FB: New Jersey Athletic Conference

[gordonmann]

MUC57:

I think the gist is that enrollment is down at a lot of schools and there's a high concentration of them here on the east coast. Delaware, which has less than a million people total, has the University of Delaware, Delaware State, Goldey Beacom, Wilmington and Wesley. That doesn't count any branch campuses or Del Tech which is the respected community college with multiple locations. And you can cross the border for lots of college options in PA, NJ, MD or VA if you want.

The one link between football and the College's financial problems that crosses my mind is whether joining the NJAC has made things marginally more difficult financially for the school. Pre-NJAC, Wesley had an enormous roster. The NJAC sets a cap on the roster which means fewer people paying tuition if football is the primary reason they chose Wesley. The flip side is that scheduling is a lot simpler and (I assume) cheaper in the NJAC then it was as an Independent.

But it's a sad problem for a lot of small colleges, as Johnny lays out below.

[Teamski]

The one link between football and the College's financial problems that crosses my mind is whether joining the NJAC has made things marginally more difficult financially for the school. Pre-NJAC, Wesley had an enormous roster. The NJAC sets a cap on the roster which means fewer people paying tuition if football is the primary reason they chose Wesley. The flip side is that scheduling is a lot simpler and (I assume) cheaper in the NJAC then it was as an Independent.

I am sure the limited roster size was more than compensated for in the reduction in traveling costs.  The traveling to games in California, Florida, Alabama, Ohio, North Carolina and Maine were really expensive excursions.   Losing players off the roster was dwarfed by the lower enrollment rates that ultimately closed two dorms.

-Ski

[MUC57]

gordonmann and teamski

Thanks for the insight. I know some schools have closed completely. But I know a little more about Wesley because of their fine football program. And, having done my undergraduate degree at a small, liberal arts  Dlll school, i have a special fondness for them.
I truly hope Wesley gets all issues resolved favorably for everyone.
(If there had been no Wesley football program, would we have heard of Joe Callahan, All-World QB for a small metropolitan college? OK, probably somewhere else.)
Go Wolverines! Go Wesley. 

[gordonmann]

I agree. I work with lots of places like Dover in my full-time job. Losing a major anchor institution like that is just crushing.

I hope it doesn't happen.

[RowanPhan]

Any NJAC recruiting news?  Can't find anything related to Rowan at the moment.

[thewaterboy]

Any NJAC recruiting news?  Can't find anything related to Rowan at the moment.

Can only speak for what I have seen on Twitter.

Wesley has recruited:
-Khalil Stone (Gwynn Park, MD). He's listed as an ATH, and his highlight tape has him all over the field.
- Denard McNeill Jr. (Gwynn Park, MD). DE/OLB
- Jamar Stevenson (Surrattsville, MD). DE

[RowanPhan]

Any NJAC recruiting news?  Can't find anything related to Rowan at the moment.

The only player I see committed to Rowan is DL Phoenix Gilder (North Hunterdon, 6'3" 240lbs)

First Team All Conference Player, 2018 state champ

[MRMIKESMITH]

Good to see Salisbury with a solid 3 OOC games (Albright, UW-Oshkosh, and Averett). Albright will be much better as the past two seasons, they played with quite a lot of freshmen and sophomores. UW-Oshkosh was the WIAC champ and a two point conversion away from being a 2nd round playoff team. They also return a good amount of starters on both sides including their freshman QB that got much better as the season went on. Averett appeared to the turn the corner last year and was a few plays from being their conference champ. So with the match-ups, this helps with region crossover with facing a team from the West and South this upcoming year. I look forward to them building off of this past season success and taking it another notch.

[JT2]

Any NJAC recruiting news?  Can't find anything related to Rowan at the moment.

The only player I see committed to Rowan is DL Phoenix Gilder (North Hunterdon, 6'3" 240lbs)

First Team All Conference Player, 2018 state champ

I almost read that as Phoenix Glider... but still a cool name.

[RowanPhan]

Any NJAC recruiting news?  Can't find anything related to Rowan at the moment.

The only player I see committed to Rowan is DL Phoenix Gilder (North Hunterdon, 6'3" 240lbs)

First Team All Conference Player, 2018 state champ

I almost read that as Phoenix Glider... but still a cool name.

Congratulations to Anthony DiTorrice on his commitment to play for Rowan University next season.  Same HS as Rowan's NJAC rushing leader, Messiah Divine.

Montgomery High School
Positions: TE, DE
Height & Weight: 5'10" 185lbs

[Jonny Utah]

Random Question here:

WTF happened to TCNJ?  These guys used to be great every year.  What's going on there?  Great school, good size, good location for football recruits........

?

[phil]

I wouldn't say they were "great" every year. They were competitive every year. Mostly they were in Rowan or Montclair's shadow, but for much of the 80's, 90's, and a few years in the 00's, they had a few excellent teams. It always took a lot for them to have an NJAC championship year though. From 1977-1998 the TCNJ/Trenton State athletics department was given a large amount of support by the administration. In 1998 the President of the college retired and the new President was, shall we say, laissez faire regarding athletics and their importance... as evidenced by the fact she chose to celebrate a field hockey national championship by having a little on-campus conference room luncheon during school and business hours where players and parents had difficulty even attending.

Another problem is that the academic standards are higher than any of the other NJAC colleges, and despite it being a state school, the cost to attend is higher than any of the other New Jersey state colleges. That kind of narrows things down when you're more expensive – and harder to get into than your peers. It's also relevant that TCNJ's decline in football coincides with the rise of Delaware Valley's program – which used to be pretty bad. Today, DelVal is an eastern power, is geographically the closest DIII school to TCNJ, and has 31 kids from NJ on their roster.

However, the #1 reason TCNJ's program slipped is this one: https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=laissez+faire&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Faced with the obstacles stated above you better have a pretty damn good head coach who can play the hand he's been dealt – which TCNJ had up until 2013. Since then, it's been rather difficult – although in all fairness, TCNJ has done fairly well against the old NJAC teams consisting of WPU, Montclair, Kean, Rowan and Montclair. Wesley, Salisbury, CNU... not so much.

[Teamski]

Nothing really new, but Wesley has an unofficial agreement to merge with another institution, name still officially unknown whether it is indeed Saint Leo's or not I have not a clue.  What impact on Wesley's athletics is anyone's guess.

http://www.wboc.com/story/41832041/wesley-college-potential-partner-give-preliminary-approval-to-merge

-Ski

[jmcozenlaw]

Nothing really new, but Wesley has an unofficial agreement to merge with another institution, name still officially unknown whether it is indeed Saint Leo's or not I have not a clue.  What impact on Wesley's athletics is anyone's guess.

http://www.wboc.com/story/41832041/wesley-college-potential-partner-give-preliminary-approval-to-merge

-Ski

Wesleydad might be in the know. Saint Leo's??? Huh??

[Pat Coleman]

Yes, it is St. Leo's, and the agreement being discussed will allow Wesley to continue to operate as an independent entity, athletics preserved.