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The Gulf South Conference Welcomes the UNO Privateers
By Austin Swanson, Driftwood Sports Editor
On June 21, 2011, the Gulf South Conference officially approved the University of New Orleans' membership request allowing the athletic department to make steady progress towards their transfer to NCAA Division II.
As UNO began their reclassification process in order to compete in Division II, GSC Commissioner Nathan Salant formally extended an invitation for UNO's conference membership months before the Privateers were officially accepted into Division II.
“UNO is gigantically important to us for a few reasons,” said Commissioner Salant. “Number one, it gets us a very strong academic institution with a unique history. Number two; it has great facilities, so it enhances the league because it has a great baseball stadium, terrific basketball arena, and a great tennis center. Number three, it brings sports that we currently need and its promise to add football.”
However, UNO is still in making adjustments to meet NCAA Division II requirements and will remain in a state of transition for about another year. Having already accepted the Privateers into the conference, the GSC anticipates having UNO as an official member by the 2012-13 year. As soon as the transition is completed, and UNO has gained full NCAA eligibility, the Privateers will be able to compete in conference and national championships.
“We are really excited to have UNO, this is a great fit, not only for the University of New Orleans but also for the city of New Orleans,” said Salant. “This is a great fit. You can win, this will be good.”
Being one of the most attractive cities in the Gulf South region, the city of New Orleans will provide a destination site for numerous GSC sporting events.
Commissioner Salant said, “We also see the city of New Orleans as a potential venue for championships, not only at the conference level, but at the regional and national level. We feel very strongly that New Orleans should be pursuing NCAA Division II sports festivals.”
According to Commissioner Salant, the GSC has always been committed to being the leaders of innovation for Division II which is one of the Commissioner's major contributions to the conference.
“The conference has always said that we are going to strive to run reputable programs that combine athletics and academics at their proper levels. That the tail will not wag the dog and that we will try to make sure that everyone is following the rules and on equal playing fields when it comes to things like eligibility and financial aid.”
Not only has the GSC brought a certain uniqueness to Division II, but also the GSC has recorded 45 All-Time NCAA championships.
Being part of the GSC for almost 19 years, one of the most successful initiatives that Commissioner Salant brought to the conference is the formation of their own television network, GSC-TV LIVE.
“What we do is we show a football game of the week on Thursday nights, we show our basketball championship double-header, and we also show all of our other team championships live streaming on the internet,” said Salant.
“The major players in that are Comcast Sports Southeast, Cox Sports television, Mediacom, BrightHouse in Florida, and other over the air stations and cable stations.” said Salant. “We were the first conference in the country to do the TV network thing. We did it way before the BIG 10. We've been doing it since the year 2000 actually, and it has been very successful in terms of viewership. It has been incredibly successful, beyond our wildest dreams actually!“
For more information about the Gulf South Conference please visit their official website at www.gscsports.org
