‘It’s Something They’ll Always Remember’: Conference Carolinas’ Inaugural Developmental Championships Offer Unique Opportunities For All Involved

This is the continuation of a series of Body, Mind & Soul stories that highlights member student-athletes, coaches and administrators of Conference Carolinas.

GREENVILLE, S.C. - Back in the day, most American colleges fielded freshman and junior varsity sports teams. In fact, freshmen were not eligible to play on the varsity until 1972.

That was 50 years ago, and the college sports landscape has changed dramatically since then. Some of those changes have been for the better. After all, we no longer have to wait for the Lew Alcindors and Bill Waltons to explode onto the scene as rookie sensations. 

However, the rule change may have adversely affected some student-athletes. For those late bloomers or young men or women searching for varsity potential, their athletic journeys ended prematurely. Without freshman or JV teams to play on, many student-athletes have found themselves at the end of the bench, or even worse, leaving athletics altogether.

All of this is why Conference Carolinas introduced an innovative way to address the hundreds of athletic hopefuls on member campuses: the Developmental Championship. 

Beginning last fall, the conference staged championship events for participating schools with developmental teams – composed of mostly underclassmen who rarely play on the varsity. Conference Carolinas is believed to be the first athletic conference in any NCAA Division to host such championships.

From Athletic Directors to coaches and athletes, the response has been universally positive.

“I think it’s tremendous,” gushed Stephen Miss, Athletic Director at Belmont Abbey. “The developmental program is very much aligned with our institution’s mission. It’s the physical aspect of developing the whole person, and I give the Commissioner (Chris Colvin) and the conference credit for seeing the wisdom in that.”

In its initial launch, the conference staged developmental championships in four sports: men’s and women’s soccer, men’s basketball and baseball. It was decided during off-season league meetings in the summer of 2021 that Conference Carolinas would hold championships for any sport where at least four schools expressed interest.

“Many of our members have fielded developmental teams in past years, but we felt there was great value in creating a more formal way to provide a new opportunity,” said Colvin, the third-year conference chief. “It’s gone tremendously well. We have sent a staff member to coordinate every event and have tried to present the developmental tournaments like any of our other championships. We’ve gotten a lot of good feedback from coaches and ADs, and the student-athletes seem to love the experience.”  

Colvin also said the developmental initiative has enabled member schools to increase their team rosters, retaining some student-athletes who may have transferred to other universities for more playing time if not for this unique opportunity.   

“From my perspective, I think some of our institutions are now using this developmental program as a recruiting tool, too,” added the Commissioner. “Coaches are able to guarantee incoming freshmen that they will participate in game competition and have the opportunity to reach their full potential while playing a sport they love.”

“We approached these developmental championships the same way we’ve done all our events,” said Brian Hand, the conference’s Assistant Commissioner for External Relations. “We created a manual, had pre-championship meetings, followed NCAA rules and placed signage on site. It’s satisfying to know that we have given student-athletes an opportunity they may never have received.”

In all, four schools competed in the inaugural men’s and women’s soccer Developmental Championships, while 11 members played in the men’s basketball tournament and six teams participated in the baseball championship this year.

The men’s soccer event left quite an impression on John Keating, Belmont Abbey’s head coach who led his Crusaders’ men’s soccer developmental team to the 2021 title.

“The event was so well organized and you could see the conference office went to great lengths to present a first-class tournament,” Keating said. “It was the real deal. Any time you create a competitive environment, the players will buy into it. The atmosphere in the finals was electric.”

Beyond the playing opportunity for reserves or varsity starters rehabbing injuries, the Conference Carolinas Developmental Championships proved to be a spawning ground for new-born stars.

One such player was Drew Daunt, a Belmont Abbey freshman from Tallahassee, Florida who was named the MVP of the tournament. The developmental event became his coming-out party as a standout leader on his team.

“Drew is a super gritty player, just a warrior on our team,” said Keating. “You never know how a player responds in a pressure situation until he gets the opportunity to play in a meaningful game. As a result of his performance at the Developmental Championship, I have given him minutes with the big team. I knew he could hold his own and he has definitely contributed.”

Daunt appreciated the opportunity in its simplest form.

“I thought it was fun,” he said. “It kind of gave us an end goal to the season, something to strive for. I think it also really brought us together as a unit and gave the coaches a chance to evaluate us in a different setting. I tell a lot of guys looking to come here about the developmental program and how as a freshman I was able to keep fit and improve by playing.”

