For 33 years - from its inclusion as an original member on Aug. 21, 1983, to its final days in 2016 - the Coastal Carolina University Department of Athletics set the bar for athletic excellence in the conference.
In addition to its three-decade run of dominance that included numerous Sasser Cups, NCAA Championship appearances, Big South championships, and Hall of Fame inductees, Coastal Carolina has played a large a role in the shaping of the conference.
Dr. Edward Singleton, Coastal Carolina University's Chancellor from 1963-83, served as the first Big South Conference commissioner from 1983-88. George F. "Buddy" Sasser then took over commissioner duties in 1989 following a three-year stint as the Coastal Carolina director of athletics. Both played important roles in the direction of the Big South in its early years, including expanding conference membership and securing automatic bids into NCAA Championships for member institutions.
Coastal Carolina ended its time in the Big South Conference on June 30, 2016, in the most dramatic way possible ... winning the 2016 NCAA Division I Baseball National Championship, the first national team championship by a Big South member institution.
The following is a brief list of Coastal Carolina's athletic accomplishments during its time in the Big South Conference.
Sasser Cups
Following the 1985-86 academic year, the Big South Conference started awarding the Commissioner's Cup to the member institution with the most successful year athletically. Points were awarded based on regular-season and tournament finishes in each of the league's championships.
The Chanticleers first captured the Commissioner's Cup following the 1987-88 seasons and held on to the trophy for the next three years.
Coastal next won the trophy following the 2000-01 seasons, the same year that the award was renamed the Sasser Cup to honor the retiring George F. "Buddy" Sasser, who served as the Big South commissioner from 1989-96 and Coastal Carolina's director of athletics from 1986-89 and 1996-2000.
Since then the Chanticleers won the Sasser Cup six more times, including four-straight years from 2004-07 and consecutively in 2013-14 and 2014-15.
Overall, Coastal is tied with Liberty for most Sasser Cups in conference history with 11.
Coastal Carolina University's Sasser Cups
1987-88, 1988-89, 1989-90, 1990-91, 2000-01, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2013-14, 2014-15
Big South Men's and Women's All-Sports Trophies
The Men's and Women's All-Sports Trophies are awarded based on the same average points system, broken down by gender. The awards were first instituted for the 2003-04 school year.
Coastal Carolina University 's Men's All-Sports Trophy
2005-06, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15
Coastal Carolina University's Women's All-Sports Trophies
2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2008-09, 2013-14
NCAA Championship Appearances
Coastal Carolina was an annual mainstay in the NCAA postseason ever since the Big South was awarded automatic bids to national championships.
The Chanticleers first represented the conference in postseason play in 1991 when both the baseball and men's basketball teams reached their respective NCAA tournaments. Until the Chants left the Big South in the summer of 2016, a Coastal Carolina team or individual student-athlete qualified for an NCAA postseason every year, with the exception of 1994.
The 2016 Chanticleer baseball team won the Big South's first and only National Championship on June 30, 2016.
In all, 123 Coastal Carolina teams or individuals represented the Big South in NCAA championships. In addition, 15 of Coastal's 19 championship-sponsored sports programs made postseason appearances during their time as members of the Big South. Of the four that did not qualify for a national championship are lacrosse and beach volleyball, which played their first seasons of competition in 2013 and 2016, respectively.
Big South Championships
Coastal Carolina's three decades of dominance in the Big South saw the Chanticleers claim 169 conference championships, including regular-season, tournament, and individual titles.
Particularly dominant in this area were the Chanticleer baseball and men's soccer teams, which lead all Big South member institutions with 28 and 24 conference championships, respectively, as well as the Chanticleer football team, which claimed the conference championship in seven of its 13 years of competition in the Big South.
Not to be overlooked are the Chanticleer softball (14), men's golf (14), women's cross country (13), men's basketball (11), men's tennis (11), and volleyball (10) programs, all of which won double-figure conference championships in the Big South.
Big South Hall of Fame
The Big South Hall of Fame was formed in 2003-04 as part of the conference's 20th anniversary celebration. Included in that inaugural class were a conference-leading four Chanticleers. Since then, a total of 20 Chanticleers have been inducted into the Hall, constituting almost a third of the conference's 73 inductees.
Of the 20 Chanticleers enshrined, 15 are former student-athletes, three are former coaches, and two are former administrators.
Big South All-Decade Teams
In 2013 the Big South Conference announced its All-Decade Teams in honor of the league's 30-year anniversary. Student-athletes across all sports from 1983-89, 1990-99, 2000-09, and 2010-19 were included in the voting.
Coastal Carolina led the way with 221 former student-athletes and coaches being voted onto the various All-Decade Teams over the Chanticleers four decades in the Big South.
