NJIT Men's and Women's Tennis Join Southland Conference

New Jersey Institute of Technology has accepted an invitation from the Southland Conference and will join the NCAA Division I league as an associate member in the sports of men's and women's tennis, effective for the 2021-22 academic year.

"We are very happy to welcome NJIT tennis to the Southland, and we look forward to providing the Highlanders' men's and women's teams with an outstanding NCAA postseason experience," Southland Commissioner Tom Burnett said. 

By adding NJIT men's and women's tennis, next season the Southland Conference will have five men's teams and eight teams on the women's side.

"I am very excited to have our men's and women's tennis teams become part of the Southland Conference," said Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics Lenny Kaplan.  "As we switched conferences last summer, our tennis student-athletes were the only ones left without a way to compete for a conference championship. Finding them a home became a priority for us, and I am grateful the Southland Conference was willing to consider the addition of both our teams as associate members. I want to thank Commissioner Burnett for his hard work and diligence in not only making this happen, but doing so in such an expeditious manner." 

The Highlanders will join current Southland men's tennis programs: Incarnate Word, New Orleans, Nicholls and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.  Other Southland women's programs include: Incarnate Word, McNeese, New Orleans, Nicholls, Northwestern State, Southeastern Louisiana and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

 "The men's and women's tennis teams are very excited to be joining the Southland Conference," said Coordinator of Men's and Women's Tennis/Head Men's Tennis Coach Ira Miller.  "We have been practicing hard and preparing for this moment to compete for a championship and a bid to the NCAA team tournament.  The Southland has a fine winning tradition and we appreciate their generous invitation to join.  A special thanks to our AD Lenny Kaplan.  At a time when schools are losing programs, he chose to make the extra effort to find us a new home.  The players and the coaching staff salute him."

After moving to Division I in 2006-07, the NJIT men's tennis team competed without an affiliation until 2015-16, when the Highlanders joined the ASUN Conference.  

The NJIT women's tennis team's journey started as a Division I independent for three seasons, beginning in 2006-07 and was briefly part of the Great West Conference (2008-13), where the Highlanders captured the Great West Conference title in back-to-back seasons (2011, 2012). The league did not have an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and subsequently disbanded in 2013.

The Highlander women competed in the America East Conference for two consecutive seasons (2013-14; 2014-15) before joining the ASUN Conference.  NJIT advanced to the finals of America East in 2014, ultimately falling short.

NJIT switched conferences in July 2020, departing the ASUN Conference after five seasons as a member (first season 2015-16), which also marked the first time that the Highlanders had been a full member of an automatic qualifying NCAA Division I multisport conference.

With men's and women's tennis joining the Southland Conference, all 19 of NJIT's Division I sports now have a pathway to competing in NCAA Championships for the first time, whether from conference tournaments or regional competitions.

NJIT men's and women's tennis programs will participate in the Southland's championship tournaments and will be eligible for the league's automatic berths to the NCAA Men's and Women's Tennis Tournaments.  The Highlanders' tennis programs will not officially participate in the single round-robin league schedule during the regular season, and its teams shall be placed in the seeded tournament bracket through a process to be determined.  The 2022 Southland Tennis Tournaments will be held April 22-24, at the University of New Orleans' Tennis Center.

With no conference affiliation in 2020-21, the NJIT men went 7-5 in the spring and were tabbed as the sixth-best team in the Northeast Region, which is the best mark in program history.  Additionally, senior captain Abdullah Fouad was ranked #11 in the Northeast Region singles poll and doubles duo of Josh Smith and Samuel Townes appeared at #6 in the Northeast Region doubles poll.

The NJIT women's tennis team did not compete in 2020-21 as members of the team exercised their ability to opt out due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

About the Southland Conference
The Southland Conference, founded in Dallas in 1963, and with member institutions in major metropolitan destinations Houston, San Antonio and New Orleans, sponsors 19 NCAA Division I sports, including FCS football.  The Southland Conference is headquartered in Frisco, Texas, one of America's fastest-growing cities, and where the Southland annually serves as the host conference for the NCAA Division I Football Championship Game.

Quotes

For Southland Conference:
Tom Burnett, Commissioner of the Southland Conference
"We are very happy to welcome NJIT tennis to the Southland, and we look forward to providing the Highlanders' men's and women's teams with an outstanding NCAA postseason experience."

For NJIT:
Lenny Kaplan, NJIT Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics
"I am very excited to have our men's and women's tennis teams become part of the Southland Conference.  As we switched conferences last summer, our tennis  student-athletes  were the only ones left without a way to compete for a conference championship. Finding them a home became a priority for us, and I am grateful the Southland Conference was willing to consider the addition of both our teams as associate members. I want to thank Commissioner Burnett for his hard work and diligence in not only making this happen, but doing so in such an expeditious manner." 

Coordinator of Men's and Women's Tennis/Head Men's Tennis Coach, Ira Miller
"The men's and women's tennis teams are very excited to be joining the Southland Conference.  We have been practicing hard and preparing for this moment to compete for a championship and a bid to the NCAA team tournament.  The Southland has a fine winning tradition and we appreciate their generous invitation to join.  A special thanks to our AD Lenny Kaplan.  At a time when schools are losing programs, he chose to make the extra effort to find us a new home.  The players and the coaching staff salute him."

Dave Mullins, ITA Managing Director
"The ITA commend the New Jersey Institute of Technology; their Athletic Director, Lenny Kaplan; and Head Men's Coach/Coordinator of Tennis, Ira Miller for their hard work and commitment to finding a conference home for their tennis programs. It has been a challenging year for intercollegiate athletics and NJIT is leading the way, finding solutions to difficult problems rather than easy cuts during this tumultuous time to help advance college tennis. We look forward to the NJIT programs participating in ITA events moving forward and wish them the very best of luck transitioning to their new home in the Southland Conference."