College of Charleston board votes to enter negotiations with Colonial Athletic Association

The College of Charleston took another step closer to joining the Colonial Athletic Association.

The school’s Board of Trustee met for 90 minutes Friday morning and passed a resolution to begin negotiations with the CAA. The resolution does not guarantee a jump to the CAA.

The College of Charleston has been in the Southern Conference since 1998.

The board’s next schedule meeting is set for January, but a vote on the school’s conference affiliation could come before the new year.

“It’s a move forward for our program and I would expect the negotiations to start in relatively short order,” said College of Charleston athletic director Joe Hull. “I think this was a major statement for the College of Charleston. I would expect the negotiations to move very quickly. I would expect the president would get together with the conference commissioner pretty soon and begin discussions.”

Hull said he wasn’t sure how long the negotiations will last before the board will vote on joining the CAA.

The Southern Conference remained relatively neutral about the Cougars decision.

“We will continue to monitor membership issues as we have done consistently for the past few years,” SoCon commissioner John Iamario said in a prepared statement. “We are working diligently with our membership to ensure the continued success of the Southern Conference and provide a successful future for our athletics programs and the student-athletes we serve.”

College of Charleston basketball coach Doug Wojcik was not surprised by the board’s decision. Wojcik said his recruiting philosophy won’t change.

“I wasn’t going to be surprised either way,” Wojcik said. “We’re going to recruit South Carolina and the Southeast first, but this does allow us to broaden our horizons and recruit parts of the Northeast.”