Seahawks Wish Commissioner Yeager Well On His Retirement

WILMINGTON, North Carolina – UNCW Director of Athletics Jimmy Bass says the Colonial Athletic Association is losing "a visionary leader" with the pending retirement of longtime commissioner Tom Yeager, which was announced early Thursday by the league officials.

"Tom has been a true friend of the student-athlete in four decades of service," said Bass, who served as president of the CAA from 2012-14. "In the midst of many difficult, challenging issues and the changing landscape of college athletics, he's navigated the league's growth and course with great aplomb.

"Everyone in Seahawk Nation is especially grateful to Tom. He worked with Coach (Bill) Brooks to bring us into the conference and has never wavered in his support of our program and its student-athletes through the years. We will truly miss him."

Yeager has established the CAA as one of the nation's most successful conferences, athletically and academically, and transformed what was once a Virginia/North Carolina conference into a league with a presence in many of the major metropolitan areas on the East Coast. The current CAA footprint, which runs from Boston to Charleston, S.C., encompasses four of the nation's top nine media markets.

Yeager has guided the CAA since its inception. The conference traces its roots back to 1983 when two of its current members- James Madison University and the College of William and Mary - were aligned with East Carolina University, George Mason University, the United States Naval Academy and the University of Richmond as a basketball league (ECAC South). During the next two years, the league added 11 sports, acquired two new members (UNCW and American University) and formed a new conference. The transformation from ECAC South to CAA officially took place on June 6, 1985.

Print Friendly Version

UNC Wilmington Athletics

Scoreboard

Events/Results

Seahawks Wish Commissioner Yeager Well On His Retirement