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Colorado Mesa hires Colorado (DI) Asst. AD for the CU Events Center & Game Day Operations/CMU alum Rob Courtney as its new AD. President John Marshall: “Rob Courtney exemplifies our university's values of humility and courage and exemplifies our culture — qualities that win championships. We are excited about Rob's return and know he is the right person to advance CMU's mission through the Division II student-athlete model that we believe in.” (link)

The DII and DIII Management Councils have approved legislation to permit student-athletes and athletics department staff members to bet on professional sports, paving the way for the new rule to take effect on November 1 for all three divisions. The DII Management Council also recommended the approval of the division’s six-year operating plan and long-range budget that will both run through 2031-32. The plan’s five priorities include academics, athletics, health and wellness, governance and operations and positions. The budget’s trio of core focuses are championships, revenue distribution and initiatives. Ahead of January’s NCAA Convention, the group supported a trio of membership proposals, including one to permit retroactive athletics aid during an academic year and opposed a quartet of proposals related to sport schedules and participation. The council also adopted noncontroversial legislation to financial aid changes and to eliminate the June 15 transfer notification deadline. For the 2027 Convention, the council sponsored a proposal to remove the cap of 60 total awards for men’s sports outside of football and basketball. (link)

DC Debates…
➤ A group of Senate Democrats, including Cory Booker (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT), has sent a letter to Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, imploring him to reject the “broad antitrust exemption” for the NCAA contained in the proposed SCORE Act. They write: “This antitrust exemption is the top priority for the NCAA because it would permit coordination between the NCAA and its member institutions in ways that primarily serve their own financial and competitive interests. It’s no surprise that the NCAA is asking Congress for antitrust immunity: The NCAA keeps losing in court because of its repressive rules that harm athletes.” Sportico’s Daniel Libit: “The letter arrives as Cruz is expected to soon advance the SCORE Act in the Senate. The Republican-led bill, which was first introduced in the House in July, is widely expected to fall short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a Democratic filibuster. … With autumn settling in and the Senate mired in a standoff over the nation’s second-longest government shutdown, any remaining hopes for a college sports bill passing in 2025 have all but vanished. Amid the political deadlock, Democrats seem determined to close out the year as the party most visibly aligned against the NCAA.” (link)
➤ Senate Democrats are pushing back on NCAA lobbying efforts in support of the SCORE Act, reports Ross Dellenger for On3, who notes during an “hour-long virtual news conference on Tuesday, three Senate Democrats – [Richard] Blumenthal (D-CT), Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) – as well as representatives of several professional players associations shot holes into the SCORE Act. Most of their issues targeted the legislation’s intention to ‘roll back,’ as they put it, freedoms for athletes by granting the NCAA antitrust protections to enforce its rules, most notably policies over player compensation (NIL) and movement (transferring).” Cantwell: “The SCORE Act is not what we think it is. It’s not the solution for the athlete.” Dellenger continues: “That said, the Republican-authored SCORE Act, which the NCAA supports, continues to gain momentum in the Republican-controlled House, and most expect it to be introduced onto the floor for a vote as soon as the federal government returns from its shutdown. In fact, most recent agreed-upon amendments to the legislation have appeased, at least for now, a group of House Republicans who had pushed back against the bill after public criticism of it from Texas billionaire businessman Cody Campbell.” Blumenthal: “I can pretty well guarantee the SCORE Act ain’t going to make it through the United States Senate.” More. (link) 

More Gambling News...

➤ NCAA President Charlie Baker on yesterday’s NBA gambling arrests: “We are grateful for federal law enforcement's efforts to stamp out illegal sports betting, and I am proud that the NCAA continues to have the most aggressive competition integrity policies in place. The Association has and will continue to pursue sports betting violations using a layered integrity monitoring program for over 22,000 contests, but we still need more states, regulators and gaming companies to help in this effort by eliminating risky prop bets to reduce opportunities for manipulation.” (link); In case you didn't see the news, Portland Trail Blazers HC Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former Cleveland Cavaliers player and AC Damon Jones have been arrested as part of a pair of wide-ranging investigations related to illegal sports betting and rigged poker games backed by the Mafia, authorities announced Thursday. (link)
➤ According to a decision released by the DI Committee on Infractions, former Eastern Michigan (DI) Men’s Basketball student-athletes Jalin Billingsley, Da'Sean Nelson and Jalen Terry refused to cooperate with an investigation into potential sports betting violations. That represents a Level I violation of NCAA rules that could trigger permanent ineligibility; however, the student-athletes have no collegiate eligibility remaining. As a result of the student-athletes' conduct, the enforcement staff was unable to determine whether sports betting violations occurred. Although the COI does not currently assess penalties for student-athletes who violated NCAA rules, their participation is not without consequence as those found to have violated NCAA rules are ineligible and can only be reinstated with the assistance of an NCAA school. (link)  

