Future of Division III

[tmerton]

Yes -- to restricted male practice players.

Ready - Fire - Aim

[Ralph Turner]

Division III Working Group Membership Issues -- May 18 Mailing Review of Discussion

I found this 8-page document that gives one an impression that the migration of the D-IV's might permit the remaining D-III's to become even less restrictive.

I don't want to speculate on what is implied.  There are no specifics given as to the nature of the playoffs in either D-III or D-IV.  The document does state that D-II gets 4.25% of the budget.  D-III gets 3.18%.

[FootballFanatic]

Division III Working Group Membership Issues -- May 18 Mailing Review of Discussion

I found this 8-page document that gives one an impression that the migration of the D-IV's might permit the remaining D-III's to become even less restrictive.

I don't want to speculate on what is implied.  There are no specifics given as to the nature of the playoffs in either D-III or D-IV.  The document does state that D-II gets 4.25% of the budget.  D-III gets 3.18%.

This document has some interesting ideas & a great read for D3 football fans. Thank for posting. 8)

[Knightstalker]

I don't know why but reading NCAA documents always gives me a headache.

[Hawks88]

BSC finds life in Division III isn't so simple

I'm not sure which way the SCAC would be going in a DIII/DIV split but it sounds to me like the Birmingham-Southern AD isn't too interested in a more restrictive DIV.

[David Collinge]

Some schools adhere to the spirit of the "non-athletic scholarship" rule, applying the same rules for financial aid to all students across the board, while others seem to make more financial aid available specifically for students who just happen to be top athletes.

What a thing to print in a newspaper, even in what appears to be an op-ed column.  Do you suppose he has solid evidence to back up this accusation?

[Ralph Turner]

Some schools adhere to the spirit of the "non-athletic scholarship" rule, applying the same rules for financial aid to all students across the board, while others seem to make more financial aid available specifically for students who just happen to be top athletes.

What a thing to print in a newspaper, even in what appears to be an op-ed column.  Do you suppose he has solid evidence to back up this accusation?

David, I don't think that he does.  That violation warrants a penalty that is more onerous than anything that the University of Alabama has ever received.

I think that we need to forward this to Pat Coleman who can handle this collegially. 

[Pat Coleman]

Thanks for the heads-up.

Ray,

You seem to be more of a D-I and pro sports guy, so perhaps you're not aware of the inner workings of Division III.

You wrote in your recent column: "Some schools adhere to the spirit of the "non-athletic scholarship" rule, applying the same rules for financial aid to all students across the board, while others seem to make more financial aid available specifically for students who just happen to be top athletes."

People who follow Division III are aware that the NCAA audits all Division III member institutions to make sure that their financial aid offerings to student-athletes are not out of line with their financial aid to the student body at large. Schools are permitted very little variance. It's unfortunate that you were not aware of this fact when you threw out the above sentence.

I am aware of the concept of a column. However, I know that this sentence would not have passed muster on any desk I ever worked on, and I have worked on the copy desk at USA Today. You have to have some facts rather than just parroting what your source wants you to say.

Pat Coleman
D3football.com

[Mr. Ypsi]

Nice reply, Pat.

I was also struck by the paragraph two spots below that one.  While what he says about redshirting is technically correct, I believe he left the impression with most of his readers that some schools DO redshirt, while others do not.  (Of course, I guess even that 'misimpression' would still technically be accurate 'til this year's class graduates!)

[Gregory Sager]

Well said, Pat. D3 gets little play in major dailies as it is, so that makes it even more important that we hold journalists to the truth when a D3 topic does appear in a large-circulation newspaper.

[joehakes]

Pat,

After reading the article on Birmingham Southern's transition to DIII, it seems evident to me that the columnist didn't really have a topic and just wrote a lazy and uninformative article. 

Did BSC not look at what was required of them before they made the trek to DIII?  I can't believe that they did not.  To blame the NCAA for being "complicated" is almost laughable. It is complicated because it supports a philosophy that is little understood by most folks outside (and some inside) its world.  Articles like this don't educate, they just confuse people more.

[David Collinge]

I'd bet that, if we dug a little deeper into Ray Melick's history of columns, we'd find that he was one of the most vocal critics of BSC's move to D3.  Having lost that fight, he's now trying to tell his readers that everything good that was promised turns out to be fallacious.  Not very professional journalism, if you were to ask me.

[Pat Coleman]

Melick has written on Division III before, but I think Kevin Scarbinsky was the worst offender along those lines.

[Warren Thompson]

Did BSC not look at what was required of them before they made the trek to DIII? 

One has to believe that the BSC folks knew very well "what was required of them" in making the move up to D3. After all, the move itself was spearheaded by CEO David Pollick, who was earlier president of D3 Lebanon Valley College.

[cush]

I think there was a big divide at Birmingham-Southern with going to Division 3 and it seems the AD was on the losing side, his attitude seems to fit better at the Division 1 level. My guess is Birmingham-Southern will follow wherever the majority of SCAC end up. Here's another article:

http://www.al.com/birminghamnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1187166115197260.xml&coll=2