According to NJhoops.com, NJIT, the last remaining independent in college basketball, will be admitted to the Atlantic Sun. NJIT was made famous this last season with a big win over Michigan, but the Highlanders also pulled off a win over Yale, who almost made the NCAA tournament, and Jim Engles has turned the program from a laughingstock into a pretty legitimate team considering they play in a gym that seats just 1,500 people, the 345th largest in the country according to KenPom.
Conveniently, my Atlantic Sun preview is next, and with the Highlanders losing just two seniors off last year’s team and adding Abdul Lewis, a transfer from South Alabama who led the team in rebounding as a freshman, NJIT could end up being a serious factor in the league in its first season (though it’s worth noting they’ll likely not be able to compete in the conference tournament.)
There is plenty of time to evaluate NJIT as an Atlantic Sun program, but for now it’s good news that it has found an actual conference to play in. NJIT will be by far the northernmost program in the league, as they replace the previous northernmost program, Northern Kentucky, who is moving to the Horizon League for next season.
