Oh sure. I'm not saying D2 isn't able to attract slightly better athletes. I'm saying a lot of the time the partial scholarships are a wash with D3 aid. You are just substituting one form of aid for another.

That being said, it's the cache of having an athletic scholarship that is the hook. Schools like Ferrum are pretty common in D3 in the Mid-Atlantic. There are a lot of better options academically and athletically right now. But if you can offer those athletic scholarships there are fewer competing schools around. That's a sales pitch or a hook to help compete for enrollment.

And I think that is what they are going for by moving to D2. A way to standout, because right now, I just don't think they have the reputation or facilities or anything to move up the pecking order of the plethora of small colleges around. And you don't want to be at the bottom of that pecking order, indistinguishable from schools around you, as higher education is entering and going through a significant change.

I have a number of thoughts about DIII to DII moves and thoughts particularly about Ferrum.  Bottom line, I think this is a move of desperation for Ferrum.  Ferrum is definitely not operating from a position of strength (ie championships at the conference level).  Athletic successes have been few for Ferrum in decades and particularly since moving to the ODAC. 

Ferrum has some core institutional issues that won't be resolved by athletic moves. Many small private colleges will be struggling, and Ferrum is one of those.

I got a chuckle out of the conversation of students getting an DII athletic scholarship and the hype surrounding it.  I can't tell you how many times I've read or heard about students getting athletic scholarships in DIII and around the ODAC.  Often these are parents or relatives that have told me their son or relative got an athletic scholarship to an ODAC school.  I just shake my head, letting them continue to feel good about their student's accomplishment of getting an athletic scholarship at the DIII level.

Well, I hope the move to D2 helps Ferrum achieve its goals.

Out here in Saint Louis one of our D3 schools (Fontbonne) has announced its closure at the end of 2024-2025. https://www.fontbonne.edu/fontbonne-announcement-2025/

Also in the midwest, Northland College located in a different Ashland (Wisconsin) on the shore of Lake Superior, had hoped to raise $12 million by April 3rd in order to remain open. They fell far short, but have postponed a final decision about the school's fate. https://www.wdio.com/front-page/local-news/northland-college-trustees-declare-financial-exigency/

I wish Ferrum good luck as well.  I know a lot of guys that went to Ferrum as a Junior College in the late '60s and early '70s. 

I think Ferrum came to the ODAC to raise its profile and get into the VA market for prospective students.  Competing against higher profile schools (academically and athletically) in the ODAC vs USAS obviously hasn't worked for Ferrum.  What is the prospective student profile for Ferrum?  I don't know and I'm not sure they do either.  JKNEZEK's comments above were spot on.

I'd be interested in knowing how EHC's move to DII is working?  I've not heard, but maybe Ferrum saw something there that helped make their move to DII.  Seems like Ferrum had no choice but to do something, and this is that something.

I have a friend at E&H who reports that a lot of D2 recruited athletes do not seem particularly interested in the student part of the alleged student-athlete experience. I am not sure D2 talks much about that old D3 idea.

Some coaching changes in the ODAC:

Bridgewater coach, Steven  Enright left to coach at Keene State, no hire yet for Bridgewater


Randolph coach, Pete Hamiliton resigned and replaced by Evan Kee

D3 Datacast (@d3datacast) recently posted its Top 10 dunks from the '23-'24 season. It did not include any dunks from the ODAC. So Austin Buschang, an assistant coach at Bridgewater, put together this video of ODAC dunks from the past season. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STBqGDu4vk0

HSC seems to have some elite perimeter recruits coming in.  Of this big guard group, I imagine several of these guys will be big-time players early in their D3 careers: Peter Moye, Travis Stickney, Asa Williams, JP Wells, John Campbell and D2 transfer Hamilton Campbell.  Moye, Stickney and Hamilton Campbell in particular seem like players to watch. 

RMC's Will Coble will play at Appalachian State next season.  https://twitter.com/coble_will/status/1786098776890868076

The Tigers also got a commitment from George Lynch's son, Santana.  George's high school teammate, Russell Turner, had a pretty good run at H-SC (2,000 + points) and has gone on to a fine coaching career

RMC is the only DIII school in the country to have won NCAA playoff games in football, basketball and baseball this academic year.

Congrats to AD Coach Burns and all the coaches.

Go Jackets!

Quote from: Macon on May 19, 2024, 10:39:52 AMRMC is the only DIII school in the country to have won NCAA playoff games in football, basketball and baseball this academic year.

Congrats to AD Coach Burns and all the coaches.

Go Jackets!

With baseball's win this afternoon, all three sports advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs.

But the most impressive accomplishment of this type was the 2013-14 academic year when UW-Whitewater won national championships in all three sports.

Matt and Zac Snyder, who do the D3 Datacast, reviewed the strength of the conferences after the '23-'24 season and put them into five tiers. They ranked the ten conferences they included in Tier #1 and concluded that the ODAC was the #1 conference this past season. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnCr-L1OSSU

That seemed like a logical conclusion.