Keyser's Anthony Mele one of many affected by Alderson Broaddus closing
Aug. 3—PHILIPPI, W.Va. — About two weeks before the start of the fall semester, Alderson Broaddus University suddenly closed.
One of many students impacted was Anthony Mele who just graduated from Keyser High and was set to attend Alderson Broaddus to play sprint football.
"It was tough," Mele said of hearing the news. "I was working out all summer. We've had Zoom meetings with the coaches. It just sucks for all the students, now they have to find somewhere else to go."
Mele found out 10 days before he was set to move in.
The news was unexpected to the students and faculty. Students who are set to graduate this year can finish out their degree. However, everyone else has to quickly find another college.
"It's really bad timing," Mele said. "I had to try and enroll in another college really fast."
Mele now plans to attend WVU Potomac State College where he will study secondary education to become a history teacher.
"It was kinda disappointing to hear," Mele said. "It's closed and there's nothing we can do about it."
Alderson Broaddus was struggling financially and has over $775,000 in debt. The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission announced this week that the college can no longer award degrees, effectively closing its doors.
It also meant the athletic department and extracurricular activities were immediately canceled.
Mele was committed to play sprint football, a variation of football meant to emphasize speed and agility over strength and size. Players cannot weigh more than 178 pounds.
Sprint football is not affiliated with the NCAA and plays in its own league, the Collegiate Sprint Football League (CSFL).
The Battlers were one of nine colleges to sponsor sprint football. Some of the notable colleges include Army, Navy, Cornell and Penn.
"It's a good opportunity to travel and see all these Division 1 schools you wanna get a chance to play at," Mele said.
He chose Alderson Broaddus over traditional football offers from Waynesburg and Saint Vincent College.
"The college was really nice," he said. "The coaches really wanted me to come there. It kinda felt like home. The campus reminded me of a small town in the city."
Last year, Alderson Broaddus had several local players on the sprint team including Keyser's Parker Anderson, East Hardy's Jacob Combs, Petersburg's Jacob Perez and Moorefield's Atikilt Tamiru.
"Parker is a good friend of mine," Mele said. "Him attending AB made an impact on my decision. I knew if I ever needed anything, Parker would help me out the best he could."
In Mele's senior season at Keyser, he was a second-team All-Area selection at linebacker. He finished with 87 tackles including nine for loss and two interceptions.
Mele said that he hasn't heard anything directly from Alderson Broaddus. He spoke to the sprint football coaches who said they were also surprised to hear the news.
Mele hasn't decided if he will continue to pursue playing football, but will keep his options open.
"I wish they would've let us know earlier," he said. "I just hope all the students can find somewhere else to go. All the jobs that were lost, hopefully people can find jobs fast."
Jordan Kendall is a Sports Writer for the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @JKendallCTN.
