Athletic director Wimberly talks what's ahead for ABAC athletics

May 29—TIFTON — A four-year athletic program is on the horizon for Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. ABAC announced the change May 16, with a further detail that men's and women's basketball would be returning to campus next year for the first time since shuttering in 2008.

How will all of this work? Athletic director Chuck Wimberly recently shared details in an interview about what is next for the Stallions and Fillies.

The switch is a year away, but Wimberly is already in constant motion. "There is no grass growing beneath my feet," he joked. Wimberly, named AD in November 2022, will be the initial women's basketball coach.

For the 2023-24 season, ABAC will remain in the NJCAA. "The goal is to transfer to NAIA for Fall of 2024," he said. All athletic programs will jump at the same time and basketball will start for 2024-25 as well.

Wimberly said he was looking forward to coaching women's basketball in its first season. Basketball is one of many sports he has coached before, along with football, softball, baseball, golf and track. The Stallions will hire a men's coach.

He sees basketball's return as a big boost overall.

"That's something that will be good for the school and I think one of those things that helps the school," Wimberly said. "It will bring the community together and bring something for the student body in the afternoons and night to have something to go to." He noted 1,300 students live on campus.

During its basketball years, Gressette Gym was known for its rowdy atmosphere. One of ABAC's much successful sports, the Stallions rose to a No. 9 national rank during their penultimate season. The Fillies have two state title victories in their history.

Though Gressette Gymnasium will not have hosted a college basketball game in more than 15 years, Wimberly said little work was needed to update it.

"Working on the floors, working on the goals and scoreboards," he said. "Other than that, there's really not much." Basketball is helped that the game has not fundamentally changed since ABAC last played. Dimensions are still the same, as are the ball and scoring rules. College already played with a shot clock, so that part is already installed in the gym.

With those things easy to fix, Wimberly said the major thing would be recruiting. "We gave ourselves a year to go out and recruit," he said.

On the recruiting front, Wimberly said that having a four-year program is a big boost.

"Having the opportunity to stay here four years will be tremendous to our college,' he said. "They won't have to leave after two years to chase the ball to go somewhere else to play. They can stay with us to play. That's a tremendous help for our college and retention."

ABAC has not had to do much outreach about becoming a four-year athletics program so far, Wimberly said, in large part because people are reaching out to them. High schools, current ABAC students and those in other junior colleges are part of the pool of prospective student-athletes to fill out rosters.

Current Fillies and Stallions have been very positive about the transition, he said. "That's been the buzz of all, them talking about being able to come here and stay here, and not have to ever leave ABAC to get their four-year degree."

He did say there will be more athletics camps for all sports for potential future ABAC enrollees and athletes.

Basketball is on the way to being ready for the 2024-25 start. Abraham Baldwin has been updating other facilities in recent years. Wimberly said tennis courts will be resurfaced this summer. For baseball and softball, he said they will "freshen up" the fields there.

Work is being done on a cross country course. Tift County Schools has used a trail on the north side of the campus for meets over the years. Cross country was introduced at ABAC a year ago and all of its meets were on the road.

Fields and courts are a major part of recruiting, Wimberly said, and ABAC is making sure those are showcased.

"They want a quality place for an education, and the other is, a quality place to play," he said.

Wimberly said there will be another type of change at facilities eventually. Fans will have to pay admission fees to watch games. Currently, fans are able to walk into the stands at all ABAC sports free of charge.

After years in the NJCAA and in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association, it will be a complete change in opponents in 2024-25 with the NAIA.

What drew Wimberly and ABAC to the NAIA over the NCAA, he said, "The opportunity to compete, the opportunity with schools around us for travel purposes."

ABAC is projected to join the NAIA's Southern States Athletic Conference. The NAIA might not be the most familiar to locals — Thomas University is a current member and Georgia Southwestern State has been one — but several of its members are well known.

The SSAC includes Georgia schools Brewton-Parker, Dalton State, Life University and Middle Georgia State. Thomas University joins the conference this fall, moving over from the Sun Conference.

"There will be a lot of familiarity," Wimberly said. "You can establish rivalries against schools close to you." Indeed, ABAC did have rivalries once before with two schools on this list, Brewton-Parker and Middle Georgia, when both were two-year schools.

Other full members hail from Alabama (Faulkner University, Stillman College, Talladega College, University of Mobile), Mississippi (Blue Mountain Christian, William Carey) and Louisiana (Loyola University New Orleans).

Georgia-based Point University is an affiliate member, as are Florida College, Dillard University and Florida National University.

The SSAC sponsors all the sports ABAC currently offers or will offer: women's soccer, men's golf, softball, baseball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's cross country and men's and women's basketball. The conference also offers volleyball, competitive cheer, competitive dance, men's and women's bowling, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's and women's outdoors track and field, men's soccer and women's golf.

Might there be more new sports in ABAC's future? Or even a return of cheerleading?

"I expect it will," said Wimberly in regards to cheerleading. He cannot make any promises, and it may even be wait-and-see as teams get reestablished. Cheerleading may even be something ABAC can already find on campus within student groups, he said.

For any other sports, that will likely be a ways off. "The goal is to make sure this can work," he said, about reviving basketball and making sure other teams keep running smoothly. "You get what you have established." Keep the momentum in a positive direction.

Recruiting is among the first priorities beyond the announcement of going to four years, Wimberly said. Whereas ABAC's recruiting pool was essentially only high schools, while their the Fillies and Stallions were being watched by four-year schools.

Now ABAC can be one of those watching other schools. Players from its own opponents for 2023-24 could join the rosters for 2024-25.

"Now you have the opportunity to look at some junior college athletes," he said. "That's a big plus. It widens the recruiting pool."

The next 15 months may be a blur for Wimberly with as busy as he is and will be. That's to ensure the timing is right for Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

"To try to get all those working pieces and parts and putting all the nuts and bolts together to get us to where we need to get to, in the right way and the right speed, in the right time," he said.

It's all work towards a stronger future.

'"Once you get past the excitement [of the initial announcement], hey we have a tremendous opportunity to grow ABAC and help some student-athletes stay at our college and retrain students who may be leaving us to go to other schools because of playing ball elsewhere, they can stay with us now."