D2.ticker Top Ten - the most clicked stories of the past week |
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#10: West Texas A&M selects Wayne State (MI) Asst. AD of Compliance Josh Roberson as its new Senior Assoc. AD for Championship Integrity and Student-Athlete Experience. (link)
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#9: Slippery Rock AD/DII Management Council Chair Roberta Page sits down with College.town’s Anthony Grassi at the 2025 NACDA Convention to dive into a number of topics around the division. Page loves the position of DII right now, adding: “I believe in our leadership there. We have our operating plan right now set to go out until 2032, but what I love about the division is every so many years, we'll go back and see if what we thought we wanted out of something like regionalization, after it's been implemented for so many years, we go back to the membership and ask the questions: Is it still meeting what it is that we wanted it to meet? We ask the membership for a lot of feedback. […] We're at 293 schools right now. I think we have 11 schools in the membership process that we're looking at now. We're going to lose a couple that maybe are closing or merging or reclassifying, but I think our number at about 303-305 is where we want to be and we're right there. So I feel really good about where we are.” Asked about the biggest opportunities for DII, Page points to the potential benefits stemming from the House settlement and cautions against always following DI. “I think we need to stay our course. Like I said earlier, sometimes it's okay to pump the brakes a little bit and not be so reactive. […] I just think we need to stay our course, go with our operating plan, stay where we are with our budget, where we are financially, and I think we'll continue to be successful.” Another area of opportunity Page is interested in is technology within sports, such as advances in replay or sideline communications, and the business. “What is AI going to do for us? What does AI look like to our sports communication directors? Does that help them? Does that hurt? I think we're going to be looking at technology where, as we live stream and we use Hudl, can they do our stating for us? Does that ease the burden for my sports communication folks? Does it help them with writing their stories or social media? You could ask me that in five years, and I don't think some of these jobs have even been created yet with just where technology is going. I just don't want us to go so fast that we burden ourselves budget-wise.” More on BOSCA. (link)
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#8: Pittsburg State inks a deal with MMTH to become the newest MMTH 360 program. AD Jim Johnson: “We're not just preparing for the future of college athletics—we're helping to build it. MMTH 360 gives us the tools, resources, insights, and confidence to continue to elevate every aspect of our athletic program. From student-athlete success to facility excellence, this alliance is a game-changer for Gorilla Nation.” (link)
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#7: Black Hills State Women’s Basketball HC Rachel Erickson steps down to take a DI opportunity. (link) |
#6: More DII membership details from this month's Membership Committee meeting, as the committee approved waivers from Jessup and Vanguard to advance to active membership and waive its third provisional year, while denying the same requests from Roosevelt and Sul Ross State. The group did direct NCAA staff to work on draft language to create a more flexible approach to creating a new DII league, as it relates to the application deadlines and the need for at least 10 active/provisional members. (link)
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#5: Mary announces its commitment to fully fund its 18 DII programs to the maximum scholarship limit. This comes on the heels of the Marauders breaking ground on the $45M Marauders Athletics Complex back in April. President James Shea: “Athletics brings a vitality to campus in which we all can share—from the star quarterback or All-American swimmer to a freshman nursing major far from home who is looking to cheer on a classmate and spend time with newly made friends. Sports provide the University of Mary an opportunity for connection with our community, while showcasing future engineers, business leaders, and educators. Our investment in athletics is not about simply competing at the highest level or winning today, but about developing servant leaders for tomorrow as we assist our scholar-athletes in becoming who they were created to be.” AD Marcus Wagner adds: “The university's stance is abundantly clear: We are here to build champions on and off the field, to create opportunities for young people to pursue their life's calling, and to help them embrace becoming who they were created to be. This commitment is yet another affirmation of that mission. It truly is a great day to be a Marauder.” (link)
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#4: President Donald Trump has signed the “Saving College Sports” executive order, which “requires the preservation and, where possible, expansion of opportunities for scholarships and collegiate athletic competition in women’s and non-revenue sports; prohibits third-party, pay-for-play payments to collegiate athletes. This does not apply to legitimate, fair-market-value compensation that a third party provides to an athlete, such as for a brand endorsement; provides that any revenue-sharing permitted between universities and collegiate athletes should be implemented in a manner that protects women’s and non-revenue sports; directs the Secretary of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board to clarify the status of student-athletes in order to preserve non-revenue sports and the irreplaceable educational and developmental opportunities that college sports provide; directs the Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission to take appropriate actions to protect student-athletes’ rights and safeguard the long-term stability of college athletics from endless, debilitating antitrust and other legal challenges; and directs the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and the Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison to consult with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams and other organizations to protect the role of college athletics in developing world-class American athletes.” (link); Full text. (link)
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#3: The DII Management Council has sponsored six proposals for the 2026 NCAA Convention, most notably a shift to give student-athletes five seasons of competition, which would include a trio of other changes: “1. Specifies that any competition, regardless of timing, counts as a season of competition unless a student-athlete is transferring from a non-Division II school and does not use a season according to the non-Division II school, or is a Division III transfer who is charged a season of participation for practice only under Division III legislation. 2. Eliminates the currently legislated exceptions and waivers associated with the seasons of competition legislation, including current exceptions such as participation during the nonchampionship segment and in an alumni game. 3. Amends the current waivers and exceptions for the period of eligibility (10 semesters/15 quarters) to permit waivers in extenuating circumstances and the following exceptions: service exception (armed services, religious missions or foreign aid services of the U.S. government); academic study abroad exception; internship or cooperative educational work experience program; pregnancy; injury/illness; and Olympic training.” The decision comes after the DII Academic Performance Census found that 30% of 2022-23 degree-earners took between four and five years and 7% took longer. Council Chair/Slippery Rock AD Roberta Page: “This proposal reflects our commitment to modernizing eligibility rules in a way that prioritizes both academic success and student-athlete well-being. By aligning our legislation with how long a large percentage of our student-athletes are actually in school, we're giving them more flexibility to compete and complete their degrees.” (link)
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#2: Molloy AD/Softball HC Susan Cassidy-Lyke steps down from both roles as she accepts the Softball HC position at Hofstra (DI). VP for Student Affairs Janine Biscari: “Susan has been a dedicated member of the Molloy community for years and has provided our students with much more than the lessons learned on the field. Susan has embodied the Molloy spirit of service and served as a tireless leader who worked incredibly hard to support her students and her colleagues.” (link)
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#1: Frostburg State AD Troy Dell departs to become the AD at his alma mater, Gettysburg (DIII). Dell: “The decision to leave Frostburg was one of the hardest career decisions I've ever made. I'm leaving a campus and community that has supported my family and me throughout my time as director of athletics. The campus community and institutional leaders that I have worked for and alongside have allowed me shape and grow the Athletic Department in a manner I hope represents the deep pride that our students, alumni and the surrounding community feel for Frostburg State University.” Senior Assoc. AD for Internal Operations Rubin Stevenson will serve as Interim AD. (link)
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