#10: NYU AD Jake Olkkola sits down with D3.ticker’s Anthony Grassi at the 2025 NCAA Convention to discuss stepping into the chair, positioning the Violets for success and more. Coming from Johns Hopkins, Olkkola saw NYU to be a “sleeping giant” as he went through the search process. One significant area of opportunity was the hunger to partner with athletics from the rest of the institution, with student-athlete health and well-being top of mind followed by development as he described athletics fundraising as “still in its infancy” relative to the university’s efforts. On the approach he brings to NYU: “Coming from Johns Hopkins and having the opportunity and really the privilege of working in that space, back-to-back Directors’ Cup champions, I bring a championship mindset. I'm very competitive, so I want our teams to do well, and I want to give our students a phenomenal experience, a top tier experience. We talked about health and well-being, we talked about our facilities, we talked about investing in the things that are going to allow them to really, really be the best and compete for championships. Last year was a number five Directors’ Cup finish for NYU, best in school history, which is unbelievable. That's an incredible springboard to be jumping from and we've had some of these strong finishes this year. So we're going to just continue to modernize our systems.” One update early in his tenure was the department’s mission statement to “Excel Together,” which was born out of a 15-member mission statement working group. “It's really the foundation as I see it; our mission is the foundation of any organization. So we couldn't start doing our day-to-day thing and making investments and doing all this if we didn't know, well, who are we and what are we actually about.” More on BOSCA. (link)
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#9: Baruch Men’s Basketball HC/Asst. AD for Facilities John Alesi will depart for a non-coaching role at another institution, per D3hoops. Alesi served as chair of the Men’s Basketball Committee this season. (link) |
#8: SUNY Brockport Baseball HC Justin Beach will step down from coaching after 18 years leading the Golden Eagles to transition to serve as Asst. AD for Compliance. (link)
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#7: Exploratory member Regent has been approved as a provisional member with the Royals to become a full DIII member in 2028-29. (link)
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#6: Neumann signs a multiyear deal with FanWord to support the Knights’ storytelling efforts. (link) |
#5: Southern Virginia removes the interim tag from AD Josh Monsen, who has been leading the Knights since September. Monsen: “We really want our students to have a holistic approach in their college experience, and athletics is a big part of that. […] That’s what I love about working with our athletic programs. They’re focused on growing and increasing together. Coaches are invested in their students’ academic experience and want them to excel in the classroom as well as in their sport, and be supported for the duration that they are here on campus and beyond.” (link)
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#4: Emory has implemented a freeze on hiring and raises, citing the changes in federal policies that “have serious implications for Emory,” per President Gregory Fenves. (link)
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#3: Extra Points purveyor Matt Brown: “Hearing from multiple industry people I trust that several D1 schools are having SERIOUS internal talks about reclassifying out of D1 before July/House. I’d be a little surprised if nobody ends up doing it this year. Budget cuts may force some hands. Not sure what schools end up going through with it or not…nobody wants to be first. And to be fair, some of these situations are more about the SCHOOL being in very rough shape than just House/Rev Share/athletic expenses. Not much you can do in an enrollment/revenue crisis.” (link)
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#2: Postseason Updates…
+ Bowdoin, Gettysburg, Illinois Wesleyan and Scranton will serve as hosts for the Women’s Basketball sectionals. Full bracket. (link)
+ NYU, Trinity (CT), Wesleyan and Wisconsin-La Crosse will host Men’s Basketball sectionals. (link)
+ The Men’s (link) and Women’s (link) Ice Hockey brackets have been released.
+ The qualifiers for this year’s Indoor Track & Field Championships have been released. (link) |
#1: Johns Hopkins is planning layoffs and will cancel health projects in response to the termination of $800M in grants by the Trump administration. (link)
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