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Barton has inked a five-year deal with Nike to become the official sportswear provider for Bulldogs athletics. AD Wilkinson, "The uniformity Nike will bring throughout our athletic program will give us a strong sense of team. Providing the best possible experience for the student-athletes of the 21 sports sponsored by Barton is imperative in achieving and maintaining excellence. ...By adding the Nike brand as the official supplier of all Bulldog teams, Barton student-athletes will be in exclusive company." - link
The Indiana of PA Council of Trustees has approved $2.5m in upgrades to George P. Miller Stadium. The improvements include the addition of an ADA-compliant restroom, replacement of the visitors’ side bleachers and replacement of T&F approaches and runways. The Council also approved $2.8m in upgrades to Elkins Hall. On a macro level, Prez Driscoll says setting the fiscal year 2016-17 budget at 2014-15 level will make up two-thirds of a $12m campuswide budget shortfall. - link
Fort Hays State will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the new $3m FHSU Track and Field Complex this Wednesday. New facility was necessitated by construction of a new residence hall and parking area north of the current stadium. Release includes artist rendering. - link
The two-year renovation project at Findlay'sCroy Gymnasium will be completed when a redesigned court, which will have the surface stained various shades of gray, is installed this summer. The court design will match the other recent renovations at the gym, including new gray walls, black bleachers with a bright orange reserve section and new signage. AD Laurita, "We turned to the creativity of our administrative staff and our coaches. Through their collaborative efforts, we have developed a new floor design that will match the aesthetics that now make Croy a one-of-a-kind experience for our student-athletes and fans." - link
Departed BYU Hawaii AD/MBB HC Wagner wrote a letter to SiderNation in which he thanked them for their support throughout his 26 years at the university. Wagner writes, "My own teams have been fun to be around and it has been a pleasure to get to know all of them. I feel lucky to have worked where going to work is fun, satisfying and never feels like work. My family says I have never worked a day in my professional career!" - link
A light-hearted look at East Stroudsburg FB HC Douds’ 50 years on campus. ESU graduates Seattles Seahawks AC Glenn and Penn State (DI) FB HC Franklin will speak at the event, which is expected to draw more than 350 guests. Douds on what he has learned over the past five decades, "When I started out I did everything, 'cause I didn’t know. As time wears on, you find the things that are imperative, what’s important, and then you get them done. I think that’s the thing to look for, what’s imperative to you. What’s important to you." - link
An editorial in the Hawaii-Tribune Herald calls into question Hawaii Hilo continuing to have the same HC for its MSOC and WSOC programs, saying "the double standard is a holdover from decades ago when soccer was considered an 'emerging' sport," and that its "an awfully destructive message" to send that the sport itself, which is no longer 'emerging' and has the largest rosters at the school, isn't worth hiring two coaches. - link
NCAA tourney updates:
+ Softball brackets - link (Super Regional), link (Regional results)
+ Women's golf qualifiers - link
+ MLAX bracket - link
+ WLAX bracket - link
#1 ranked West Texas A&M softball got walk-off hits in back-to-back games on the same day, including a 2-run home run to erase a one-run deficit, to come out of the loser's bracket, avenge their loss to Colorado Mesa in the 2nd round, and win the South Central Regional. - link (regional championship game #2), link (regional championship game #1)
North Georgia softball, which won the Southeast Regional, advanced to the regional final in a 1-0 game that netted S-A Poole the new DII single-season wins record with 51. Poole's 22nd complete game moved her to 51-2 on the season. - link
Weekly #scachat on Twitter, guest-hosted by the NACMA, covers topics including how to manage the planning process for next academic year over "summer break," most important tasks to accomplish over the summer, management of FB season tix sales and tactics to stay top-of-mind with fans/donors over summer for non-FB schools, top advertising/communications mediums over the summer, and most innovative revenue generation tactic seen in the past year. - link
