Future of Division III

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The only thing that all D-3 schools seem to agree upon is no scholarships based solely on athletics.

Do you think that's really true, or that some schools abide by it as a necessity of NCAA competition?  I bet there would be a number of schools going d2 if it had any sort of competitive stability.

[johnnie_esq]

Ok, ok...so I stand potentially corrected.  So the only thing D3 schools agree upon is that they cannot (or are not allowed to, not that they don't want to) offer scholarships for athletic purposes.   

To take it a step further, is it possible that this means D3 has become too diverse for its own good?

[Pat Coleman]

I know that this would be a huge task.  But how accessible is this info to attain?
Enrollment, Student to student athlete ratio, Tuition. Success  year to year. How many schools offer higher division sports, i.e Greensboro DIII football, DI basketball.

Greensboro doesn't offer Division I basketball.

[PA_wesleyfan]

my bad Pat.... I plea insanity

[Gregory Sager]

my bad Pat.... I plea insanity

You may be confusing Greensboro College with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. UNC-Greensboro, which is obviously a public school and which has about 14,000 students (including both undergraduates and grad students), used to be D3 but is now D1. Greensboro College, which is located a quarter-mile east of the UNC-Greensboro campus, is a private school of about 900 students which is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and which competes in D3's USA South Athletic Conference.

[PA_wesleyfan]

Yes  Gregory thanks.
I have amended my post

my bad Pat.... I plea insanity

You may be confusing Greensboro College with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. UNC-Greensboro, which is obviously a public school and which has about 14,000 students (including both undergraduates and grad students), used to be D3 but is now D1. Greensboro College, which is located a quarter-mile east of the UNC-Greensboro campus, is a private school of about 900 students which is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and which competes in D3's USA South Athletic Conference.

[pabegg]

Just noticed that the D3 membership committee meeting minutes are finally posted with the official promotion list for provisional membership.

Year 4 moved to Active: Keystone, Texas Tyler, Tri-State, Green Mountain
Year 3 to Year 4: Crown, Maine Presque Isle, Mount Aloysius, Mount Mary, Penn State Berks, Minnesota Morris
Year 2 to Year 4 (skip Year 3): Bethany Lutheran, Northwestern, Purchase, Salem
Year 2 to Year 3: Mitchell, North Central (Minn.), Presentation
Repeat Year 2: La Sierra
Year 1 to Year 2: Lancaster Bible, Lyndon State, Saint Vincent, SUNY Morrisville
Start Year 1: Franciscan U of Steubenville, Geneva, Penn State Harrisburg, Spalding, St. Joseph's NY (presumably the Brooklyn campus), Birmingham Southern

Lincoln Christian has dropped from the list - there's no mention of the NCAA on their web site, so I assume they're out.
Minnesota Crookston has dropped (they were supposed to be starting this year) and looks like they're staying in D2.

As a reminder, schools in years 3 and 4 now count as regional games and figure into championship qualification numbers even though they're still not eligible for the championships. Schools in years 1 and 2 don't count in any championship calculations.

[Ralph Turner]

pabegg, +1 and thanks! 

[smedindy]

So basically, if Spalding would go undefeated, they'd get nothing and like it???

[Knightstalker]

So this is your grandson?  Now I know why tigers eat their young.

[David Collinge]

Here's links to an article and accompanying column, published July 31 in the Wooster (OH) Daily Record, regarding the potential D3/D4 split.

NCAA examines future of Div. III sports
Trying to reclaim original ideals

The reporter, Chad Conant, does an excellent job of summing up the issues, and did some research within the NCAC to illuminate some of the points.  He does choose to label what I might call the "traditionalist" schools as "the small schools," which may rankle some nerves (those sensitive to the "big/small" framing of the issue), but I don't think his intention is to actually define the split that way.  Anyway, there are so many tender nerves out there that there's probably no choice of labels which would not upset at least some partisans.  He does an excellent job of framing the NCAC's concerns with D3 as it currently exists, and that alone makes these articles a good read for those interested in this debate.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I still think the proposed plans only work to the benefit of the larger schools and more competitive programs.  The small and non-nationally competitive schools will still get lost in the shuffle.

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks, David.

There is just too much "good stuff" in there.

My cynical side is skeptical that there is much obfuscation.  No drug testing or education proposed in D-IV?  If those are NAIA schools coming over to D-IV, then I cannot imagine an Asbury KY or Berea KY or Azusa Pacific CA not wanting Drug and Alcohol education programs.

What about binge drinking at many D-III venues as it is?

The real question is Pat Coleman's pondering, "what if the WIAC wanted to join the more restrictive division?"

[Mr. Ypsi]

Which raises the question: if there IS a split, what is the future of d3sports.com?

Pat, is this a hopelessly premature question, or have you already pondered the future?

[Pat Coleman]

We own several domains with the numeral 4 in them, just in case.