Colonial Athletic Association

Drexel University, which has competed in the America East conference since 1991, will take its 18-sport athletic program to the Colonial Athletic Association for the 2003-2004 school year. Drexel is one of four America East schools that are leaving for the CAA. The others are Delaware, Hofstra and Towson. They will join current association members George Mason, James Madison, North Carolina-Wilmington, Old Dominion, Virginia Commonwealth, and William and Mary. The official announcement on the addition of the teams to the CAA will be made tomorrow during a news conference in Washington, D.C. "Drexel is pleased to be joining the Colonial Athletic Association because of its record of strong academic performance combined with its great athletics," said Constantine Papadakis, Drexel's president.

Drexel, Delaware, Hofstra and Towson have asked the America East Conference to let them know by tomorrow whether they will be free to join the Colonial Athletic Association a year earlier than planned. The presidents of the schools that make up the America East Conference postponed a discussion Monday that could have allowed the four schools to join the CAA next season. In January, after the four schools announced their intention to join the CAA, the America East agreed to let them go in 2002-03.

GEORGIA STATE is leaving the Colonial Athletic Association for the Sun Belt Conference, school officials announced Monday. The school will begin playing a conference schedule for the 2013-14 academic year. Villanova and Delaware are in the CAA for football; Drexel and Delaware play CAA basketball. Georgia State has been a CAA member since 2005, although it did not have an active football program until 2010. The team will join CAA football for 2012, in what will turn out to be its only season.

Drexel coach Bruiser Flint received his third coach of the year award last night at the Colonial Athletic Association's tournament banquet in Richmond, Va. The Dragons' Scott Rodgers was a second-team all-conference pick, and Samme Givens was named to the all-rookie team in the voting by coaches and the media. Leon Spencer made the all-academic second team.

Caron Butler had 24 points and 15 rebounds to lead No. 23 Connecticut (20-6, 12-3 Big East) past Boston College, 75-61, last night. Boston College (18-10, 7-8) is battling to get into the NCAA tourney, and last night was its last chance to impress the selectors with a regular-season win over a ranked team. Uka Agbai had 12 of his 19 points in the first half. Without him, Boston College shot 3 for 22 in the half. "We've dug a pretty good hole for ourselves," Agbai said.

The America East Conference is expected to announce this week that Drexel, Delaware, Hofstra and Towson will be free to play in the Colonial Athletic Association next season instead of in 2002-03, as originally agreed. America East presidents discussed the matter during a conference call yesterday. The new schools would be CAA members in all sports. Among the remaining America East schools, there was some discord about Delaware's hosting the conference basketball tournament again next season.

After losing each of its last three Colonial Athletic Association games at the very end by one point, the Drexel basketball team will begin play in the league tournament tomorrow night against Towson. Dragons coach Bruiser Flint was asked if there was any value at all in the three tough losses. "The only value is that you know you can play with anybody," Flint said. "In all three of those games, we were up with a minute left. But you have to make a play. One play at the end of a game is the difference.

Brittany Ford drilled a 15-foot jumper from the left baseline with 0.9 seconds remaining to lift visiting Saint Joseph's to a 67-66 Atlantic 10 victory at Richmond. Ford finished with 14 points and Mariame Djouara added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks (15-12, 8-4), who trailed by as many as nine in the second half. Abby Oliver scored 21 points to lead Richmond (16-10, 5-6). In another women's game: Nicole Capurso scored on a driving layup with 2 seconds left in overtime to lift visiting Hofstra to a 68-67 win over Drexel in a Colonial Athletic Association game.

Do-it-all wide Villanova receiver Matt Szczur will don another hat when the Wildcats host Towson in their home opener on Saturday. With backup freshman quarterback Dustin Thomas out due to a throat infection, Szczur will slide into that spot behind starter Chris Whitney. Szczur, who also returns kicks and leads Villanova in all-purpose yards, is second on the team in both rushing and receiving. "I'm hoping Whitney can last through the game," said Villanova coach Andy Talley, whose team is ranked No. 1 in the Football Championship Subdivision.