An appeals court has overturned the decision to not hold the NCAA liable for the death of former Slippery Rock MBB S-A Hill, who died in 2011 of a heart attack during practice, not knowing he had sickle-cell anemia. At the time of Hill's death, the NCAA mandated testing for the sickle-cell trait at DI schools, but not at the DII level (which came a year later). The judge wrote hat it was reasonable for a fact finder to "conclude that the NCAA's decision to test for SCT at Division I schools as part of its protocols, while forgoing such testing at Division II schools, was an error of omission and a failure in its duty, thereby increasing the risk of harm to Mr. Hill." - link
Ten years after arriving at Cal State San Marcos to start the school's baseball program, 70-year-old HC Pugh explains his decision to retire, saying "the university needs a guy to lead this program for the next 20 years.” Pugh was instrumental in helping the program transition to DII from NAIA, a transition that was aided by the move to an on-campus field, which has helped in recruiting. AC Suwyn on Pugh, "The biggest thing is that he leaves behind a legacy of leaders.” - link
Hired back in November, Goldey-Beacom baseball HC Riley is working hard to prepare his program for the school's first baseball game in approximately 60 years. The Lightning will officially hit the field again this upcoming academic year. AD Hammond on why Riley was chosen for the job, "He had a plan of how he wanted to try to start the program, a timeline of things he wanted to get accomplished and to make sure the team would be ready for the 2016-17 year. His success at Delaware State was also very attractive. Name recognition in the area. Whoever I talked to, everybody was mentioning Tom and saying how hard he worked on recruiting." - link
Other Olympic sport coaching movement:
+ After four seasons in charge, Pittsburg State baseball HC Murray has resigned. - link
+ Coker has hired Newberry MBB AC Marcell, a Coker alum, as the school’s first S&C coach and a MBB AC as well. - link
+ Washburn softball HC Becerra has resigned. - link
Recently released facility pics:
+ New court inside Lee's Walker Arena. - link
+ Progress being made on the new tennis center at Armstrong State. - link
Former Grand Valley State FB S-A Judon, one of three DII S-As selected in the NFL Draft this year, is ready to make an impact for the Baltimore Ravens. Judon says GVSU was instrumental in paving his way to the NFL, "I'm glad I ended up at Grand Valley and I was blessed to be put in that situation. I thought they had the best fit for me. They had some great coaches, they also had coaches that went to higher levels, so I felt the class of coaching I would get would be much better than if I chose to go at any other school at that level." - link
After transferring in from Faulkner State (NJCAA), baseball S-A Lopes has excelled at West Georgia. The First Team 2016 All-GSC Team selection, who has a wife and daughter, is hitting .419 this year heading into the conference tourney. Lopes on making the transition to DII, "There was a big change (coming to UWG), starting with the atmosphere. There is a lot of support and big crowds at the games that Faulkner lacked. Nothing against Faulkner, but the NCAA is a big step up from juco. I love playing in front of a lot of people and the GSC is the best conference to play in for that atmosphere." - link
Academy of Art, which has amassed one of San Francisco's largest real estate empires, is being sued by the city for dozens of land-use violations, including unlawfully converting buildings for school use. Per one city attorney, “The Academy of Art is one of San Francisco’s most egregious land-use scofflaws. Again and again they met our good faith with bad faith and sought more time to address violations, even while scheming to commit new violations. It’s been nothing but a shell game, and it’s time for the merry-go-round to end.” - link
Presidents and chancellors in the news:
+ With the recent passing of Texas A&M-Commerce Prez Jones, Texas A&M International Prez Keck is taking over as interim president at TAMUC. - link
+ The two Prez finalists at Edinboro are SUNY Oswego (DIII) Provost/VP for Academic Affairs Clemo and Rochester Tech (DIII) Dean of the College of Applied Science and Technology Walker. - link
+ In a newsletter released last week, Kentucky State Prez Burse writes that the university is no longer in danger of closing. - link