Facility Features…
➤ The Wayne State (MI) Board of Governors approved $5.2M in facility upgrades, including a number of structural and safety improvements, plus locker room upgrades for Matthaei Natatorium and new seating and a press box at the Wayne State Soccer Complex. (link)
➤ Augusta cut the ribbon on its new 4K+ square-foot Alvin and Yvette Harris Sports Performance Center. Strength & Conditioning HC Jacob Topple: “This facility has also become a huge sell point from a recruiting standpoint. When I meet recruits, and coaches bring them through our facility, for the first time you can see parents, and athletes’ eyes light up.” (link)

Fundraising Developments…
➤ Upper Iowa raised more than $229K from 843 donors during its Peacock Power 24-Hour Challenge. (link)
➤ Georgia College brought in over $183K during its Athletics Day of Giving. (link)

Sport Sponsorship…
➤ D’Youville will add Men’s Track & Field in 2027-28 under the direction of Women’s Track & Field HC Brendan McMaster. (link)
➤ Lewis will bring Women’s Flag Football to Romeoville starting in 2026-27. (link)
➤ Aspiring DII member Texas A&M-Texarkana has begun the search for its first Football HC as the Eagles are pushing to begin playing on the gridiron in 2027. With a new 8K-seat stadium coming online, Football Scoop’s Zach Barnett adds the program will offer the DII maximum of 36 full scholarship equivalencies. (link)

Lincoln (PA) taps former Cheyney Women’s Basketball HC/former Lions AC Alishia Mosley as Interim HC. (link)

Coaches.wire…
➤ Mansfield Sprint Football HC John Evans will retire after seven seasons at the end of this season. (link)
➤ West Liberty removes the interim tag from Men’s and Women’s Cross Country HC Michael Guinn II, who will continue to serve as Track & Field AC. (link)
➤ This morning’s edition of Coaches.wire has coaching staff changes in 25 different sports. See the full rundown. (link)

More Higher Ed…
➤ Virginia State President Makola Abdullah inks a contract that would keep him with the university through 2032. (link)
➤ Western Washington President Sabah Randhawa signs a contract extension that runs through July 2028. (link)

CRO.ticker Recap…
➤ The October Deloitte CFO Signals survey showed that CFOs were slightly more optimistic in Q3, and CFO Brew’s Jesse Klein notes the survey also found that confidence in current and future business conditions rose from 5.4 in Q2 to 5.7 – “solidly in medium territory” – but just one in five respondents to the survey described the country’s economy as in good shape. Meanwhile, 8% thought it was bad or very bad. The survey also found that the majority of finance chiefs it surveyed (86%) expected their organizations to place increased emphasis on pricing over the next 12 months. Klein notes that’s a “continuing trend, as 95% of the respondents had already ‘entirely, significantly, or somewhat’ changed pricing strategies in the past six months.” More. (link)
➤ In an SBJ op-ed, Navigate Head of Analytics and Innovation Matt Balvanz advises sports industry leaders to take a layered approach to AI – specifically a three-tiered “crawl – walk - sprint” strategy. First, Balvanz suggests activating and auditing: “Sports organizations should start with what they already own and use every day. Seemingly every software platform already has or will eventually roll out some kind of AI capability (see Outlook, PowerPoint, Adobe, Salesforce), which, when activated, can make massive efficiency improvements immediately. Next, Balvanz advises testing what’s worth testing: “The average sports organization doesn’t have the experience, knowledge or resources to decipher the signal from the noise, which is where third-party evaluations and pilot vetting can help identify what’s useful, and recommend an up-to-date, best-in-class toolkit to avoid sunk costs.” The final step is to scale what works. “Once you’ve seen what works, it’s important to build training around those tools and workflows, and at the same time encourage all employees to explore new approaches to their everyday work. … The key is to invest in automation where the ROI is clear, and to only consider custom solutions when off-the-shelf truly can’t meet very niche business needs.” Here’s the full read. (link)
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