Patrick Britz Signs Contract Extension With The SAC Through 2027
ROCK HILL, S.C. -- The South Atlantic Conference Board of Directors has approved a contract extension for Commissioner Patrick Britz that will run through June 2027. Britz is the fifth-longest tenured NCAA Division II Commissioner as he continues to bring strength and stability to the conference.
"The SAC is rightfully proud of our student-athletes' achievements and accolades and our institutions' collective successes," said Wingate University President and outgoing President's Council Chair Dr. Rhett Brown. "Patrick's steady leadership and long tenure have been fundamental to our sustained progress. In a time of so much uncertainty in college athletics, extending the commissioner's contract provides us the opportunity to scaffold bold and innovative initiatives onto the SAC's solid foundation."
Britz has been at the helm of the South Atlantic Conference since May of 2008 and just concluded his 16th year. Under Britz's leadership, the SAC expanded to its largest membership ever with 13 member institutions. The SAC also expanded from 14 championship sports to 23 in 2023-24 and the addition of Beach Volleyball will bring that number to 24 for the 2024-25 athletic season. Britz has also overseen the revision of the conference bylaws and sports policies, as well as the development of three strategic plans and a complete overhaul of the league's governance structure.
Britz has led historic achievements in the overall success of SAC athletics in NCAA Championship participation. Wingate claimed the SAC's first-ever NCAA national championship in men's soccer in the fall of 2016 and Wingate baseball captured the conference's second national title in the spring of 2021. Lenoir-Rhyne's men's lacrosse team would bring home the fourth national championship in program history in 2023 and the Wingate men's cross country team grabbed the fourth national championship in league history this fall. Further, in the past nine years, SAC teams from eight different sports and six different schools have also advanced to the final game of the NCAA Championship – Lenoir-Rhyne football and Carson-Newman men's soccer in 2013, Catawba baseball in 2015, Lincoln Memorial men's basketball in 2016, Carson-Newman women's soccer in 2017, Lincoln Memorial men's golf in 2019, Limestone women's golf, Queens women's lacrosse and Lenoir-Rhyne men's lacrosse in 2021, and Limestone women's golf in 2022. SAC schools have won 48 NCAA regional titles in twelve sports since 2008-09 and 57 student-athletes have gone on to win Individual National Championships. The league has produced 650 Academic All-Americans during Britz's tenure and multiple NCAA Elite 90 award winners.
Britz also led the conference in the digital and video space, signing a historic agreement with FloSports to be the home of all South Atlantic Conference broadcasts. The league-wide deal went into effect in the fall of 2023 and over the two years with FloSports, the SAC has garnered over half-a-million total views.
"I would like to thank the SAC Presidents Council and, in particular outgoing chair, Dr. Rhett Brown, and incoming chair, Dr. Fred Whitt, for the faith they have in me to continue to serve as commissioner of this exceptional league," said Britz. "I have been fortunate to oversee the unprecedented success the SAC has had during my tenure, but we are always striving to be better. The landscape of college athletics has never been more challenging, but our mission and vision of making the student-athlete experience the best it can be and preparing these individuals for success after college will not waver."
-- #MakeSACYours --