By 2000, the CAA was down to just eight member schools. American University officials worried about the level of competition in the league, and the level of concern rose dramatically when the NCAA announced it was considering no longer extending automatic bids to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship for leagues with fewer than eight members. Athletic Director Dr. Lee McElroy and President Benjamin Ladner began talks with the Patriot League, discussions which became more serious after the United States Naval Academy said it would join the Patriot League if AU did. The Patriot League formally invited AU to join the conference in mid-March 2000. But according to an anonymous source, nearly all of the coaches at AU resisted the conference switch. The CAA allowed AU to offer athletic scholarships in all sports, while the Patriot League only permitted this in basketball. They were also concerned that the level of play in the Patriot League was of much lower quality than in the CAA, and that attendance at AU sporting events would drop significantly. (More local colleges played in the CAA than in the Patriot League, which critics felt meant higher attendance.) In response, the Patriot League allowed AU to continue to offer athletic scholarships in all sports. About 50 student-athletes at AU led a public protest against the move on March 28. Many of AU's top athletic stars vowed to transfer to another school if AU changes conferences.