When ABAC President Tracy Brundage announced in 2023 that ABAC was switching from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), she mentioned that she wanted to bring basketball back to ABAC. However, switching from a two-year to a four-year athletic program came with a range of challenges for basketball.
One of the main challenges was the recruiting process.
Chris Beckham, ABAC’s director of public relations, said, “It’s so crazy, and we’ve talked with the coaches. I think anytime you start a program from scratch, it’s difficult because you don’t have anything to go on.”
“The last couple of years, some things have led to our advantage,” Beckham continued. “You get a recruit here and they see our campus, which is beautiful, and, you know, academically, we’re a very strong college, so that helps, but it’s still tough.”
Despite the difficulties, the coaches at ABAC have put together a strong roster of players eager to bring back the basketball tradition.
ABAC will also be entering the tough Southern States Conference. During the season, ABAC will have conference games against several colleges, including Dalton State College, the University of Mobile in Alabama, Blue Mountain College and William Carey University in Mississippi, and Loyola New Orleans in Louisiana.
Beckham further said, “We do have a mix of a lot of freshmen. We are young, and that’s to be expected, but we do have some junior college transfers that will give us experience.” Our younger team will not stop players from being competitive, though.
As for our community, bringing basketball back to ABAC has generated excitement around Tifton and the campus. Multiple flyers and social media posts have also been put out to spread the word about basketball’s return. Some fans are already seeking to buy tickets to games.
“I was talking with a guy… He asked, ‘How can I buy season tickets right now?'” Beckham said.
Tifton also has a rich history in basketball, which includes winning multiple state championships at the high school level, the most recent being in 2017.
ABAC also won state championships in basketball before the program was discontinued due to financial reasons in 2008. In 1984, for instance, the women’s basketball team won its first state championship.
ABAC is hoping that the return of basketball will reignite these championship traditions and show off Tifton as a basketball town.