The Big East is back!

I have it on high authority that the 3-A NEW 6 Conference will be renamed next year when N.C. High School Athletic Association realignment takes place.

With SouthWest Edgecombe returning to the 2-A ranks, the "E" in N(ash)E(dgecombe)W(ilson) is gone so the conference athletic directors made the most sensible choice — call their league the Big East Conference.

The Big East ended in 2004 when Rocky Mount and Northern Nash dropped to 3-A. It was formed in 1978 as a 4-A conference when the Wilson school system merged and Hunt and Beddingfield opened their doors. The original conference members were 4-A Eastern Conference holdovers Fike and Rocky Mount, along with Kinston, Northern Nash, Greenville Rose and Elizabeth City Northeastern.

With Hunt joining the conference next fall, it makes sense that it be named the Big East. Southern Nash and Nash Central are the only schools that weren't members in the original conference.