Wichita State will join the American Athletic Conference and leave the Missouri Valley Conference, its home since 1945.
"I think it'll be very exciting for the fans. I think it'll be really gut-wrenching for the coaches," WSU basketball coach Gregg Marshall said. "... The entertainment value should be through the roof."
American commissioner Mike Aresco and WSU president John Bardo confirmed acceptance of the invitation, given after the 12 AAC presidents voted unanimously Friday morning to invite WSU into the conference.
"It's just a matter of time before this becomes one of the best basketball conferences in the country," Aresco told reporters on a midday conference call.
Bill Potter, senior director of communications for the AAC, said Commissioner Mike Aresco is expected to visit Wichita soon.
Bardo took a phone call from the AAC Friday morning.
"It was very important to move quickly become part of one of the best conferences in America," Bardo said during an afternoon news conference.
Bardo said that reviving a Shocker football program that had been dead for 31 years was off the table.
"We are not going to talk about football for a while," he said. "Doesn't mean it's dead."
Wichita State athletic director Darron Boatright said financial details are in the hands of attorneys and will not be final until next week at the earliest.
WSU will pay an entrance fee to the AAC. It will forfeit its shares of NCAA Tournament revenue earned as a Missouri Valley Conference school as a penalty for withdrawal without 24-month notice, as required by the MVC constitution. There is no exit fee from the MVC.
Several sources indicate the bill may come to around $2.5 million for WSU and will largely be addressed through private fund-raising.
The move will take place for the 2017-18 school year and include all Shocker sports.
According to the AAC, schools will play an 18-game men's basketball schedule with seven home-and-home series and four one-time opponents.
"The addition of Wichita State bolsters an incredibly strong American Athletic Conference," Temple men's basketball coach Fran Dunphy said in a news release. " I applaud the conference presidents for their forward thinking for the league."
Wichita State's first AAC competition will likely be a volleyball match in late September. The Shockers will likely compete for their first AAC title in the cross country championship meet in late October or early November.
"This is the kind of thing that galvanizes the conference and galvanizes our brand," Aresco said.
The University of Wichita joined the MVC in 1945 and its identity as a basketball school grew with its membership in the "Valley of Death" during the conference's glory days of the 1950s and 1960s. For most of the past 72 years, the Valley provided a competitive and geographically suitable place for Shocker athletics.
Presidents from the remaining nine Missouri Valley schools are scheduled to meet with conference administrators Sunday in St. Louis.
The AAC's geography is more expansive. AAC members are Houston, Memphis, Tulsa, Tulane, SMU, Temple, South Florida, Cincinnati, Connecticut, East Carolina, Central Florida and football-only Navy.
Moving to the AAC is a reunion of sorts for Shocker fans. Houston, Memphis, Tulsa and Cincinnati were all Missouri Valley members before leaving 40-or-more years ago.
Among the highlights of Wichita State's MVC tenure are the 1965 Final Four, the 1989 College World Series title and the 2013 Final Four. In May, the Shockers won the MVC All-Sports Trophy for the fourth straight year and 10th in the past 13.
As Wichita State's athletic program, led by men's basketball, grew in stature over the past decade, discontent with the MVC grew among fans.
In 2015, Bardo announced that the school would look at conference affiliation as part of a comprehensive examination of WSU's future in athletics, one that will include considering new sports, new facilities and a new set of conference partners.
Bardo had three conferences in mind _ the American, the Mountain West and the Atlantic 10 _ as possible upgrades. The public evaluation accomplished its goal of putting WSU on the market. Two years later, the American welcomed the Shockers.
Speculation about WSU's interest in the American started in December 2015, when the university announced its plans to evaluate its conference options and the addition of sports. Bardo's desire to associate Wichita State with schools he views as similar institutions _ such as AAC-members Memphis, Houston and Cincinnati _ drives his interest to help the school's enrollment, academic and athletic goals.
"We're an emerging major research university," Bardo said in 2015. "If you look at what's happening around the United States, major research universities are the core drivers of those cities that are being successful. We really feel that change in society has positioned us differently."
Athletically, the AAC represents a step up in most sports from the MVC. That is especially important in men's basketball, where the strength of the AAC could boost WSU's NCAA Tournament at-large and seed resumes.
On the academic side, Bardo wants his school associated with similar schools with academic and research missions. Playing in AAC cities such as Dallas and Houston will give WSU fund-raisers opportunities to visit areas with numerous alums. Destinations such as New Orleans and Orlando give fund-raisers attractive trips to pitch to alums and boosters.
The American Athletic Conference formed in 2013 out of the wreckage of the Big East. Seven private schools, none of whom play football at the top level, went their own way, retaining the Big East name.
The remaining schools, all with football, regrouped and raided Conference USA.
Earlier this month, Aresco batted down rumors of the addition of three basketball schools, while perhaps leaving the door open for one in an interview on Sirius XM radio.
"We have 11 basketball members," Aresco said. "I'm not certain what we'll do in the future. We're always evaluating our basketball to see if we can make it stronger. Right now, there is nothing going on. On the basketball side ... we always explore whether we can strengthen ourselves. Until something is actually happening or would happen, I'm not going to comment."
