the game, the Spartans found themselves in a fight the last 10 minutes. However, they never let the Phoenix take the lead in the game. Mikko Koivisto and Kendall Toney made big shots to put the game out of reach. All of this happened without even having Head Coach Mike Dement on the bench to steady the team.
- Senior Leadership --- Koivisto, Toney, Ben Stywall, Pete Brown and Montel Smith all contributed and played really well. Smith and Bron were very good on the defensive end of the court. While Ben, Mikko and Kendall provided the offensive spark.

Negatives
-Free throws --- UNCG shot 4-9 from the line. That's not good shooting while trying to close out a game. Also, it's not nearly enough attempts for the Spartans. UNCG needs to get to the line more often and shoot a better percentage.
- Killing Instinct? --- Elon should have never gotten back within striking distance in this game. UNCG thoroughly outplayed them for most of this game. The Spartans need to do a better job of finishing off weaker opponents. Hopefully the more games the team wins, the better they'll become at this.