#10: Mary names high school AC/former NFLer Schillinger as its new FB HC. AD Jones: "His experiences coaching in the Big Ten, SEC, and Big Sky conferences were incredibly appealing to the search committee, and Shann's deep ties to the region made us feel that he could help us in our quest to win championships and bring 'Greatness through Virtue' to the football program at UMary." (link)
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#9: NACDA announces the 2022-23 Cushman & Wakefield ADs of the Year. DII ADs include Converse AD Bell, Mercy AD Kilcullen, Adelphi AD McCabe and Lenoir-Rhyne AD Pate. (link)
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#8: A state auditor referred to state and federal prosecutors the findings of a financial investigation into Kentucky State. (link) |
#7: Minnesota State Mankato FB HC Hoffner is none too pleased about being unable to fill a non-conference date and being saddled, for the moment, with a 10-game schedule this fall: “This bites pretty hard; it could affect our ability to compete for championships. With just 10 games, any slip-up during the season would be magnified. [...] We’ve talked to some programs, but teams don’t seem to be chomping at the bit to play the Mavericks. [...] You’re talking about losing 10% of your schedule. It’s a big problem in our sport. [...] I feel bad for the student-athletes who work so hard and might not get an opportunity to play 11 games. We’re still working on some things, and even at the 11th hour, something might work out, but it’s disappointing.” (link)
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#6: USC Aiken AD Wilkinson details some of his priorities with the local Rotary Club, pointing to excellence, graduation and to “consistently be in consideration for the NCAA (Division II) regionals.” Further: "we are going to build a culture that retains the students we recruit. You've heard of the portal. You've heard of people moving around. You build a culture, and you care about the students. We want to build that so ... they stay with us from start to finish." (link)
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#5: Fort Valley State officially introduced new AD Myles Payne, who identified her major goal as: “Scholarships, scholarships, scholarships, scholarships is what we’ll be touting a lot to make sure that it gets raised. So we can have more student-athletes. That increases enrollment. That does a whole lot of things for the university, not just help athletics.” More from Payne: “Athletics is about three things. It is economics, it’s about education and it’s about entertainment. We will be economically sound…we will be educationally solid… and we will provide a high level of entertainment. We will elevate our athletics to be equally as impressive as our academics here at Fort Valley.” (link)
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#4: With Iowa Wesleyan (NAIA) announcing its closure at the end of the academic year, Upper Iowa is one of four regional schools to reach a teach-out agreement with IWU. (link) |
#3: Tusculum VP for Athletics and University Initiatives Jones will step down next month to pursue other professional opportunities and be succeeded by Charleston Southern (DI) Assoc. AD for External Operations/alum Ealy. Jones: "Josh is a man of faith and strong character and he has tremendous leadership qualities. I was fortunate enough to work alongside Josh over the years. He has a true passion for Tusculum and Intercollegiate Athletics. Without question, Josh will provide a vision that will take the department to new heights. Josh has been a great colleague but more importantly, he is a great friend." (link)
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#2: The Times-Standard’s Matson details allegations of verbal abuse, NCAA violations and more from within the Cal Poly Humboldt MBB program speaking with seven members of the Lumberjacks squad. The student-athletes accuse HC Norwood of creating a culture of fear and ridicule for the players and coaches, demeaning mental health struggles of athletes and retaliation. Multiple student-athletes also take issue with Norwood’s recruiting pitch, with Matson writing, “they were pitched on a thriving Division II program that had Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) opportunities and was run in a manner similar to a professional basketball team.” Further: “Multiple players echoed those sentiments as being part of the recruiting process with several players stating they had to cover the cost of things like meals and housing. For players that transferred to Humboldt, that stood in stark contrast to their experience at prior universities.” Additionally, “Nearly every player” stated the team exceeds the NCAA rules on participation, practicing more than four hours per day and 20 hours per week during the season. Returning student-athletes say they raised these concerns following the 2021-22 season and multiple emails from parents to administration detail the concerns and impact on student-athletes’ mental health. (link)
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#1: Tusculum taps Charleston Southern (DI) Assoc. AD for External Operations/alum Ealy as its new AD. Ealy: "We are thrilled as a family to return to Tusculum and East Tennessee. It will always be home for us. My wife and I have so many great memories from Tusculum, both as alums and through my previous tenure on staff. Being an alum and Greeneville native made this is a dream job! I want to give back to the school that has given me so much already. I can't wait to work with our coaches and staff and see what we can accomplish together." (link)
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