Once upon a time, in the not-so-distant past, there was a small university in Marietta, specializing in chiropractic medicine, which also had a very good athletics program.

The program won seven national titles - three from the men's basketball team and four from the men's outdoor track and field team - and was very competitive in all of its other sports.

The university's men's basketball team was especially loved by everyone in the community. Sell-outs were common and, at one point, the team had won 99 straight home games.

Then, almost unexpectedly, it all came to an end. The athletics program was cut, jobs were lost, a community was shocked, and approximately 150 student-athletes had to suddenly decide what to do with their lives.

Seven years later, however, the Eagles are running again at Life University.

At a press conference held Wednesday, Life president Dr. Guy F. Riekeman, announced that the Running Eagles will reinstate their athletics program, beginning with men's basketball in 2008-09, and that the University has once again been accepted into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).

"Life University is proud to become a member in the NAIA," said Riekeman. "The NAIA has standards of excellence, integrity, and leadership that are expected of student-athletes. Our staff and faculty are committed to, not only the educational success of our students, but also the success that is offered on the court. Life is excited to bring NAIA back to our community."

"It's exciting for (Life) to get back into the athletics business," said Karl Staber, athletics director at Southern Polytechnic State University. "Our campuses are right up against each other, in the same city, and in the same association. There's a lot of potential for our rivalry to be renewed."

John Barrett, a one-time assistant coach and head coach for the Running Eagles and the school's current athletics director, was once again tabbed to be the men's basketball coach at Life and to jumpstart a once proud franchise.

"Life had gone through some issues with its accreditation," said Barrett, who served as an assistant under former coach Roger Kaiser before assuming the lead reins. "But, under the leadership of Dr. Riekeman, we have recovered and we're moving forward stronger than ever.

"One of the things Dr. Riekeman wanted to do was revitalize the athletics program here, because it was such a great way for Life University to be involved in the community. We had a terrific athletics program and the desire is to bring back the elements of that to complement what Dr. Riekeman is doing here."

Barrett has been with the program for many years. He was an assistant coach on the team during its three NAIA national championships runs in 1997, 1999 and 2000, and took over as its head coach beginning in the 2000-01 season. The Running Eagles advanced to the NAIA tournament every year from 1992 to 2002, winning a regional or national title in each of those seasons.

But, while athletics prospered, the university's academics floundered. Life was stripped of its chiropractic accreditation in June of 2002 and saw its enrollment drop 17 percent over the summer - a loss of about $2 million in tuition revenue.

Cutting athletics affected approximately 12 full-time and part-time coaches and other staff, as well as the student-athletes, and saved the university roughly $1.8 millon in athletically-related expenses.

Fortunately, the accreditation issue was resolved almost immediately after it was brought up.

"When Dr. Riekeman and his staff came on board, all of the accreditation issues were reversed," continued Barrett.

Now that the university is fully-accredited again, the next step is to bring back its athletics teams.

"What's happening at Life University today is a complete revitalization," he commented "And nothing illustrates that better than the desire to get back with our sports program."

The university is taking a "cautious approach" to athletics and building on what it already has.

Barrett has been employed as the athletics director for more than a year. His focus has been growing the intramural and club sports in an effort to engage the students already on campus.

The club sports, which include volleyball, soccer, cycling, golf, tennis, hockey and others, currently play competitively against other schools. After the growth of the club sports, the next logical step was to return to NAIA competition, and hopefully, national prominence once again.

"We started with club sports as the beginning stages of our sports programs," Barrett explained. "Now, we want to add our intercollegiate programs. So, we're moving towards a diverse program that involves intramurals, intercollegiate and club sports."

The first step, however, begins with Barrett, who must now put together a coaching staff and recruit from high schools and junior colleges in order to field a basketball team for the 2008-09 season.

The university has committed the next five years to expanding its involvement in NAIA sports. Plans over the next few years include adding women's volleyball, men's and women's tennis, and men's and women's golf. Eventually, Life would like to add men's and women's track and field and women's basketball as well.

"We're going to move cautiously and add those programs to what we feel like is a strong athletic program already in place," Barrett said.

"The growth of the school under our current leadership is at the point where we are trying to build a great university again under a hugely successful chiropractic program and tremendous undergraduate programs," he continued.

"Dr. Riekeman's ability to heal what has happened on this campus has been unbelievable. We have a bright future and we're excited about being back in the NAIA, because of the great history we had as a member.

"I'm more excited than ever to represent this university with the leadership we have. But, the steps that we take to build this program are a blessing to me because I was here when we built the program before."

Barrett cites his familiarity with the high school coaches and junior colleges in the area as a key factor in getting basketball, and ultimately Life University's athletics program, back on track. The people he's communicated with and the relationships that he's built over the years are still there and Barrett is relying on those relationships to move this process forward.

"This is a really big day for us at Life University," he said. "The history that we had here and the opportunity to do it again and to be embraced by the community is really exciting."

cwhite@mdjonline.com

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