CHICAGO — University of Illinois at Chicago officials expressed outrage Wednesday after the Horizon League barred the Flames from participating in the conference’s winter and spring championships.
The move comes after UIC announced last month its decision to join the Missouri Valley Conference on July 1.
The Horizon League’s ruling affects sports such as the men’s and women’s basketball teams, which would need to earn at-large bids for the NCAA Tournaments.
“This decision is shocking and entirely inconsistent with the values of the Horizon League, which UIC helped establish and support for nearly three decades,” UIC athletic director Michael Lipitz said in a statement. “The League has chosen to punish our student-athletes as retribution for our decision to change conferences next academic year. The League is hiding behind its bylaws rather than prioritizing the welfare of students.”
The Horizon League, in a statement released Wednesday, said bylaws “provide a choice to departing members: either provide a reasonable one-year notice of a decision to join another league or lose the privilege of having its teams participate in League championships and potentially carry the Horizon League banner into NCAA tournament competition. The League’s eligibility Bylaws have been in place for years and were approved by its members, including UIC, fully aware of this choice.”
UIC has competed in the Horizon League since 1994; it was called the Midwestern Collegiate Conference before 2001.
“When UIC announced its intent to leave the Horizon League at the end of the 2021-22 season, UIC chose not to comply with the League’s Bylaw requiring that written notice of such intention must be received on or before July 1 one year before the withdrawal date,” the Horizon League’s statement continued. “In this instance, UIC needed to provide notice before July 1, 2022 and remain a member until July 1, 2023 to be in compliance with League Bylaws and preserve 2022 championship opportunities for UIC teams.”
UIC Chancellor Michael Amiridis said in a statement he was “very surprised” and “disappointed” by the decision.
“The explanation provided to us by the leadership of the Horizon League is weak and does not justify their action,” Amiridis said. “I wonder if they have thought what message they are sending to their own student-athletes?”
In a release, UIC said of the 32 Division I basketball conferences, 18 have pending membership changes (like Loyola leaving the MVC for the Atlantic 10), and the Horizon League is one of three conferences to go this direction. The America East banned Stony Brook from its conference postseason tournaments and the Colonial Athletic Association made a similar ruling regarding James Madison.
The Horizon League said its bylaws “provide the same choice to any member institution that wishes to terminate its membership.
“It is unfortunate for UIC’s teams that UIC elected a path that precludes their participation in championship play and the opportunity to represent the Horizon League in NCAA competition,” the statement continued. “But this was an informed choice under a longstanding rule.”
UIC said it will “aggressively pursue all avenues to enable its student-athletes to fully participate in their 2022 winter and spring seasons.”
“I sincerely doubt that my faculty colleagues at the Horizon League institutions are in agreement with this decision that is harmful to our students who have already suffered through two years of COVID-related issues,” Dr. Ulf Bronas, UIC’s faculty athletics representative, said in a statement. “As Universities, it is our responsibility to protect the health and well-being of our young men and women who ask for nothing but the opportunity to compete for conference championships.
“It is incomprehensible that the Horizon League is willing to punish our students and inflict further stress on an already stressed student body. I intend to seek support from my fellow FARs at the Horizon League and ask for their support in reversing this decision.”