The Atlantic Ten Conference made another big move to fill the void left by the impending departure of Temple to the Big East, and dealt a blow to the Colonial Athletic Association, when Virginia Commonwealth announced Tuesday that it is leaving the CAA to join the A-10. The surprise was that VCU is leaving immediately, to begin playing A-10 sports in 2012-13. That's particularly noteworthy in men's basketball. VCU will be the 15th A-10 school next year. Butler is due to join the following year from the Horizon League, at the same time Temple leaves for the Big East Conference.

Georgia State is leaving the Colonial Athletic Association for the Sun Belt Conference, school officials announced Monday. The school will begin playing a conference schedule for the 2013-14 academic year. Villanova and Delaware are in the CAA for football; Drexel and Delaware play CAA basketball. Georgia State has been a CAA member since 2005, although it did not have an active football program until 2010. The team will join CAA football for 2012, in what will turn out to be its only season.

Delaware sensation Elena Delle Donne broke free from Drexel's stiffing defense in the second half and lifted the seventh-ranked Blue Hens to a 59-43 victory over the Dragons yesterday afternoon for their first Colonial Athletic Association championship. Held to just eight points in the first 20 minutes, the 6-5 versatile Delle Donne finished with 27, a few decimal points below her NCAA-leading scoring average to earn the most outstanding player award for the tournament at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md. The win gave the Blue Hens (30-1)

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. - Delaware sensation Elena Delle Donne broke free from Drexel's stifling defense in the second half and lifted the seventh-ranked Blue Hens to a 59-43 victory over the Dragons on Sunday afternoon for their first Colonial Athletic Association championship. Held to just eight points in the first 20 minutes, the 6-foot-5 Delle Donne finished with 27, a few decimal points below her NCAA-leading scoring average, to earn the outstanding player award for the tournament at the Show Place Arena, which often hosts equestrian events.

If Drexel, now tied for first place in the Colonial Athletic Association, keeps winning basketball games but doesn't win the conference tournament, the NCAA selection committee will have a big job on its hands. The gap between Drexel's schedule on paper and its ability on the court could be the widest in college basketball. Ultimately, the committee will have to choose between the schedule and the team itself - and that could be bad news for the Dragons. No doubt, Drexel's Bracket Buster game at Cleveland State on Saturday is a must-not-lose.

Drexel coach Bruiser Flint shocked almost everyone at the Coaches vs. Cancer NCAA tournament breakfast last month when he failed to include Kentucky in his predictions for the Final Four. The Wildcats are coached by John Calipari. Flint was an assistant coach on Calipari's staff at Massachusetts and succeeded him in 1996. Flint always picks Calipari's teams, whether it was Memphis a few years back or Kentucky now. Now the Wildcats are in the Final Four, and Flint has to laugh.

HOUSTON - Perhaps the clue was in the last three letters of NCAA. Or the way the Colonial Athletic Association has played in the postseason recently. Or the way the CAA played outside its league this season. Considered in a vacuum, Virginia Commonwealth finished fourth in its own league, two games out of third. Considered in a larger context, VCU's league, the CAA, was 90-62 in non-conference games this season. Since 2006, the CAA is 9-3 against the ACC, Big East and Big Ten in NCAA games.

Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Bruiser Flint has proved over time that he is a very good college basketball coach. And he is definitely not insane. So, the Drexel coach tried something different this year before his team headed for Richmond, Va., to play in the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament. He had his team practice early this week at the Liacouras Center to simulate the Richmond Coliseum, where his team will begin play at 2:30 p.m. today against Towson.

Just as Drexel coach Bruiser Flint recently predicted, the jockeying for seeding in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament has begun. With six regular-season outings remaining - including Saturday night's game at Delaware - the Dragons are tied for fifth place in the CAA. At 15-7 overall and 7-5 in the league, Drexel is one game behind fourth-place Hofstra and two games behind third-place Old Dominion. The top four finishers receive first-round byes in the postseason tournament.