CAA Welcomes Campbell University As The League's Newest Member
Rob Washburn
RICHMOND, Va. (July 1, 2023) – The CAA is proud to welcome Campbell University as the newest member of the conference.
“We are excited to welcome Campbell University as the newest member of the CAA,” CAA Commissioner Joe D’Antonio said. “Campbell is an outstanding academic institution that features a successful and competitive athletic program. Both of these attributes fit perfectly into the Conference’s vision that calls for our membership to work together to advance nationally competitive athletic programs – coupled with outstanding academic programs – that empower student-athletes as whole persons to strive at the highest level in every aspect of their lives.”
Located in Buies Creek, North Carolina, near one of the fastest-growing metropolitan regions in the country, Campbell University is a private university with an enrollment of more than 5,600 students. Founded in 1887, Campbell currently enrolls more native North Carolinians than any other private college or university in the state.
With programs in osteopathic medicine, pharmaceutical sciences, nursing, physician assistant, physical therapy and sports medicine, Campbell has emerged in the last decade as a leader in health sciences education in North Carolina. Campbell is also home to the state’s newest undergraduate engineering program, its first undergraduate degree in homeland security and the nation’s only four-year undergraduate program in trust and wealth management.
"The leadership team at Campbell University is grateful to the CAA for the invitation to join this outstanding athletic conference," said Campbell University President J. Bradley Creed. "Campbell's athletic teams have demonstrated that we can compete with some of the best teams in the country. This move to the CAA aligns extremely well for Campbell in terms of the profile of sports and athletics, as well as the academic reputation of these highly regarded colleges and universities."
Campbell is home to more than 600 student-athletes competing in 21 Division I sports — baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, football, men’s and women’s golf, women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, women’s swimming, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field and women’s volleyball. Wrestling will remain a member of the Southern Conference.
Over the last six years, Campbell has won five Big South Conference men’s all sports trophies and the Sasser Cup twice as the overall Big South all sports champion.
In that same six-year span, Campbell has won 49 league regular season and tournament titles in Big South and Southern (wrestling) conference competition. Fighting Camel teams claimed nine conference regular season and tournament titles in 2022-23 — winning championships in women’s soccer (regular season), men’s soccer (regular season), volleyball (regular season), baseball (regular season and tournament), softball (regular season and tournament), women’s golf and men’s tennis (regular season).
Fighting Camel teams and individuals have made 51 postseason appearances in the last six seasons, including five berths in 2022-23. The women’s golf team has earned 11-consecutive NCAA regional berths, while the baseball team has competed in the last five NCAA regionals.
Campbell University Director of Athletics Hannah Bazemore called the move “one that will be exceptional for our institution.”
“I would like to thank Commissioner Joe D’Antonio and the board of directors in the CAA for extending this invitation and giving Campbell University, our student-athletes, coaches and staff this tremendous opportunity. It’s an exciting time to be at Campbell,” Bazemore said. “Academically, culturally and athletically, the CAA will be an outstanding home for Fighting Camel Athletics for decades to come. It’s our goal to give our student-athletes and coaches an opportunity to compete among the nation’s leaders, and joining the CAA at this time affords us this opportunity.”
With the addition of Campbell, the CAA has 14 full-time members while CAA Football features 15 members.