Why is Bryant University leaving the NEC to join America East? 'To win championships'
SMITHFIELD — Bill Smith started hearing whispers late in the fall.
Bryant University being linked to a move from the Northeast Conference to the America East was news to its athletic director. The Bulldogs were content in the league they’d called home since elevating from Division II in the 2008-09 academic year.
Smith placed a call to New Hampshire athletic director Marty Scarano, a connection that dates back more than three decades. They were at Colgate together in the late 1980s — Smith as a football and lacrosse player, Scarano as an athletic administrator. Scarano provided some information that ultimately culminated in a Wednesday morning press conference at Chace Center.
“Marty said, ‘Hey, you’ve been mentioned in some of the conversations for possible expansion,’ ” Smith said. “ ‘They’ll be reaching out to you very shortly.’ That’s kind of how it all got started.
“We just saw it as a great fit. It was a natural from an alignment standpoint.”
Bryant officially accepted an invitation from its new league and will join as of July 1. The Bulldogs will also move their football program to the Big South — another formal press conference will be held next week. Men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s golf, rowing and bowling will compete elsewhere as associate members — Smith is still attempting to finalize those details as spring begins.
“You can tell this university is committed both academically and athletically, which is what has gotten us to this point,” America East commissioner Brad Walker said. “That’s not going unnoticed. It’s not unnoticed in the region. It’s obviously not unnoticed by me and by the leadership of the America East, which brings us to this day.”
Walker was a men’s basketball player at Bentley in the early 1990s and competed against Bryant in the Northeast-10. That formidable Division II league gave the Bulldogs a platform to build both their men’s and women’s programs. Bryant women’s coach Mary Burke started as an assistant in 1987 after a standout playing career at Providence and was promoted to head coach for the 1991-92 season.
“This morning as I was driving in, I was thinking about back in the day when I first started,” Burke said. “It was Bryant College — what the campus looked like, what the facilities looked like.”
Bryant's championship season
The Bulldogs men will be carrying a championship program into their new league. Bryant swept both NEC regular-season and tournament titles to reach its first edition of March Madness. Jared Grasso signed a long-term contract extension and has spent the last couple of weeks reshaping what he hopes will be another contender in the fall.
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“You’re competing against a program like Vermont — they've been dominant in the league as of late,” Grasso said. “[Maryland-Baltimore County] beat Virginia in the NCAA Tournament. I think it’s a step up in weight class for us, and we’re coming to win championships.”
Burke and Grasso will eventually put their teams on the floor in a new Convocation Center and Arena — groundbreaking will be held in 2023. The Bulldogs have added an indoor football practice facility, a strength and conditioning center, a football stadium, a baseball stadium and a softball stadium within the last two decades. Bryant has made those advancements largely through a pair of leading donors — current Board of Trustees chairman David Beirne and former chairman Bill Conaty.
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“This is a tremendous moment for the Bryant community right now,” school president Ross Gittell said. “There is a lot of momentum on this campus.”
Like Smith, Gittell holds close ties to New Hampshire. He spent two decades on the faculty in Durham before being named the chancellor of the state’s community college system. Gittell was hired as the ninth Bulldogs president in July 2020, succeeding Ron Machtley.
“I know the quality of that institution and the quality of the other institutions in the America East,” Gittell said. “It’s a prestigious group to be associated with.”
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Albany, Binghamton, UMBC, UMass-Lowell and New Jersey Institute of Technology will all continue as members in the fall. Stony Brook will move to the Colonial Athletic Association while Hartford will begin its drop to Division III. Bryant will embrace a chance to grow its recruiting base further out of New England — its new football opponents include Campbell, Charleston Southern, Gardner-Webb, North Carolina A&T and former NEC rival Robert Morris.
“We’re very excited about having Maryland-Baltimore County,” Smith said. “We want to expand our recruitment — not just for athletes, but for all students — outside New England.”
Assuming their new conference schedule mirrors the NEC, the Bulldogs will play their first America East games late in the summer. Bryant will spend the next few months hammering out logistics and setting travel arrangements.
“We didn’t want to expand just for the sake of expanding,” Walker said. “We want to expand with a profile in mind — academic profile, commitment to athletic success and geographic footprint.
“Bryant was a great fit for all three of those.”
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Bryant University athletics sees America East 'as a great fit'
