WHEN BIRMINGHAM-SOUTH Baseball coach Jan Weisberg called a team meeting on March 26 and everything seemed normal.
“We thought we were going to have a meeting and then go out on the field to practice,” junior outfielder Eli Steadman said.
But as the morning wore on, players on the team began hearing from other athletes at the 168-year-old private liberal arts university in Birmingham, Alabama. All teams had impromptu meetings scheduled for that afternoon and some of them were virtual. Since it was spring break and many of the teams were out of season, it was clear that something was up, and since the university was in the middle of a months-long battle to keep its doors open, it wasn't impossible to connect the dots.
Just before the school officially announced the news, Weisberg confirmed it to his team: Birmingham-Southern College would close on May 31. They could finish the season, but then each would have to go their separate ways.
“We didn't really know until the moment Coach Weisberg came in and you could see the look on his face,” Steadman said. “It wasn't something normal, it was something that… I was obviously devastated by the news and I'm sure I'm devastated to have to convey that news to us.”
The room was gloomy. Weisberg and his two assistant coaches (all three had also just learned that they would soon be unemployed) were left to help the 39 players understand everything.
“It allowed us to help teach life moments,” Weisberg told ESPN. “That's one of the great things about sports. It's a lot like death in the sense that it's okay to have these emotions and it's okay to grieve what we're losing. But we still have to find a way to live. And they We said, 'Hey, man, for the next three weeks or two months, we're going to be with you every step of the way.'”
At the time, the Panthers were struggling on the field. They were 13-10 overall, but had lost nine of their last 14 games. Then everything changed.
Birmingham-Southern is 16-4, won its four-team regional as the third seed and travels to face national No. 2 Denison (Granville, Ohio) starting Friday in the super regional for the right to play in the Division. III University World Series.
If the Panthers advance, the tournament would begin on May 31, the day Birmingham-Southern will cease operations.
BIRMINGHAM-SOUTH WAS founded in 1918, when Southern University and Birmingham College, a pair of Methodist schools founded in 1856 and 1898, respectively, merged. Its 192-acre campus is located about 3 miles from downtown Birmingham, and enrollment has traditionally been around 1,000 students.
Despite its long history, Birmingham-Southern began facing significant financial problems beginning in 2007, under the leadership of President Dr. David Pollick. At the time of Pollick's arrival in 2004, BSC's endowment was approximately $122 million, according to the school.
However, it took advantage of the donation and went into debt to finance ambitious projects, including new residence halls, a welcome center, sports facilities (including a new football stadium for the upstart program added in 2007), and an artificial lake.
The fund took a $25 million hit during the financial market crisis in 2009, and when Pollick resigned and his replacement, Gen. Charles Krulak, was hired in March 2011, the fund had shrunk to $53 million.
“[Pollick’s spending] “We got into quite a bit of debt, which presidents have been trying to get out of ever since by restructuring that debt and raising money,” Birmingham-Southern athletics director Kyndall Waters told ESPN. “All while the national college landscape is changing. There are fewer kids going to college. There are fewer kids able to go to college. Private liberal arts colleges across the country are struggling with enrollment and with donors and things like that to keep them going.”
Through it all, Weisberg turned Birmingham-Southern into something of a Division III baseball powerhouse. He was hired in 2006 after spending the previous 14 years as a player and assistant coach at Kentucky. The Panthers were the fourth-winningest Division III program nationally in the 2010s and reached the Division III World Series in 2019, losing in the championship game.
As of the 2023-24 school year, the school offered 20 varsity sports for approximately 450 student-athletes and has competed at the NAIA, NCAA Division I, and NCAA Division III levels at various points in history.
Speculation about the school's possible closure began in the fall of 2022, after which the school announced that President Daniel Coleman had been fundraising toward a goal of $200 million to renew the endowment.
Uncertainty about the school's future had a negative impact on the school's enrollment and the athletic department's recruiting ability.
“We did what we've done all along and that was just give [recruits] We gave our honest opinion and told them exactly what was happening,” Waters said. “There were still people who agreed to come here. Our children wanted to stay. We didn't have as many recruits as we had in the past, but the kids who were here wanted to stay. Because they really loved this place and believe in it.”
