#10: The NCAA this week clarified that DII and DIII athletic departments that sponsor a DI sport, which applies to several college hockey programs, can opt into the House settlement only for their DI sports, and College Hockey Insider’s Mike McMahon notes: “What I found interesting was that the NCAA used a graduation bonus as an example of a ‘direct payment.’ We’re already seeing professionalization in men’s basketball and football (teams are hiring general managers), and we’ll start to see some of that creep into hockey (at least at the Power 4 schools). For example, teams may start offering graduation bonuses as an incentive to keep players from entering the transfer portal. There’s no guarantee that DII and DIII departments with DI hockey will opt in, but I could see it being an option for some teams in the NCHC. Why would that be an advantage? Most schools opting in will allocate most of their resources to men’s basketball and football. … In some cases, we’re talking about small athletic departments but schools with big donors and endowments. Schools like that can afford the added cost if they want to invest in their program, and it would be theoretically easier to do so because they won’t have additional expenses with any other programs. If those programs play their cards correctly, the House settlement could be a significant advantage.” (link)
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#9: Lenoir-Rhyne Deputy AD for External Relations Justin Hay will serve as Men’s and Women’s Golf Interim HC. (link) |
#8: New Haven Senior Assoc. AD for Compliance and Student-Athlete Services Sara Richwine has departed for a similar role at Fairfield (DI). (link)
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#7: USA Today’s Steve Berkowitz writes further on the National Labor Relations Board’s acting general counsel William Cowen rescinding several memoranda issued by his predecessor, Jennifer Abruzzo, including one that said she viewed college athletes as employees of their schools under the National Labor Relations Act. Cowen wrote in Friday’s memorandum: “Over the past few years, our dedicated and talented staff have worked diligently to process an ever-increasing workload. Notwithstanding these efforts, we have seen our backlog of cases grow to the point where it is no longer sustainable. The unfortunate truth is that if we attempt to accomplish everything, we risk accomplishing nothing. Since assuming the role of Acting General Counsel, working with experienced field and headquarters professionals, I have conducted a comprehensive review of active General Counsel Memoranda and determined that the following actions are warranted,” including the recission of the college-athlete memo. (link)
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#6: Nova Southeastern taps Assoc. AD for Athletic Operations Ryan Romero as its next Interim AD. Romero: “Having been a member of this exceptional department for almost a quarter century, I have seen firsthand the dedication and excellence that define NSU Athletics. With our outstanding administrative team, amazing coaches, and dedicated support staff, I am confident we will continue providing our student-athletes with the resources for success.” (link)
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#5: Commonwealth University faculty and coaches have issued a vote of no confidence in President Bashar Hanna. (link) |
#4: Maryville hired Pittsburg State President Daniel Shipp as its next president. (link) |
#3: MIAA Commissioner Mike Racy sat down with Division 1 Rejects host Kobe Manzo to discuss a number of topics. On the new super region alignment that puts the MIAA in super region 4 with the GAC, LSC and RMAC: “One thing is a lot of our coaches recruit heavy in Texas. […] We're not escaping much when we leave Grand Valley and Ferris State behind in in a different region. It's going to be a power region but I really like the alignment and the states that we're going to be playing against that probably line up more with the states where our coaches are doing a lot of recruiting.” (link)
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#2: Erskine hires Gettysburg (DIII) AC Ester Alencar as its inaugural HC. (link) |
#1: Check out the first Men's Basketball (link) and Women's Basketball (link) regional rankings. As a reminder, the initial rankings are listed in alphabetical order.
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