Faulkner University, after years of rumors and speculation, is officially adding a women's basketball program.

The Eagles will name a new coach soon -- perhaps as early as Friday -- and start play this fall.

"We're ready for it," said school vice president Joey Wiginton, who oversees the athletic department.

Since Faulkner first started work on its multiplex addition to Tine Davis Gymnasium, which opened in September 2007, school officials have hinted that women's basketball eventually would be added. Women's hoops will be Faulkner's ninth sport.

"We've been pushing for it even before that," Wiginton said. "We're there and we're very excited."

It also will be an expensive addition, based on Faulkner's rivals in the Southern States Athletic Conference.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, SSAC members spent an average of more than $273,000 on their women's basketball teams in 2008-09. Reinhardt, which spent $216,000, dropped out of the SSAC after last season.

City rival AUM devoted more than $230,000 to its women's basketball team last year.

Faulkner's total athletic budget was almost $3.5 million in 2008-09. That included $1.1 million for the football program and $466,000 for men's basketball. Both programs pay for themselves, according to the Department of Education numbers.

Wiginton said Faulkner had considered adding women's basketball for this season, but the weak economy delayed that. Anticipating a recovery, the Eagles are going ahead with their plans -- which local players and coaches applaud.

"A lot of people think they should have one already," Montgomery Academy sophomore forward Miah Brooks said. "It's going to give more girls an opportunity who want to continue their basketball careers."

Faulkner, which added football in 2007, will be the fourth women's college basketball team in the city.

"That's going to be fantastic," said G.W. Carver High coach Michelle Simmons, the dean of city girls high school basketball coaches. "It's not going to do anything but enhance their entire program."

Faulkner officials approached school president Billy Hilyer with a formal proposal last summer and Hilyer approved it in the fall, Wiginton said. The Eagles searched for a coach, whom they have not named.

"We're ready to get everything started," Wiginton said. "This is the next step."