John Iamarino, who became the commissioner of the Southern Conference on Jan. 30, took in the league’s basketball tournament last weekend. He’ll take to the road next, completing campus visits and meeting with presidents and athletics directors of member schools.

Iamarino, who was commissioner of the Northeast Conference for nine years before taking the SoCon job, said that he expects possible conference expansion to be a major topic and is something that he plans to revisit with school presidents. The SoCon has an odd number of members (11) since the departure of East Tennessee State.

“I think we’re in a pretty good position because we could survive with the 11 we have now,” Iamarino said. “But I think if we can prove that we could open up with a new market that will help us with either TV or marketing, and if we find an institution that’s within the geographic footprint or even one that’s outside that opens up a desirable market, it could happen.”

“The presidents are obviously interested in a school with strong academics and the right mission. And you have the private vs. state issue that a lot of our schools think about. If there was a school out there that made complete sense to everybody it would have happened already, but it’s something we will revisit.”

Iamarino didn’t disclose names of possible candidates for expansion, but he said he thinks there are a “handful” of possibilities.

“I think the presidents are looking for a good combination of strong academics, a broad-based athletics program, good facilities and if they can help us with what we’re trying to do in terms of marketing and TV all the better,” Iamarino said.

He said that it’s not implausible that more than one new member could be added, if any are added.

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