Cullen Casey said he was psyched "that ODU's coach (Bobby Wilder) just got a 10-year contract, the school is joining Conference USA and there's talk about expanding the stadium." Frank Porter said that while Illinois, Maryland, Pitt and Arizona were interested in him, the Monarchs were the only team that believed he's a true linebacker.

NORFOLK It's almost guaranteed Old Dominion will play some "guarantee" football games in 2013. As the Monarchs transition from the Colonial Athletic Association to Conference USA, coach Bobby Wilder has changed his desire to avoid playing for a paycheck.

By Hank Kurz Jr. RICHMOND Colonial Athletic Association Commissioner Tom Yeager has lost two long-time member universities in the last week, and is now shopping for replacements. He's not happy about it.

Thomas DeMarco had grown weary of handing over $100 so he could fling footballs around a field, run the 40-yard dash and have some general manager thumb a nose at him. As he traveled up Interstate 95 on his way to his sixth professional tryout this spring, DeMarco decided this audition with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League would be his last.

As one of the area's top high school football recruits in the Class of 2013, Ocean Lakes defensive tackle Demetri McGill is drawing attention from a handful of major college programs. On Thursday, when Old Dominion announced it was joining Conference USA - and the Football Bowl Subdivision - McGill noticed, along with other area high school players and coaches.

NORFOLK Before Old Dominion University announced this week that it would play big-time college football, an expanded Foreman Field seemed to be largely a dream. Now, an enlargement of the 19,800-seat stadium appears inevitable. ODU officials have never confirmed plans to enlarge Foreman Field and would not do so when asked about it this week.

NORFOLK Old Dominion completed a whirlwind courtship Thursday with Conference USA, going from a school barely on the conference's radar to its newest member in a little more than a month. At the same time, the Monarchs leave some unresolved issues involved in the break-up with their longtime partner, the Colonial Athletic Association.

If there was any doubt which sport drives the bus at Old Dominion, it was erased Thursday afternoon. School officials didn't announce the move to Conference USA at the basketball arena; they did it at the football stadium.

NORFOLK Old Dominion University is taking a leap in college athletics, announcing it will leave its longtime home in the Colonial Athletic Association to join Conference USA and collegiate football's highest classification, the Football Bowl Subdivision, beginning July 1, 2013.

Join us at 12:30 p.m. Friday for a live chat with Virginian-Pilot sports writers Rich Radford and Ed Miller on what Old Dominion's switch from the CAA to Conference-USA means for the university. Enter your email address below to get an alert before the chat begins.
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Rich Radford The CAA is doomed  | Rich's ODU football blog