How three new ASun schools will impact Bellarmine basketball

The ASun is growing. How three new teams, including one within the state of Kentucky, will impact Bellarmine basketball.

Bellarmine will no longer be the new kids on the block in the ASun. On Friday, the conference confirmed the rumors and officially announced that the Central Arkansas Bears, Jacksonville State Gamecocks, and Eastern Kentucky (EKU) Colonels. The move adds enough teams for the conference to officially sponsor football. While Bellarmine doesn’t currently sponsor or have immediate plans to add a football program, the addition of the schools brings new opportunities to the student-athletes in their other sports, notably basketball.

Central Arkansas may not be a school that people think of as a rich basketball tradition but when they competed in NAIA, they had a guy named Scottie Pippen play for them. As most basketball fans know, Pippen would go on to win 6 rings with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls during the 1990s. The Bears currently compete in the Southland and are 3-12.

Jacksonville State competes in the Ohio Valley Conference and made the NCAA tournament in 2017 where they lost to Louisville. When they competed in Division II, they won a national championship in 1985. The Gamecocks are coached by former Kentucky Wesleyan and WKU head coach Ray Harper. Harper has won national championships at the Division II level and NAIA level. JSU is currently 10-6.

Also read: How Louisville basketball improves flaws exposed against Clemson

How about a new in-state rivalry?

Lastly, and the name that should get Bellarmine fans most excited, is the addition of the EKU Colonels. The colonels would instantly become the closest conference school to the Knights and the most natural fit for a rival. EKU is currently 13-2 and second in the OVC.

This year, the closest ASun school to Bellarmine is Lipscomb in Nashville, Tennessee. With the addition of EKU, the conference will now have 2 Kentucky schools.

BU and EKU are only an hour 35 minute drive from each other. While they don’t have much history, the future has the chance to work out well for both schools.

For one, both schools will be in play for in-state recruits who want an opportunity to compete at the Division I level. There’s also bragging rights, not only between the head to head games but when it comes to conference supremacy.

The three schools will join the ASun on July 1 and will compete against Bellarmine in the sports that they both sponsor.