At various points over the past year, the university's leadership thought it was on the path to securing a viable long-term future, most notably in the form of a $30 million bridge loan from the Alabama Education Trust Fund, which according to The BSC has a $2.8 billion loan surplus, but the plans ultimately failed without the necessary support from state lawmakers.
“This is a tragic day for the university, our students, our employees and our alumni,” Birmingham-Southern Board of Trustees Chairman the Rev. Keith D. Thompson said in a statement announcing the university's closure. “But it's also a terrible day for Birmingham, for the neighborhoods that have surrounded our campus for more than 100 years, and for Alabama. Throughout this challenging year and a half, we've talked a lot about the more than $90 million annually of the BSC. impact in Alabama, with $68 million of that here in our city.
“But beyond that loss, which is enormous, the loss of a nationally ranked liberal arts college that has contributed so much to this state and the world, and still had so much to give, is incalculable.”
AFTER WEISBERG FINISHED Breaking the news to the team, he had another message to impart to the players.
“He said, 'There's only one thing we can focus on right now,'” pitcher Harrison McCown said. “We're just going to focus on ourselves. We're going to do things together. We're going to keep playing baseball. I'm going to help all of you. If you're trying to play somewhere, I'll help you. I'll call the coaches. Let me take care of that one.” “Take care of yourselves and let's focus on what lies ahead.” (Several players have new schools scheduled for next season, others remain in the process, some plan to leave baseball after the season, and 10 players graduated this week.)
And with that, the team took the course and took a few swings off the tee. The environment wasn't right for a full practice, but it turned out to be a necessary outlet for the players.
“I think that helped us refresh,” McCown said. “It was still sad, but we were able to go through this together instead of just getting the news and suffering alone. We were able to grow and as a team, I think that's what really changed our season.”
Steadman added: “It was like a fork in the road where we could choose: the school is closing, we could feel sorry for ourselves. Or we could take the path that the coach urged us to take, which is, 'No, let's go out and give everything and we are going to try to win everything we can.” … I felt like a big weight was lifted off our shoulders.”
The Panthers won their first game the next day, beating LaGrange (Georgia) College, and averaged 10.5 runs per game for the remainder of the regular season. They finished tied for second in the Southern Athletic Association and entered the conference tournament as the third seed. However, after their strong finish, the Panthers lost consecutive games to No. 6 Rhodes in the first round, ending their streak of four consecutive SAA baseball championships.
His early departure on April 27 meant more uncertainty. The NCAA Division III bracket would not be released until May 13, and given its midseason struggles, an at-large bid was not a guarantee. If there were enough upsets in other conference tournaments, there was a chance they would be eliminated.
“The first week of practice was a little tough,” McCown said. “Everyone has ups and downs, but in that second week we were totally sold. We were like, 'Give us a chance. That's all we want. Just give us a chance and let us show you what we can do.'” And then when we heard the news, we were excited.”
In the regional last weekend hosted by Spalding University in Lexington, Kentucky, the Panthers beat Transylvania 21-7, Spalding 4-2 and Transylvania, again, 5-2 to advance to the Super Regional against Denison.
If the Panthers defeat Denison to advance to the World Series, there are no concerns about the team's ability to participate. The NCAA pays for travel, food and lodging for each participating team, and while the official last day of school is May 31, there is still a necessary rest period for a few months. (Summer classes will be offered online for students who needed four or fewer credits to complete their degree.)
“More than anything, I would want it desperately for my guys just because they've had to endure a lot the last two years,” Weisberg said. “But either way, win, lose or draw, what they've done is incredible. But getting there would be an incredible ending to the story, for sure.”
“And you can't believe how many coaches across the country we play against and friends of mine who say, 'Go win everything.'”
For McCown, there is another important part of the team's history that he says is important to understand.
“I feel like when I've been reading [social media], a lot of people support us and everyone supports us, which I think is just amazing. But I feel like some people might see it as a sad story, but in our eyes, we don't see it that way. We are embracing history. We play because we want to have fun and we are happy to do it again. When we're playing, no one thinks, 'Oh, well, the school is going under, so this is the last season, so we have to do this.' It's not, it's not all that. “We are excited to have another opportunity to play and we are playing with our hearts.”
