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Postseason Updates…
+ NYU Women’s Basketball repeats as national champs, with the Violets’ second undefeated season. (link) 
+ Trinity (CT) Men’s Basketball takes home its first national title, over NYU. (link)
+ Denison and MIT won the Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving championships, respectively. (link)
+ The Men’s Ice Hockey semifinals will feature Curry-Utica and Hobart-SUNY Geneseo. (link)
+ Augsburg will play Wisconsin-River Falls and Amherst will face off against Middlebury in the Women’s Ice Hockey semifinals. (link)

“It has been inspiring to see that evolution and to experience the names and chairs change, but the north star is still the same.” That’s WashU AD Anthony Azama reflecting on being the first Black AD in the UAA, as he continues: “In the UAA, we do something more than what the four walls of a classroom can do. […] I believe the UAA having so many administrators of color shows that the Association is progressive and forward-thinking. It values the diversity of thought, which means we come to a consensus with a direction after analyzing it from a multitude of viewpoints.” On his interactions and relationship-building with student-athletes: “My hope is student-athletes see they have an advocate in me, someone who they can come to beyond playing their sport. The goal is for these four years to prepare them for the next forty years of success.” Asked about his biggest strengths: “One thing I have mastered is joy in others’ successes. Being an administrator at the Division III level is 90 percent great and 10 percent tough. We must live in that 90 percent. That means taking on the challenges and seeking best practices that will pay off in the long run. At the end of the day, WashU and all UAA student-athletes want to meet the moment and achieve greatness, both athletically — and in future career aspirations.” (link)

Former Department of Education Office of Civil Rights senior program analyst Valerie Bonnette, “who authored the agency’s 1990 Title IX Athletics Investigator’s Manual,” per Sportico’s Daniel Libit, pushes back on the recent interpretation by the current OCR on the impact of NIL deals & revenue sharing on Title IX laws. Bonnette via a letter: “OCR’s policy on revenues and outside funding—including compensation paid directly to students—has been abundantly clear for 50 years. This approach represents a fundamental principle that is central to all civil rights laws, not just Title IX. Allowing outside funding to circumvent an institution’s obligation to ensure equity is nothing less than condoning rampant discrimination, financed by the highest bidder.” More from Libit: “Bonnette’s letter is co-signed by two other key OCR officials with significant experience in Title IX: Jeanette Lim Esbrook, who played a pivotal role in implementing the 1979 Title IX intercollegiate athletics policy interpretation, and Jean Peelen, who oversaw some of the Department of Education’s first major Title IX athletics cases as OCR’s principal negotiator.” (link)

@1QLeadership Question: What goes into a good graduate sport administration program?

Dr. Patricia Raube Keller, Sports Administration Graduate Program Director at Boston College, discusses how her background and experiences shaped her approach to building the sports administration program. After working in college athletics, she transitioned to academia to be more present for her daughter. Her doctoral focus was on the marginalization of women in college athletics.

Raube Keller focuses on practical education as all classes in the program are taught by practitioners who work in sports. The program has a heavy emphasis on technical skills and soft skills as alumni work in all areas of sport. She also talks about the new graduate program in sports analytics. 🎧 on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

Front Office Sports’ Amanda Christovich wonders whether the NCAA could’ve gotten more out of its championship media rights deal given the increasing value of women’s hoops, and Kosner Media Founder John Kosner says: “We understand that the NCAA represents lifeblood revenue for the schools, and the schools want a long-term guarantee. So by definition, they have a lot of pressure on them and they have to view it conservatively. I just felt that there was more value to be had.” Kosner and Desser Media President Ed Desser still believe the NCAA could’ve earned more money by selling women’s basketball separately, and Kosner, per Christovich, explained an alternative proposal: “selling women’s basketball as a standalone with multiple bidders, then selling a package of other top NCAA championships like softball and baseball. That could’ve increased the overall dollar figure.” Kosner: “If you create a package that only one entity [ESPN] can really bid for, you don’t know the value of it.” Desser adds: “We were mocked endlessly for our audacity to think that the women’s tournament was—we didn’t even say it was the equal of the men, we just thought it was a bona fide event. We have close friends of ours who we respect in the industry, and they’re from a different generation, but they just dismissed the notion as implausible. And that’s how a lot of decisions get made in the industry. And if the owner of the property isn’t willing to fight their way through that, they get what they deserve. And it’s really unfortunate.” (link)