It didn’t hurt that the first-ever men’s soccer Developmental Championship was a nail-biter, as freshman Deshaun Corry (Mount Holly, N.C.) broke a scoreless tie with only 1:46 left in the match in propelling Belmont Abbey to a 1-0 win over Mount Olive in the championship final.

“The team played really, really well,” added Keating. “I think it legitimized many of them as good soccer players. I’ll never forget the scene afterwards with all the players standing on the field and doing the No. 1 sign. The feeling was very real and so rewarding. To them, the trophy could have been a World Cup.”

When the Crusaders’ developmental champions returned to the Belmont campus, their bus was surrounded by varsity teammates. They had been watching the video feed to keep abreast of the final match.

“My phone was blowing up on the way home,” added the coach. “Now, the trophy is in a prominent place along with all of our championship trophies.”

Todd Wilkinson, former baseball coach and current Athletic Director at Barton College, rattled off several positive aspects of Conference Carolinas’ Developmental Championship initiative.

“The conference treated these events as a matter of real importance,” he said. “Consequently, it gave our younger players a new platform to compete on. I think they really enjoyed the opportunity, competed hard and represented their school well. As a result of their efforts, some of these students are seen in a new light by the coaches.”

The opportunity for gaining experience is not limited to the athletes. Some programs have given the full reins to assistant coaches, particularly young aspiring coaches, to serve as head coaches for the developmental squads. Those assistants must make in-game decisions and strategies that will only benefit them as future head coaches.

Belmont Abbey’s Miss echoes those thoughts about nurturing assistant coaches.

“By being head coaches in this situation, it gives them the freedom to try things. They decide when to call a time out or change a defense, or when to press or try a new soccer formation in an ‘Off Broadway’ environment where mistakes might be made in the growth process.”

Another aspect of developing future head coaches that Conference Carolina provides through these developmental events is growing a pool of qualified coaches of color.

Miss arrived at Belmont Abbey as an assistant basketball coach in 2004, the first year that the school fielded a men’s basketball developmental team. Jason Williams, a young African American, was also hired as an assistant that same season. Among his duties during an eight-year stint in that capacity, Williams also served as head coach of the Crusaders’ developmental team.

That invaluable experience led to Williams being named the Abbey’s head women’s basketball coach in 2014. Recently he left that job for the women’s head coaching post at USC Upstate.

Miss also talks with pride about another black coach, Matthew Graves, hired in 2014 as an assistant men’s basketball coach. He served six seasons in that role, while also heading up the developmental team that produced 10 players that ascended to the Belmont Abbey varsity. Graves left the school two years ago to become assistant coach at Mount St. Mary’s and is considered a hot candidate for a head coaching position in the near future.

Korey Dunbar, an assistant baseball coach at Barton, also took full advantage of his head coaching assignment this spring with the developmental team as he piloted the Bulldogs to the inaugural conference championship in April by beating Erskine, 6-1, in the title game.

“From the very start, you could tell it was something they wanted to win,” Dunbar said. “Our focus and energy were the best all year. The special part was seeing them come together as a team and forge bonds. They learned so many valuable lessons because they got an opportunity to play in a real competitive situation.”

In terms of evaluation, the coaches learned here as well. 

“We preach daily that you are always being evaluated on a consistent basis,” added Dunbar. “We saw some things we wouldn’t have seen, that some players had gotten much better than at the start of the season. In certain situations, you can see if they produce under pressure and how they handle themselves after failure. I think that’s a big payoff for these players.”

Dunbar also praised the conference office. 

“They did everything to make it feel like a varsity championship, from the awards ceremony to the pre- and post-game meals. I think the guys really appreciated it.”

When truly measuring the value of Conference Carolinas' new developmental championships, perhaps Barton’s Wilkinson said it best.

“These students just love the sport. While it might be realistic that their playing days are numbered, they all were competitive out of high school and travel league programs. So that competitiveness is already built into them. This is a chance to compete in a conference championship whether they advance to the varsity or not. It’s something they’ll always remember.”

Just ask Belmont Abbey’s Drew Daunt, MVP of the very first Conference Carolinas Men’s Soccer Developmental Championship.

Bob Rose is a longtime sports public relations executive who has worked for the San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, the NFL Cardinals, Cal, Stanford and other organizations. Bob works with Assistant Commissioner for External Relations Brian Hand and the entire Conference Carolinas office to help tell the stories of the tremendous student-athletes, coaches and administrators in Conference Carolinas.