NAIA approves ABAC for membership
Oct. 12—TIFTON — Gee haw, whoa back. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) is welcoming ABAC to its membership.
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College will become an active NAIA member on July 1, 2024, according to an NAIA press release. ABAC was among five schools approved for membership earlier this month, along with Bible Baptist College, (Springfield, Mo.), Defiance College (Ohio), New College of Florida (Sarasota) and Spartanburg Methodist College (.S.C.).
"Joining the NAIA is a giant step for ABAC as we continue our transition to four-year athletics for all our sports," said ABAC President Tracy Brundage in a press release. "We are excited about moving to a higher level of competition, and we look forward to establishing new rivalries with the teams in our conference."
The Stallions and Fillies are already set to join the NAIA's Southern States Athletic Conference in the which includes schools in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee as its main members. Affiliate members stretch the map into Florida.
Georgia Southern States members are Brewton-Parker, Dalton State, Life University, Middle Georgia State, Point University and Thomas University.
ABAC announced earlier this year that it was planning to become a full four-year college in 2024, a plan approved by the University System of Georgia's Board of Regents.
With the jump, ABAC will bring men's golf, baseball and cross country and women's softball, soccer and cross country. Basketball will return after more than a decade away for the 2024-25 athletic season.
"All five applicants showed a strong commitment to athletics and supporting student-athletes," said NAIA President and CEO Jim Carr in a release by that organization. "Each of these schools brings something unique to the NAIA and we are proud to add them as members."
Though this will be the first time Abraham Baldwin competes as a four-year athletics program under that name, it won't be the first foray into four-year sports for a Tifton college.
Georgia State College for Men, ABAC's predecessor, competed in four-year sports prior to the state's reorganization of colleges and universities in 1933. Under the nickname of Rams, Georgia State College for Men had many achievements in athletics, including two football victories against the University of Miami (Fla.).