Facility Features…
+ Incoming DIII member Regent has broken ground on its roughly $50M athletic complex that will include an athletic and fitness center, turf field, baseball and softball fields and a track. The facility is scheduled to open in fall 2027. (link)
+ North Central (IL) Men’s and Women’s Golf has a new home at White Eagle Golf Club, designed by Arnold Palmer. (link) 

Fundraising Developments…
+ Saint Mary’s (MN) receives a $5.5M donation from alum David and Marlys Thies, which includes $2.625M to renovate its gymnasium with new bleachers, VIP seating, concessions, refurbished floor and more. (link)
+ NYU’s One Day campaign brought in over $350K for athletics. (link)
+ Wittenberg raised more than $168K for athletics. (link)

The Men's and Women's Soccer Rules Committee has proposed an optional experimental video review coaches challenge rule in conference games only for the 2025-26 academic year. Under the proposed rule, coaches would have one video review challenge. If successful, the coach would retain the right to challenge one more time for the rest of the match. If unsuccessful, the coach would lose the right to challenge for the rest of the match. Challengeable scenarios include offside calls, penalty kick violations, straight red card decisions and fighting, among others. The committee also recommended adopting two rules put in place by the International Football Association Board in July. One would eliminate a red card being issued for nondeliberate handling of the ball in the penalty area that denies a goal or goal-scoring opportunity. Inside the penalty area, red cards should be reserved for deliberate, cynical handling that denies a goal or goal-scoring opportunity. The other proposal would amend encroachment by teammates of the kicker or goalkeeper during a penalty kick. (link)

Swarthmore Men’s Basketball HC Landry Kosmalski is headed to Campbell (DI) as Assoc. HC after 13 seasons leading The Garnet. (link)

Coaches.wire…
+ Concordia (MN) names high school AC/alumnus Jared Rice as its new Women’s Soccer HC. (link)
+ Endicott Women’s Volleyball HC Tim Byram steps down after a quarter-century leading the Gulls citing family obligations. (link)
+ Keene State Field Hockey HC Amy Watson will retire at the end of the 2025 season. (link) 
+ This morning’s edition of Coaches.wire is heaviest on football, men’s basketball and soccer changes, but shows all movement on coaching staffs across all sports in the past 72 hours. Check it out. (link)

Quick Hits…
+ Elite 90 awards go to Case Western Reserve’s Abigail Wilkov (Women’s Swimming & Diving) (link), Haverford’s Eric Chen (Fencing) (link), NYU’s Natalie Bruns (Women’s Basketball) (link), RHIT’s Vineet Ranade (Men’s Swimming & Diving) (link) and WashU’s Lucas Vogel (Men’s Basketball) (link).
+ Men’s Basketball official Kristyne Esparza became the first woman to officiate a Final Four Men’s Basketball game at any level. (link)

The number of students applying to college rose 4% this admission cycle, and applicants submitted 6% more applications overall, according to a new report from the Common App. Inside Higher Ed’s Liam Knox notes the uptick was “fueled by an especially large spike in the number of underrepresented minority applicants, which rose by 12% compared to non-URM applicants’ 2% increase. In addition, applicants from families below the median income level rose 8%, compared to 3% from above the median.” Meanwhile, “domestic applicant growth exceeded that of international students for the first time since 2019. Domestic applicants increased by 5% while the number of international applicants declined by 1%. In addition, the number of applicants submitting test scores in 2024–25 grew by 11%, outpacing nonreporters for the first time since 2021.” (link)

More Higher Ed…
+ Bowdoin receives a record $50M donation from Netflix Co-Founder Reed Hastings to create the Hastings Initiative for AI and Humanity. (link) 
+ The University of California will pause all hiring systemwide and make additional cuts to maintenance, business travel and other areas in response to threats from the Trump administration to slash federal funding for universities. UC President Michael Drake says the cutbacks will impact nearly every aspect of operations at all 10 campuses. “The new administration in Washington, D.C., has announced a number of executive orders and proposed policy changes, including ones that threaten funding for lifesaving research, patient care, and education support.” Coupled with preparations the university was already making in response to a proposed $396.6M state funding cut, Drake says he and chancellors were ready for “significant financial challenges ahead.” (link)