NKU to move to Horizon League

Sources tell the Enquirer Northern Kentucky University will vote Monday to move from the Atlantic Sun Conference to the Horizon League.

The move comes as the university inches closer to full NCAA Division I membership -- meaning the Norse would be eligible to play in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament -- in 2016-17.

The Northern Kentucky University Board of Regents will hold a special meeting at 9:30 a.m. Monday in Student Union Room 104.

Following the meeting, NKU has scheduled a news conference in the Student Union Ballroom for 10 a.m. to discuss the future of NKU Athletics.

Wright State University President offered up a warm welcome via Twitter this afternoon:

NKU offers 15 sanctioned varsity sports, according to the Norse athletics website.

The Horizon League is in its 36th year of operation during this academic year. Wright State is the closest Horizon League member to Greater Cincinnati.

The Horizon League membership features nine public and private institutions that includes Cleveland State University, the University of Detroit Mercy, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Oakland University, Valparaiso University, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wright State University and Youngstown State University.

NKU's entrance into the Horizon League will certainly help with recruiting in the regional Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area.

The NKU men's basketball program named John Brannen as the head coach on April 6. The 2015-16 season is the final year of a four-year reclassification process for the Norse as part of NCAA Division I. NKU first tipped off in the 1971-72 season.

NKU played its first Division I men's basketball game in November 2012 at the University of San Diego. It was the program's first West Coast trip since the 1995-96 season.

NKU became the 10th member of the Atlantic Sun Conference on July 1, 2012. NKU is one of the largest schools based upon enrollment in the conference.



The Norse advanced to Division I after winning three national championships and 22 regional titles at the NCAA Division II level. The men's soccer team was the 2010 Division II national champion. In both 2000 and 2008, the women's basketball team won the Division II national title.



NKU has more than 15,000 students served by more than 2,000 faculty and staff in Highland Heights, KY., just seven miles southeast of Cincinnati.

Mike Dyer contributed to this story.