#10: NCAA VP of Division II/Liaison to the Board of Governors Terri Steeb Gronau sits down with D2.ticker’s Anthony Grassi at the 2025 NCAA Convention to discuss the state of the division, its priorities and more. “I think we're in a good place. […] As you know, Division II is in the middle of a strategic planning process and one of the things that we've heard from our members is that the timing of this is happening at a good time because it's allowing Division II to be able to refocus in on its priorities and initiatives versus always sort of worrying what's going to happen in Division I, what's going to be the trickle down effect. We're never going to not have a pulse on what's happening across the association, but with the potential settlement it really has allowed Division II to take a breath and think about what makes sense for Division II and continue Division II planning.” One area of interest for the division is the evaluation around a metric-based selection process. The championships committee is leaning towards NPI as that metric, which is the same DIII is using and Steeb Gronau notes fall sport committees in DII and DIII met after those championships to review how that was implemented and discuss any lessons learned. Now, the sport committees are having those conversations about such a process and provide feedback to the championships committee this summer. Steeb Gronau on when that system may be put into place: “At the earliest it would be fall of ‘26 because I don't think there's any way to put anything in place for 25-26 and you certainly don't want to have your fall sports different than your winter or your spring. So I think the earliest would be fall ‘26 and we're going to gather some feedback from the sport committees to say does that really make sense.” Lots more only on BOSCA. (link)
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#9: Colorado School of Mines Football HC Pete Sterbick has departed to become the OC at Montana State (DI). AD David Hansburg: “Pete's contributions have been invaluable to Mines Football. We wish him and his family all the best. Mines Football has developed an unrivaled culture that each coach and player has added to over the years. We look forward to finding our next head coach who will add to that tradition.” (link)
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#8: Young Harris taps Keiser (NAIA) Women’s Volleyball HC James Rogers for the same role with the Mountain Lions. (link)
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#7: Lenoir Rhyne Women’s Soccer HC Joanna Fennema has departed after one season to become the Assoc. HC at North Carolina State (DI). (link)
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#6: GSC Commissioner Matt Wilson on the passing of Football AQs: “According to the NCAA Division II staff and governance committees, this will lead directly to expansion of the bracket to 32 teams. I’m excited to see this happen as early as possible but certainly no later than Fall 2026.” (link)
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#5: The DII membership approved seven legislative proposals during its business session, with one proposal being moot due to the adoption of an all-sport change allowing student-athletes to compete in up to 30% of competitions during their initial year of enrollment and retain that year of eligibility. (link)
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#4: Gannon officially opened Highmark Events Center this past week after a $12M renovation. Women’s Basketball HC Cleve Wright: “What I love, and this is what we'd been missing for a year, is our players can come in here (to Highmark) and shoot just about anytime they want to. It's nice for me too, because now I also can just walk from my office and go to the floor.” Check it out. (link)
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#3: Newman AD Joanna Pryor will step down after five and a half years leading the Jets to pursue a new career venture. President Kathleen Jagger: “Joanna deserves credit for her efforts in leading Newman University through the process of earning full membership in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA). She has well served and represented Newman and the MIAA, as the conference's only female athletic director over the past five years.” Asst. AD for Athletic Advancement and Business Operations/Director of Bowling Billy Murphy will serve as Interim AD. (link)
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#2: The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a statement of interest in House v. NCAA, expressing concerns that the settlement "may not 'cure the ill effects of the illegal conduct'" as it "allows the NCAA…to continue fixing the amount" schools can pay for NIL, according to Boise State (DI) law professor Sam Ehrlich, who adds: “The DOJ is essentially asking Judge Wilken to either (1) sever the revenue sharing cap from the settlement; or (2) essentially allow the cap to be a subject of future litigation. Whoa.” (link); Full filing, which includes the following: “Although the Proposed Settlement raises the level at which those payments are capped, that cap remains determined by agreement among competing employers (Division I colleges and universities) and restrains competition among schools for payments above the cap. Not only does this enshrine, for ten years, an agreement among competitors to limit compensation, a facially anticompetitive restraint, but the NCAA may attempt to use the cap’s incorporation into a court-approved settlement as a shield against future antitrust actions seeking more complete injunctive relief. Accordingly, the United States respectfully requests that the Court (i) decline to approve the Proposed Settlement or, in the alternative, (ii) make clear that approval of the Proposed Settlement does not constitute a judgment of the competitive impact of the Salary Cap Rule or a determination that the Salary Cap Rule complies with the antitrust laws.” (link)
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#1: Sonoma State will discontinue athletics, in addition to cutting around two dozen academic programs and not renewing 46 faculty members next academic year, as the university faces a $23.9M budget deficit in 2025-26. Interim President Emily Cutrer attributes the shortfall to rising personnel costs and inflation but particularly a steep decline in enrollment, which has fallen by 38% since 2015. The university reported its enrollment as 5,073 in October, with a peak of about 9,408 students a decade ago. Cutrer also notes that “further steps must be taken to fully close the budget gap and ensure Sonoma State’s financial and operational capacity to best serve its current and future students and adapt to a changing higher education landscape.” (link)
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