THIS IS THE LSC
Formed more than 80 years ago, the Lone Star Conference (LSC) exists to assist its member institutions in the maintenance of intercollegiate athletics programs that are compatible with the highest standards of education and competitive sports. Since its inception in 1931, the pursuit and attainment of academic excellence among student-athletes has been the priority for every member institution. However, in the wake of recent membership changes, the conference has developed an intentional focus on elevating its status to become the premier athletic conference in all of NCAA Division II.
The LSC aims to provide a superior competitive experience for member institutions and to allow for comprehensive development of student-athletes through academic services and life skills programming. Formed with five charter members on April 23, 1931, the storied league continues to build upon its proud history. With 263 Academic All-Americans since 1990, 74 NCAA national championships since joining Division II in 1982, 44 legends enshrined into the LSC Hall of Honor, and a steady stream of high-profile NFL alumni, it’s clear to see why…
We’re the One.
The mission of the Lone Star Conference is to foster student participation and success among member institutions in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics as an integral part of each institution’s total educational program. The LSC strives for academic excellence, stresses involvement within the community, and prides itself in upholding traditions while continually seeking new opportunities to provide student-athletes with a unique and superior experience.
We seek to celebrate the many accomplishments of LSC student-athletes. This includes the provision of awards programs for current student-athletes, as well as regular acknowledgement of the legendary figures that played for or coached LSC teams over the past 80 years. It also includes support for initiatives that promote success in academics and citizenship. After all, the student-athlete experience in Division II reaches beyond the playing field. It’s a comprehensive program of learning and development in a personal setting, providing growth opportunities through academic achievement, learning in high-level athletic competition and development of positive societal attitudes in service to community. The balance and integration of these different areas of learning opportunity provide LSC student-athletes a path to graduation while cultivating a variety of skills and knowledge for life ahead.
A NEW ERA FOR THE LSC
- The LSC debuted a more streamlined membership look for the 2011-12 academic year, with 11 member institutions. Of the 11, nine are located in Texas, and both of the non-Texas members are located within 40 miles of the state border. The LSC hopes to capitalize on its more clearly defined footprint.
- Cowboys Stadium, built in 2009 at a cost of $1.2 billion, recently hosted the Lone Star Football Festival, in which the LSC showcased its football programs by playing three games in one day. The event was designed to illustrate the LSC’s renewed commitment to providing a superior student-athlete experience and drew a record crowd of 24,837 fans.
- The 2011-12 season will see an exciting change of venue for the LSC Basketball Championship. The Allen Event Center, which opened in November 2009, is a 52.6 million dollar state-of-the-art facility that’s owned and operated by the City of Allen, Texas, with approximately 8,000 seats and 24 luxury suites. The Allen Event Center lends itself to a tremendous fan and participant experience, with the arena having been built as part of a mixed-use development, amidst hundreds of retail stores and restaurants.
- In another move to gain increased visibility for the league, LSC football teams have joined forces with the Gulf South Conference to create the GSC-LSC First and Ten Challenge, a regular-season series that debuts in 2012 and matches up football teams from two of the best leagues in all of NCAA Division II. The event will include a total of 10 inter-conference games involving markets all across the southeastern United States. Of the 10 games, five have been scheduled for Thursday night and four of those are set to be televised live throughout Texas and the southeast.
OPPORTUNITY
- LSC institutions in 2011-12 will sponsor 130 teams and more than 2,300 student-athletes will compete for LSC titles.
- LSC student-athletes receive more than $19 million annually in direct athletics financial aid to help pay for school.
- The LSC Degree-Completion Scholarship Program provides deserving LSC student-athletes who have exhausted their collegiate eligibility with financial assistance. A total of $34,000 has been awarded over the past three years, helping 15 former LSC student-athletes to complete their degrees.
ACADEMICS
- 1,027 student-athletes were named to the LSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll in the 2010-11 academic year, meaning that each posted a grade point average of 3.30 or better for the year.
