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Pomona-Pitzer selects Haverford AD Danielle Lynch for the same role leading the Sagehens. Pitzer President Strom Thacker: “At Pitzer, we champion student-centered leadership and collaborative innovation, and Dr. Lynch embodies those values. Her commitment to access, wellness, and academic and athletic excellence will strengthen our shared program and create new opportunities where Sagehen student-athletes can flourish.” Pomona President G. Gabrielle Starr: “Student athletes at Pomona-Pitzer find community in their teams and develop the discipline to succeed in sport and in life. Dr. Lynch's dedication to inclusive community-building along with competitive excellence makes her an ideal leader for Pomona-Pitzer Athletics.” Spelman Johnson assisted with the search. (link)

Boise State (DI) Asst. Professor Sam Ehrlich provides the first update following today’s Patterson case hearing over the Vanderbilt (DI) Football student-athlete’s request to suspend the redshirt rule for football players ahead of the January transfer portal window, observing: “This is kind of a fascinating thing ... the NCAA has argued that the House settlement includes a provision saying that the NCAA can continue to create eligibility rules, so the NCAA has argued that bars these eligibility suits. But none of the courts hearing these eligibility cases (including cases the NCAA has won) have agreed with the NCAA on this point. Eligibility rules weren't at issue in House, so they can't be released. So I'm guessing Judge Campbell is just doing his due diligence? We'll see.” The Big 12, SEC, ACC, Big Ten & Pac-12 commissioners – those named in the House settlement – prepared for the hearing by filing a sworn statement to a Tennessee federal court in support of the NCAA’s current eligibility rules. Per Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger, the NCAA also sent a memo out to membership on Monday noting ‘there is no request for broader preliminary injunctive relief on behalf of all DI student-athletes and the court is not expected to address eligibility for any other student-athlete.’” (link, link, link)

The football semifinals are set with Johns Hopkins-Wisconsin-River Falls and John Carroll-North Central (IA). (link); Kick times are set for 1:00 PM ET and 4:30 PM ET, respectively, on ESPN+. (link)

President Donald Trump on Friday shared his take on NIL and the priority for funding to go to football programs: “I think that it’s a disaster for college sports. I think it’s a disaster for the Olympics. We’re losing a lot of teams. Colleges are cutting their, they would call them, sort of the lesser sports. They’re losing them at numbers nobody can believe. And they were really training grounds, beautiful training grounds. Hard-working, wonderful young people. They were training grounds for the Olympics, and a lot of these sports that were training so well would win gold medals because of it. Those sports don’t exist because they’re putting all that money into football. And, by the way, they’re putting too much money into football because colleges don’t make – even the most successful universities don’t make that much money. … I think the NIL is a disaster for sports. It’s horrible for the Olympics. I think it’s actually horrible for the players. And you’re losing all of these great sports. They’re not college football.” Trump also believes in a salary cap, especially given the strain that not having one puts on athletic department finances. Trump: “You’re going to have these colleges wipe themselves out, and something ought to be done. And I’m willing to put the federal government behind it. But if it’s not done fast, you’re going to wipe out colleges. They’re going to get wiped out, including ones that do well in football. They can’t pay $12M, $14M, $10M, $6M for players. They won’t be able to stop. There’ll always be that one player, they only have that player, they’re going to win the national championship. And they’ll have 100 colleges thinking the same thing. Colleges cannot afford to play this game. It’s a very bad thing that’s happening.” More. (link)

In the aftermath of the canceled SCORE Act House vote, college sports organizations should instead focus on crafting and enforcing their own rules in ways judges will deem lawful, per Sportico’s Michael McCann, who notes that “since 2020, more than 40 bills have been introduced in Congress to change laws governing college sports, and none have become law, despite some enjoying favorable political alignments.” That’s not surprising, according to McCann who observes college sports bills often tackle issues that involve widespread disagreement such as antitrust immunity, employment and NIL. McCann: “Any federal college sports law would likely face a bevy of legal challenges. This is an often overlooked and under-discussed point about college sports legislation. … There’s another path for the NCAA and colleges: They could adopt rules that can withstand scrutiny under antitrust and other laws. The reality is that most antitrust lawsuits fail. … The NCAA has gotten in trouble over the years with rigid rules, such as prohibiting college athletes from receiving pay for appearing in video games and denying pay for education-related expenses. However, more flexible approaches, such as reasonable restraints on compensation and NIL, would probably enjoy much more success in courts. The NCAA and its members could even regard some college athletes as employees, who if they unionize could bargain rules with the NCAA and members that would be exempt from antitrust scrutiny.” More. (link)

Baldwin Wallace will add women’s flag football as its 29th varsity sport starting next academic year. (link)

It’s Personnel…
➤ Austin selects Spring Hill (DII) Provost/Chief Academic Officer Rebecca Cantor as its 17th president. (link)
➤ Vermont State Lyndon taps Baseball HC Cameron Curler as Interim Senior Assoc. AD. (link)
➤ Muskingum names Women’s Volleyball HC/alum Taylour Huey as SWA. (link)

Coaches.wire, football…
➤ Averett names high school OC/former St. Andrews (formerly NAIA) HC Matt Quinn as its next football HC. (link)
➤ Ithaca Football HC Michael Toerper will depart after four seasons to become the DC at Cornell (DI). (link)
➤ Marietta promotes Football Assoc. HC Tom Hinkle to HC after HC Tom Kaufman departed to take a high school HC position. (link)

Coaches.wire, continued…
➤ Olivet hires Siena Heights (formerly NAIA) AC Ethan Sudall as Director of Esports. (link)
➤ Pomona-Pitzer Women’s Soccer HC Jennifer Scanlon will retire after more than two decades with the Sagehens. (link)
➤ Check out the latest coaching changes in this morning’s Coaches.wire. (link)

With the recent expansion to include short-term workforce programs adding to existing structural funding problems, the Pell Grant program faces a 10-year shortfall of up to $97M, per the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. While this past summer’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act granted the program $10.5B in one-time funding in an effort to avoid a looming budget shortfall, it will only delay the inevitable by about two years. CFRB expects the Pell Grant program’s costs to exceed its funding by $6B to $11B each year over the next decade, noting: ”The underlying structural gap between costs and appropriations remains unaddressed, and in fact was made worse under OBBBA.” Per Higher Ed Dive’s Natalie Schwartz: “Researchers estimated the Pell Grant program would face a $61B 10-year shortfall if lawmakers keep its appropriations adjusted for inflation and maintain the maximum award of $7,395. If lawmakers keep both appropriations and the maximum award flat, that shortfall would reach $88B. Moreover, the shortfall would hit $97B if lawmakers raise Pell Grant funding and the maximum award in line with inflation and Workforce Pell enrollment outpaces expectations.” (link)