Conference Carolinas Announces 2023-24 Developmental Championship Slate
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Conference Carolinas is excited to announce the dates of six developmental championships to be held during the 2023-24 academic year.
After hosting four developmental championships the last two seasons, a developmental championship will be held in men’s soccer, men’s wrestling, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s volleyball and baseball. The developmental teams will be composed of student-athletes that have either not competed at the varsity level in 2023-24 or have competed sparingly at the varsity level by the time of the championship.
“This is a unique concept in the NCAA that provides an opportunity for our developmental teams to compete at the conference level,” Commissioner Chris Colvin said. “These one-of-a-kind events allow us to provide more of our student-athletes with a championship experience and enhance the overall competitive experience for this group of student-athletes. We are thrilled to be able to sponsor these championships and are excited to add three additional opportunities this year.”
Men’s soccer will feature seven institutions competing at two sites in a preliminary round on Monday, Oct. 16 hosted by Mount Olive and North Greenville with the championship final being contested between the two preliminary round winners on Monday, Oct. 23 at Barton. The Mount Olive bracket will include the host Trojans, Barton and Francis Marion while North Greenville will host Belmont Abbey, Converse and King. The men’s preliminary rounds will be 60 minutes in length with the championship final being a regulation 90 minutes. The bracket is available here and will be updated two weeks before the championship.
The first-ever men’s wrestling developmental championship is slated for Monday, Jan. 29 at Belmont Abbey and will feature Allen, Coker, King, Mount Olive and the host Crusaders. The event will feature an eight-man bracket for each weight class. The brackets will be available one week prior to the tournament.
The men’s basketball tournament features 13 teams, 11 institutions, and will be composed of four preliminary round sites and a four-team final site. Barton will host Chowan and Mount Olive, Erskine will have two teams and will host Emmanuel, King will host Lees-McRae and Southern Wesleyan, while Converse will host two Belmont Abbey teams and Francis Marion. The preliminary rounds are scheduled for Monday, Feb. 5. The games will be full-length (40 minutes) and each team will compete in a minimum of two games in the preliminary round. The winners from each preliminary round will square off at Converse on Monday, Feb. 12. The tournament brackets are available here.
Women’s basketball will compete in its first developmental championship which will feature four institutions. Barton, Belmont Abbey, Erskine and Lees-McRae will compete in a single-day tournament hosted by Belmont Abbey on Monday, Feb. 5. The games will be full-length (40 min) and feature a random draw tournament. Each team will compete in a minimum of two games. The bracket is available here and will be updated two weeks before the championship.
Another new developmental championship for the 2023-24 academic year is men’s volleyball which will feature four teams in Belmont Abbey, Erskine, King and North Greenville. The Flying Fleet will host the random-draw tournament on Monday, March 25 with each team guaranteed at least two matches. The bracket is available here and will be updated two weeks before the championship.
The Conference Carolinas Baseball Developmental Championship will return for a third season with three preliminary sites hosting games on Monday, April 8 with the championship game taking place on Monday, April 15. Young Harris will host Emmanuel and Southern Wesleyan, Erskine will host Belmont Abbey and King while Francis Marion will host Barton and Chowan in seven-inning, round-robin formats. The winner of each preliminary round along with the top second-place team will travel to Francis Marion for the final rounds on Monday, April 15. The complete brackets are available here.
Conference Carolinas originally added the concept of developmental championships to its bylaws in 2020, but delayed the implementation of the concept until 2021-22. A minimum of four member institutions must declare interest in order for the championship to be considered. All full and associate members are eligible to enter a team in each championship. Complete tournament information for each championship can be found at ConferenceCarolinas.com/Championships.