#10: Minnesota Duluth AD Forrest Karr will serve as next Executive Director of the AHCA, succeeding retiring Executive Director Joe Bertagna. Karr will retain his AD role. (link)
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#9: The NCAA has released a historical membership dashboard that includes high-level details and summary information on every NCAA member school and conference. Displayed as a map, the dashboard allows users to view historical membership data by year, division, school, region, conference and state going back to 1906. Some nuggets from the dashboard: The NCAA started with 39 charter members in 1906 and reached 80 schools by 1912. In 1921, the NCAA surpassed the 100-member mark, and the first historically Black college and university conference joined. The 1920s saw positive gains in membership, followed by a decline in the early years of the Great Depression. And in 2002, the NCAA surpassed the 1,000-member threshold, a figure that remained consistent over the next 15 years. (link)
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#8: Alaska Fairbanks Men’s Basketball HC Greg Sparling has been on leave since December 17. (link) |
#7: Grand Valley State AD Keri Becker sits down with D2.ticker/Connect’s Anthony Grassi to discuss GVSU’s unique position in DII, the culture of success, how she evaluates personnel, the GLIAC’s media rights deal with FloSports and more. On the prospect of a DI move as has long been hypothesized for the Lakers, Becker says she wouldn’t be doing her job if she did not keep a pulse of what was happening around the DI and NCAA landscape. Coming off of their 15th LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup, Becker credits the history of success to holding onto the core elements that create an environment where student-athletes can “develop leadership and talent through the context of their sport, they get a degree and can get a job and start their career.” One of those elements is recruiting and retaining quality coaches, which she defines as those “who are great CEOs of a program, excellent coaches and teachers at heart that can teach the game and develop talent […] and are good human beings. Do they create these places … where they are doing all they can to make their programs portal-proof?” Tons more value in the conversation only on Connect. (link)
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#6: ECC Commissioner Bob Dranoff will step down at the end of the year after 16 years leading the conference. D'Youville President/Chair of the ECC Presidents' Council Lorrie Clemo: "After 16 years with the ECC, Bob will embark on a new chapter in his life. He proudly boasts the longest running tenure in conference history. His journey and leadership at the ECC have been nothing short of exceptional. During his time as Commissioner, Bob grew the conference by adding five new member schools along with several associate members in a variety of sports. He successfully added championships in several sports, and added new sport sponsorship in women’s bowling, men’s volleyball, and esports." Double LL Consulting will assist with the search for the next commissioner. (link)
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#5: Davis & Elkins AD Pat Snively has departed after two-plus years to become the president of the Marion County Chamber of Commerce. Snively: “Amy and I are not native to Marion County. We came here for college, but we felt like this community always embraced us. We felt like people in this community were always warm and welcoming to us, and when we decided that this was a place that we wanted to settle and make our lives, we felt like we could make a difference here. [...] Engaging here in this community is very important to us. I took my grandmother’s favorite quote, and we’ve established roots here. We want to make sure that we stay connected to this community and allow for the community to flourish with what leadership we can bring to it.” (link)
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#4: The Mountain East has invited Point Park (NAIA) to join its league as the 12th full member, pending the Pioneers' acceptance into the DII membership process. Commissioner Reid Amos: “As we worked with our MEC Membership Committee this fall, Point Park University continued to emerge as an outstanding fit with an athletic department that we believe will be highly competitive in the MEC. The strategic vision for PPU’s academic and athletic future, led by President Chris Brussalis, gives us great confidence that Point Park is well positioned to successfully transition to NCAA Division II and to become a valued member of the Mountain East Conference.” (link)
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#3: West Georgia selects Elizabeth City State Athletics Finance and Administration Manager Kimberly Miller as its Assoc. AD for Compliance. (link) |
#2: Cameron AD Jim Jackson will retire next month after 18 years leading the Aggies. CU President John McArthur: “Jim Jackson’s contributions to Cameron’s athletic programs have been significant. From his first day on the job, he has been committed to the success of our student-athletes and staff in competition and equally committed to their academic and career success. [...] Jim’s contributions to Aggie athletics are far-reaching. He has positioned the program for continuing success.” (link)
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#1: DII has announced the 25 institutions and two conferences that are finalists for the 2024 Award of Excellence. The winner of the award will be announced at next week’s NCAA Convention. (link) |
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