- LSC student-athletes consistently graduate at a rate of 10 to 15 percentage points higher than the total student body, according to Federal Graduation Rates.
- LSC schools have produced 263 Academic All-Americans since 1990.
ATHLETICS
- The LSC currently features 16 conference sports, 8 for men and 8 for women. The league conducts nine LSC Championship events, including combined championship events for men and women in Cross Country, Basketball, Golf, Tennis and Track & Field.
- LSC teams have won 74 NCAA national championships since the league became affiliated with Division II in 1982.
- LSC teams have combined to win 38 NCAA regional championships over the past five seasons, including four in softball, three each in men’s basketball and volleyball, and two in women’s basketball.
- LSC teams have claimed at least five regional championships in each of the last five seasons, plus at least one national title in four of the last five seasons.
- During the 2010-11 season, LSC schools claimed five regional championships and two team national championships, with the national titles going to Abilene Christian in both indoor and outdoor men’s track and field.
EXPOSURE
- The 11 LSC members reside within these seven Top 200 TV markets: Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Amarillo, Wichita Falls/Lawton, Abilene, and San Angelo.
- Fans across the country follow the Lone Star Conference via the league’s official website (www.lonestarconference.org), which registered more than 285,000 visitors and 1,045,286 page views last year. New features are consistently added to the website, which also serves as home to video webstreaming for most conference championship events.
- LSC teams get their fair share of radio and television exposure. Every LSC football and basketball game – plus many more in baseball, softball and volleyball – will be broadcast live on the radio. LSC teams have been featured on a handful of national television broadcasts in recent years, as well as regular exposure on regional live television broadcasts. As an example, all three of this year’s Lone Star Football Festival games from Cowboys Stadium were broadcast live in the Abilene, Amarillo, San Angelo and Wichita Falls/Lawton markets.
- The LSC is among NCAA Division II conference leaders when it comes to providing fans with mobile accessibility, as evidenced by its recent addition of a mobile app for Android users.
- LSC also is among the most active Division II conferences on social media platforms, with the league boasting nearly 1,000 fans on Facebook, almost 500 followers on Twitter, and more than 300 videos uploaded to its YouTube channel over the past year.
ATTENDANCE
- Lone Star Conference fans are some of the NCAA Division II’s most supportive, with more than 452,383 patrons attending conference home contests during the 2010-11 seasons for football, men's and women's basketball and volleyball alone.
- LSC football teams consistently average more than 5,000 spectators per game, with the league ranking second among NCAA Division II conference national attendance leaders in 2009 and third in 2010.
- In 2007, LSC member West Texas A&M led all Division II members by averaging 12,421 fans in seven home football games. Texas A&M-Kingsville took home top honors in 2010 after averaging 11,989 over six home games. LSC member Abilene Christian also ranks among national leaders each year, having averaged better than 8,000 fans per home game in four straight seasons.
- The LSC annually ranks among the top five Division II conferences for attendance in women’s basketball, volleyball and softball games, while also rating among the top 10 in attendance for men’s basketball games. LSC members Angelo State and Midwestern State have combined to finish as the national leader in Division II softball attendance three of the past four years.
ALUMNI
- LSC schools maintain contact with almost 525,000 living alumni, a number that is sure to grow given the league’s current combined enrollment of about 82,000 students. There are more than 300,000 living alumni who reside in the State of Texas alone!
- Former LSC student-athletes include politicians, entertainers, corporate leaders, and professional athletes. Most notably, the LSC is unlike any other when it comes to producing high-profile professional football players. Former LSC student-athletes include names like Pro Football Hall of Famers Darrell Green, Gene Upshaw and John Randle, four-time Super Bowl champion Dwight White, Super Bowl XXII Co-MVP Harvey Martin, and Pro Bowl honorees Pierce Holt, Wilbert Montgomery, Wade Wilson and Johnny Knox.