Santa Clara, Calif. - The West Coast Conference is pleased to announce that Brigham Young University has formally accepted an invitation to join the WCC with competition to begin in the 2011-12 academic year.
BYU, which will become an independent in FBS football, will compete in the West Coast Conference in baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, women’s soccer, men’s and women’s tennis and women’s volleyball.
The following are statements from Santa Clara President Father Michael Engh, Athletics Director Dan Coonan, Head Men’s Basketball Coach Kerry Keating and Head Women’s Soccer Coach Jerry Smith.
Father Michael Engh, SCU President
"We at Santa Clara extend a hearty welcome to BYU and look
forward to meeting their teams on the fields of competition in the
WCC."
Dan Coonan, SCU Director of Athletics and Recreation
“Santa Clara University has been a proud member of
the WCC for 58 years as one its founding members and I would like
to welcome BYU to the West Coast Conference. Like the other
eight institutions in the WCC, BYU is a faith-based school with a
proud heritage of producing championship teams and graduating
student-athletes. At Santa Clara we are proud of our
athletes' ability to compete nationally while simultaneously
performing in the classroom and in the community. We
look forward to meeting the new challenge that will be presented by
BYU and developing this new exciting rivalry for our athletes."
Kerry Keating, Head Men’s Basketball Coach
“Our basketball program is intent on playing the
best competition each year and obviously BYU offers us a chance to
continue to do that. Like the rest of our league, we look
forward to competing with them each year.”
Jerry Smith, Head Women’s Soccer Coach
Has coached SCU to 10 NCAA Final Fours and 20
NCAA Tournaments
“We're excited about BYU joining the WCC.
We've enjoyed many great matches with the BYU Women's Soccer
Team over the years. Our scheduling strategy is to put
together a schedule that will stretch and challenge us as well as
expose any potential weaknesses in our team prior to the NCAA
Tournament. BYU is a perennial top 20 team and is currently
ranked #13 and the type of team we look to schedule. In fact,
we will play them this October 28th as they are part of our
non-conference schedule. Now that they're in the WCC, we will
look forward to the opportunity to play them annually.”
