Millsaps College’s incoming return to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference after 15 years in the Southern Athletic Association was a decision made not only for the school’s athletics, but mostly to boost its enrollment.
According to Millsaps Athletic Director Justin LeBlanc, the conference switch stemmed from an overall department evaluation in 2025, not long after LeBlanc was promoted from head women’s basketball coach to athletic director. He said the decision to return to the SCAC in the 2027- 28 academic year involved several factors, including a review of the school’s long-term goals, geographical footprint, recruiting base, and investment priorities, but emphasized that the move is not due to any dissatisfaction with the SAA.
“The schools in the SAA are very, very similar to Millsaps. We’re all nationally ranked, high academic liberal arts institutions, so the relationships that we built with those schools over the years have motivated us to get to a certain level – to catch up to where they are,” LeBlanc said. “It’s motivation to say, ‘Hey, this is where we could be. I know where Millsaps is, and this is where I believe we could be.'”
While looking to higher goals, LeBlanc said that the main driving factor for the school to move to the SCAC is a strategic plan to align Millsaps’ recruiting and enrollment visions, especially with the school’s recent downtick in admissions numbers.
“We’re investing a lot of time and resources west of where Millsaps is,” LeBlanc said. “And from an enrollment standpoint, obviously a lot of that includes Louisiana, but we’re heavily invested in Texas from an admissions standpoint. We have a full-time admissions counselor who lives in Houston, so we’re putting time and resources outside of athletics into our college enrollment [efforts], and this conference move aligns very well with that.”
However, on the athletics side, it was a logical move for the school to also save money on travel expenses across all sports, since the SCAC will likely move to divisional play when Millsaps joins, making it a 12-team conference.
“A lot of the schools are closer together, so we can play back-to-back days with one less night in a hotel, and you also add in less missed class time,” LeBlanc said. “On top of financial and on top of geographical footprint, it really started making sense for us to make this move.”
LeBlanc said that Millsaps’ main goal is to provide the highest-quality student-athlete experience they possibly can. He and Millsaps President Frank Neville believe that returning to a conference like the SCAC will help achieve that goal.
“Part of that experience is being competitive in the sport you’re coming here to play,” LeBlanc said. “We want to give the resources, the travel arrangements, and the success off the field as well, where they’re not stressed out about missing class so they can perform at a higher level when they get on the field or on the court.”
LeBlanc said Millsaps may continue playing teams from the SAA in football and other sports, adding that the school wants to maintain the close relationships it has built with conference rivals over the years.
“I’ve played in the SCAC with Millsaps, I’ve coached in the SCAC at Millsaps, and I’ve coached in the SAA here, so I’ve developed a lot of relationships with coaches but also administrators and presidents as well,” LeBlanc explained. “There might be a little sting with us leaving the conference, like any school leaving a conference to go to another one, but I hope long-term that some of those relationships can be mended and we can continue playing, which we already are in year one.”
As Millsaps looks to renew old rivalries through its move to the SCAC, including with Centenary College and Austin College, LeBlanc assured fans that the change will not impact the Riverside Rumble against crosstown rival Belhaven.
“The Belhaven rivalry is not going anywhere,” LeBlanc emphasized. “In the near future, in sports like football, baseball, and basketball, they’re on the schedule. We’re looking to continue our Riverside Rumble with Belhaven. We’re fired up for this year being on campus here against Belhaven in football, and you know, we go back and forth with them every year. That rivalry game will stay in place as long as we have anything to say about it.”
