NC political leaders support ECU bid to join Big East Conference

Although formal announcements unveiling the new members of the Big East athletic conference might not take place for several days, East Carolina University has received support in its bid from the state’s top political leaders.

Gov. Bev Perdue, U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., submitted last week a joint letter supporting ECU’s bid to join the conference.

In the letter, the governor and senators said ECU’s academic record and commitment to athletics would “strengthen the Big East as a conference.”

“ECU, by virtue of its growing academic reach, its proven track record in football and other intercollegiate sports, and its ardent fan base throughout North Carolina, is a school that can and will serve the Big East well,” they wrote.

If ECU’s bid was accepted, it would be beneficial for the university’s surrounding community during tough economic times, said Mark Owens, chairman of Pitt County Commissioners.

“ECU’s not centralized, but it represents the whole eastern part of the state,” he said. “Certainly economics is a factor.”

At the annual meeting of Big East member presidents Tuesday in Philadelphia, members voted to decide which schools would receive invitations to join the conference. The conference will then send invitations to the schools, which can be accepted or denied.

“I will be speaking to representatives of those (invited) schools shortly and look forward to announcing with them their acceptance into the Big East,” said John Marinatto, conference commissioner, in a statement.

Chuck Sullivan, director of communications for the conference, said invitations won’t be sent for another week to 10 days.

ECU has yet to receive an invitation, said Tom McClellan, assistant athletic director for media relations at ECU.

The Associated Press reported Tuesday that the conference will invite six schools into the conference. ECU was not one of the six.

Two of the schools who will be invited to join the conference are Southern Methodist University, for all sports, and the U.S. Air Force Academy for football only, according to The Associated Press.

But the conference has not formally announced the schools that will receive invitations. The U.S. Air Force Academy has not received an invitation, said Troy Garnhart, associate athletic director for communications there.

SMU declined to comment.

The Big East’s decision to accept bids from universities comes after the University of Pittsburgh and Syracuse University applied to join the Atlantic Coast Conference and West Virginia University applied to join the Big 12.

Contact the State & National Editor at state@dailytarheel.com.