Samford's facilities among best in SoCon

For the 11 other schools in the Southern Conference, the inevitable question that comes with the addition of Samford to the league is: Who are these guys? Which is code for: In what areas are they a threat?

Of course, there’s another side to that question, one that’s even more daunting. Samford’s coaches and players are looking at the rest of the conference and asking the same questions.

“I think the athleticism (in the SoCon) is going to be a little bit of a stretch,” longtime Samford men’s basketball coach Jimmy Tillette said. “We’re constantly on the short end of the athletic food chain because of the kind of kids that are going to fit comfortably within our athletic department and in our campus environment.

“We’re an academic school, we’re a religious institution, (and) not every kid wants that.”

Samford has had a lot of success in a lot of sports. During its five-year run in the Ohio Valley Conference, Samford teams won 13 conference titles and received 10 OVC player-of-the-year awards and 10 coach-of-the-year awards.

Its last two years in the OVC, Samford won the women’s all-sports trophy, which is given to the top program based on how teams finish in the conference standings, like the Germann Cup in the SoCon. Last year, the women’s tennis team won its third conference title and the women’s soccer team became the first OVC team to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

“They’ve got a great overall program down there, and I fully expect them to come in right away and be competitive,” University of Tennessee at Chattanooga athletic director Rick Hart said.

One area where Samford will be immediately competitive with the other SoCon programs is facilities. Last November, the $32 million Pete Hanna Center became the new home to basketball and volleyball — the arena seats 5,000 — as well as the weight room, training room and athletic offices.

Next to the Hanna Center is Seibert Stadium, the football team’s home since 1958. The 6,700-seat stadium, where both Bobby and Terry Bowden coached, can seat several thousand more on the grass hill around it. A new fieldhouse will go behind the south end zone at an expected cost of about $7.5 million. The plan is for the 39,000-square-foot building to be completed in time for the 2009 season.

“It will be just as strong as anybody else’s in the conference,” Samford athletic director Bob Roller said.

Unlike UTC, which has its facilities spread out around town, most of Samford’s are right next to one another. Not far from the main entrance to the campus is the football stadium, which is next to the baseball stadium, which is next to the softball stadium, which is next to an elite tennis center, which has six outdoor courts and three indoor courts.

“Our tennis facility is the best that you’ll see,” Roller said. “It’s unrivaled among all Football Championship Subdivision schools, so we’re getting there.

“Our soccer stadium needs more permanent seating and we’ve got a few other things to address. But instead of needing about 12 things, we’re down to about four.”