CHAPEL HILL — The North Carolina High School Athletic Association released the first draft of its 2021-2025 conference realignment Thursday morning, and for the first time in its history, Richmond Senior High School is slated to compete in a split conference.
According to the NCHSAA, all of Richmond’s athletic programs will compete in “Conference 24,” a seven-team split conference with three 4A schools and four 3A schools.
Richmond is considered a “4A East” school, which has 52 total schools in the classification bracket. But with the added schools from 3A, that number jumped to 74 schools.
In the new conference, which has yet to receive an official name from the governing body, Richmond will still compete against current Sandhills Athletic Conference foes Hoke County (4A) and Pinecrest (4A).
Scotland High School is also in the revised conference, but as a 3A school instead of 4A. New to the mix are three other 3A schools — Lee County, Southern Lee and Union Pines high schools.
It was announced earlier this month that Richmond would remain a 4A school based on its average daily membership number (2,109). New to deciding realignment were a school’s three-year average in the state cup points and its three-year average for identified student percentage.
The state cup points are used to determine a school’s overall athletic program success, and the ISP data looks at the number of students who receive some type of government assistance.
Adjusting to a Split Conference
One of the most obvious elements of the new proposed realignment is the number of split conferences, 33, which is much higher than the 10 current split conferences in the state this year.
Members of the current SAC that are projected to not be in the new split conference are Cumberland County schools Jack Britt and Seventy-First, along with Robeson County schools Lumberton and Purnell Swett.
Richmond head football coach Bryan Till seemed optimistic about the first draft, but said the split conference decision could pose some questions.
“I think it will be a very competitive conference. The travel cost may be slightly less and I think gates can hopefully be better,” Till said. “It will be very interesting to see how the state adjusts qualifying for playoffs in split conferences. With this many split conferences statewide, I think there will probably be some changes to qualifying. That will be interesting to follow.”
One thing many Richmond fans will likely be glad to see is the keeping of the Raiders and longtime rival Scotland in the same conference.
“It is great that Scotland stays in the conference and that we can play them last game and have the potential for a conference championship on the line,” Till explained.
“Rivalries and championship games are two great experiences that come with sports. Having the chance to have them both in one game makes the atmosphere that much more exciting and I’m glad our guys will still have a chance at those experiences.”
A Look Back at History
Richmond athletics is no stranger to the proposed incoming schools, as several programs the last few years have played Lee County, Southern Lee and Union Pines as a part of their non-conference slate.
The Lady Raider volleyball team, the boys’ and girls’ basketball programs and the boys’ and girls soccer teams at Richmond have all competed against at least one of the new schools since the SAC was started in 2017.
The last time Richmond and Lee County were in the same conference was 1992. Twenty years prior, the schools became rivals when the Raider football team, in its inaugural season, upset the Yellow Jackets 8-7 to win the Southeastern 3A Conference title.
Lee County, which was then Sanford High School, avenged the loss and defeated Richmond 21-14 in the second round of the state playoffs en route to a 3A state title.
Richmond is 24-9 against Lee County all-time in football, but Richmond is only 14-7 in conference play and 2-2 in postseason play. Lee County still has the best record (percentage) in conference play against Richmond than any other school.
Southern Lee, which opened in 2005, is now the youngest school Richmond will share a conference with. The previous school was Jack Britt, which opened in 2000.
Impact, Possible Success of a Split Conference
Rob Ransom, Richmond’s second-year athletic director and head baseball coach, said the new split conference proposal provides good competition but says there are some playoff kinks to workout.
“We are excited to see some new teams baseball wise,” Ransom said. “The teams added to the proposed conference have traditionally had solid baseball programs. But I’m not sure what that means as far as automatic bids. That concerns me.”
Till added that the split conference gives “the opportunity to have multiple (football) state titles out of our conference.”
He said Lee County and Scotland have both been in state championship games in the last few years. Also impressive have been Pinecrest, Hoke County and Richmond, which “have all been several (playoff) rounds deep the last few years, so it could mean a lot of playoff success.”
NCHSAA member schools will have until Jan. 8 to file appeals or suggest changes to the current projections. A second draft will then be released on Jan. 14, and a series of appeal periods will result in a third draft being unveiled on Feb. 4.
Sometime in March, the NCHSAA Board of Directors will take a final vote, with the new conferences going into effect on Aug. 1, 2021.
Realignment First Draft Document
Deon Cranford contributed to this article. This is a developing story. The Richmond Observer will update it as more information becomes available.
