NJIT coach Jim Engles and his team will join the Atlantic Sun Conference next season. Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
NJIT has been admitted into the Atlantic Sun Conference, a source has confirmed to SNY.
The school will host an 11:30 a.m. press conference on Friday to make the announcement.
NJIT will replace Northern Kentucky, which last month departed the Atlantic Sun for the Horizon League. With the addition of NJIT, the league will now have eight members, the minimum required for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Highlanders were previously independent and not affiliated with any conference. NJIT was the last remaining independent team in Division I basketball.
That had triggered frustration by head coach Jim Engles and those affiliated with the program.
“I know for a fact some of these programs [in leagues] started with poor facilities,” Engles said in December. “And we’re going to build a $100 million recreation facility, that’s definitely coming. It’s not really being done just for the athletic department. We are a tremendous research institution and I don’t understand what the holdup is.”
The move comes after a season in which the Highlanders went 21-12, including a win at Michigan and three wins in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
NJIT will open its season in the Basketball Hall of Fame classic against Kentucky.
