The Colonial Athletic Association announced Tuesday that three schools have accepted invitations to join the league later this year.
The three schools will join on July 1.
The conference commissioner said that all three institutions fit perfectly into the framework of the conference. The CAA is excited for what the future holds and will continue to be focused on making decisions that ensure its membership is a competitive and sustainable model.
In November, James Madison announced it was leaving the CAA for the Sun Belt Conference. The league will be expanding to 12 full members and 13 members in football with the addition of the three new schools.
Albany, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Richmond and Villanova are among the 13 CAA Football schools that are full-time members.
John Fry, who chairs the CAA board of directors, said that this is a tremendous day for the organization. It is gratifying to have these three highly regarded universities embrace the same values for college athletics.
The MEAC member left the Big South for four seasons. The Pirates went to the NCAA tournament in both 2015 and 2016 while in the MEAC.
The football program has had recent success, while the soccer and track and field programs have been successful. The men's basketball program won three MAAC regular-season titles under King Rice and finished in second place last season.
The most recent successes in women's lacrosse have come in America East. The Sea Wolves are a football member. They reached the NCAA tournament in men's basketball in 2016 after a five-year run under Steve Pikiell in which they won at least 12 league games every season and reached the championship game of the conference tournament four times.
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