SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Southern Conference Commissioner Jim Schaus sat down with Pete Yanity recently to discuss current affairs around the league for the latest installment of the Commissioner’s Corner.
 
The pair opened the discussion by talking about the league’s successfully getting fall competition under way.
 
“We have COVID guidelines that we set forth that follow the NCAA and CDC guidelines, very comfortable with that,” Schaus said. “I think vaccination rates are up on the campuses, and so far, it’s gone so well. So we’re hopeful we again will complete all of our regular seasons, all of our championships and of course, we’re just excited to see full stadiums, and fans get back involved in it, in all of our sports this fall. Not just football, but I mean volleyball and soccer and cross country events coming up, so we’re really looking forward to the rest of this fall.”
 
The pair then turned its attention to the upcoming men’s and women’s basketball seasons.
 
“Of course, we finished ninth in the (men’s) RPI and 10^th nationally in the NCAA’s NET, so we were a top-10 conference last year,” Schaus said. “Can we do that again this year? Well, we’ve got some great teams and a lot of balance, so it will be difficult to do that. You’re going to have a battle of probably two or three really strong programs on the women’s side, but there’s going to be good programs there, too. As we look at all of our different sports we have, we’re highly competitive. I know we’re also looking forward also to getting back indoors, and that’s also going to be a challenge with the pandemic, but I’m hopeful we can get the full fans, great environments and no interruptions and get back to playing great SoCon sports.”
 
Yanity asked Schaus about the value of playing for SoCon championships, in every sport.
 
“It really is the pinnacle of all of our competition, is our championships,” Schaus said. “We know that not all of our teams get a chance to be in the NCAA tournament, so this is their postseason opportunity.”
 
The two wrapped up their discussion on the topic of the recent changes within the NCAA.
 
“It’s been a very unprecedented time in our business,” Schaus said. “Whether it’s the name, image and likeness, the new transfer rules, a lot of issues that are going on that are very unique. A little over a month ago, NCAA President Mark Emmert came out and said that he thinks that we need to reimagine the NCAA. We need to look at opportunities for really deregulating some of what the NCAA does, maybe push more autonomy back to the conferences. They have a 28-member committee that involves Divisions I, II and III and they’re taking a look at the constitution right now, and frankly, beyond that, as to, ‘Where do we need to be with the NCAA? What is the role of the conferences, what is the role of each group?’ I think it could be very healthy. It’s been a long time since we’ve really looked at some of those areas, and things have changed. With student-athletes, and our culture, and society. I think it could be very helpful.”