Thomas More College approved to move to NAIA beginning in 2019

CRESTVIEW HILLS – Thomas More College is still a member of Division III of the NCAA, for the time being.

Administrators said Tuesday that the school has received an invitation to join the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Mid-South Conference starting with the 2019-20 academic year. but has not made a formal decision whether to accept it or not.

Thomas More released a statement Tuesday:

(CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) – Thomas More College has been extended an invitation to join the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Mid-South Conference starting with the 2019-20 academic year. Thomas More was a member of the NAIA up until 1990 when it joined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. “On behalf of Thomas More College, I would like to thank the NAIA and the Mid-South for their invitations and interest in the College and our athletic department joining their highly competitive association and conference.” stated Thomas More Director of Athletics Terry Connor. The NAIA is a national collegiate athletic association that is made-up of over 250 colleges. The Mid-South is made up of eight full-time members that are located in Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Georgia.

A post today on D3Sports.com declared that Thomas More had already decided to make the jump, information that TMC sports information director Cory Blackson refuted Tuesday afternoon.

The Mid-South teams should be familiar to Northern Kentucky sports families, as countless numbers of local athletes have played for their programs in recent years. The five Kentucky schools in the Mid-South are Campbellsville University, Georgetown College, Lindsey Wilson College, the University of Pikeville and the University of the Cumberlands. Also in the MSC are Cumberland (Tenn.) University, Life University (Marietta, Ga.); and Shawnee State University (Portsmouth, Ohio).

The league lists multiple affiliate members, mostly in football.

Thomas More was one of eight institutions approved to compete in the NAIA, including Columbia International University (S.C.), Cottey College (Mo.), Florida National University, Green Mountain College (Vt.), Lincoln College (Ill.), Ottawa University (Ariz.) and The Pennsylvania State University Schuylkill.

Thomas More has been in the PAC for 12 years. All of the other schools in that league are roughly 300 miles away, in or near Pittsburgh, requiring countless long bus rides for every Saints program.