HBU moving to Division One

According to Jim Hicks' "VIP Room" at RCSSports.com, Houston Baptist University is moving its athletics program from NAIA to NCAA Division I.

Hicks reports "HBU has submitted all the needed paperwork to the NCAA requesting to become a Division One institution."

RCSSports.com adds the Huskies "will compete as an independent for only three years (normally it's seven years, a la Texas A&M-Corpus Christi prior to joining the Southland Conference this past season). But since HBU had been a D1 school in the past, it will not have to wait the entire seven seasons, only three."

The Huskies are expected to compete with an independent schedule while attempting to possibly become a member of either the Southland or Sun Belt Conferences. HBU must add track and field, in addition to a few more sports (not football), in order to satisfy NCAA requirements.

Also, according to Hicks, HBU is slated to break ground on a brand new hoop facility. HBU is expected to make an official announcement within the next seven days.