Monthly Archives: January 2007

D-III maintains redshirt, practice rules

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The Division III membership is voting on legislative proposals today at the NCAA convention. Some key proposals, and the action that has been taken on them:

Proposal 6:

Amend (bylaw) 14.1.11 by adding new 14.1.11.1, page 91, as follows:
“14.1.11.1 Requirements. The use of male practice players
in a women’s sport is subject to the following requirements:
“(a) Male practice players shall only be permitted to
practice in the traditional segment in the women’s
sport;
“(b) The use of male practice players is limited to one
practice per week; and
“(c) In team sports, the number of male practice players
shall not exceed half of the number of student-athletes
required to field a starting unit in that sport.”

And an amendment to said proposal, sponsored by the MASCAC (the real MASCAC, the one in Massachusetts), which would increase the players to five players for three days per week in basketball.

This proposal was sent back to committee by a vote of 359-62-3. It could be revisited in another year, though the prevailing opinion appears to be that the status quo should be maintained.

For those who missed Hoopsville, Dave McHugh interviewed Barb Bausch (Vassar), Lori Kerans (Millikin) and Val Cushman (Randolph-Macon Woman’s College). Click here for the audio.

Bylaws: Amend 14.2.4.1, page 92, as follows:
[Division III, roll call]
“14.2.4.1 Minimum Amount of Participation. A season of intercollegiate
participation shall be counted when a student-athlete
participates (practices or competes) during or after the first contest
following the student-athlete’s initial participation at that
institution. A season of participation shall not be counted when
a student-athlete participates in a preseason scrimmage or preseason
exhibition conducted prior to the first contest following
the student-athlete’s initial participation at that institution.
This provision is applicable to intercollegiate athletics participation
(practice or competition) conducted by a Division III any
collegiate institution at the varsity, junior varsity or freshman
team level.”

A change to make the redshirt rules even more restrictive was defeated … again … as the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s proposal to no longer honor redshirts granted by another division. There were 82 in favor, 336 opposed with five abstentions. This would have meant that student-athletes who redshirted in Division I, Division II or the NAIA would have lost a year of eligibility in transferring to Division III.

This is a rule the MIAC uses on a conference level. It’s now had two airings on the national level and has not gotten widespread support.

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What happened to Averett?

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There’s been a lot of head-scratching about Averett, which lost three games this week after coming in at No. 11.

Here’s the scoop: Cory McDaniel broke his hand back in December and didn’t play in the game against Guilford. He played with a soft cast against Richard Stockton and shot 3-for-11. He was Averett’s leading scorer when he went down. Jonathan Rumley, who had played all 10 games and was the team’s leading rebounder, did not play, and neither did Tyler Eubanks, who had started five of Averett’s 10 games.

Just figured we should get that out front and center. Feel free to use this space to talk more about Friday’s and Saturday’s games.

Women’s Top 25 News and Notes

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After trying to describe the maelstrom that is the men’s poll this week, analyzing the women’s poll is like slipping into a relaxing, warm bath. The top 8 teams all held their positions over the holidays, and all but one actually gained votes (the exception, Scranton, lost just a single vote.) For several weeks I have been tracking the consolidation at the top of the poll, and this week the consolidation may have reached a maximum: the top 10 teams collectively received 5,068 of a maximum 5,125 points, an “efficiency ratio” of 98.9%. In other words, the 25 voters are virtually unanimous about who the nation’s top 10 teams are.

Bowdoin held on to the top spot for the fifth consecutive week and 21st time overall, second only to all-time poll champions Washington U. (53). At the other end of the upper echelon, Howard Payne took advantage of a loss by then-#9 McMurry (to #15 UW-Stout) to slip into the top ten for the first time in school history.

    Debutantes:

As noted above, congratulations to Howard Payne University for becoming the newest member of the top 10 club!

    High-Water Marks:

Aside from the Yellow Jackets, the only high-water mark in this week’s “Poll of Stability” was reached by the #17 Chicago Maroons, tying the all-time high set just last week.

    Streakers:

>#1 Bowdoin is a member of the top 10 for the 80th consecutive week, extending their record in this category;
>#18 Mary Washington is ranked for the 20th consecutive week; for #10 Howard Payne, this streak has reached 10 weeks;
>#10 Howard Payne, #15 UW-Stout, and #22 Medaille received votes for the 10th straight week; and
>#4 Scranton, #16 Hardin-Simmons, and unranked Washington U. each received votes in the 115th straight poll, extending their perfect records.

    Milestones:

>#1 Bowdoin and #4 Scranton are each in the top 10 for the 80th time;
>#7 Brandeis is a top 25 team for the 40th time, and #18 Mary Washington is ranked for the 20th time;
>#4 Scranton is in the top 25 for the 112th time, extending their record in this category; and
>Unranked St. Benedict received votes in this poll, marking their 110th time as a vote-getter.

Congratulations to these outstanding programs, and Happy New Year to all! 🙂

Men’s Top 25 News and Notes

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David Collinge has become the D3hoops.com Top 25’s unofficial historian and has produced weekly notes that he’s been posting on the message board. We’ve invited him to bring his milestones and observations to the Daily Dose.

The voters in the men’s poll took a week off to celebrate the holidays, and returned to find that 14 of the previous top 25 lost at least one game (a 15th lost an exhibition game, and two other teams were idle), including two losses by the #1 team and losses by five of the top 6 in the Dec. 19th poll. The new poll, the 114th poll in D3hoops.com’s history, reflects this turmoil. The gap between the new #1 (UW-Stevens Point) and #3 (Amherst) is just 5 points, the closest the top 3 have ever been to one another. The #1 votes are nearly evely split between the top three teams, with #1 Stevens Point receiving just nine #1 votes; only Wittenberg (8 in week 6 last year) and Carthage (8 in 2000-01 week 3) reached the top with fewer #1 votes.

Two-time champion Stevens Point is the #1 team for the 14th time, a mark exceeded only by Carthage (22.) The #1 team in the 113th poll, the College of Wooster, slipped to #4 but added another week to their many poll records: most poll appearances (114, a perfect mark), most top 25 appearances (106), and most top 10 appearances in total (84) and consecutively (44). #3 Amherst was denied the top spot in the poll, despite gaining 6 first place votes, but did extend their record streak of top 25 appearances to 69 consecutive weeks.

    Debutantes:

The University of Texas at Dallas, the first D3 team this season to upset a D1 team, made its poll deut this week at #22. Texas-Dallas becomes just the 7th team in poll history to make its poll debut as a top 25 team, and recorded the fourth-highest vote total for a first-time vote-getter. #23 Brandeis also appeared in the top 25 for the first time this week. Congratulations to the Comets and Judges!

    Streakers:

> #12 Augustana, #14 Hope, and #21 Lawrence are each members of the top 25 for the 20th consecutive week.
> #21 Lawrence received votes for the 50th consecutive week. #3 Amherst has received votes in 70 straight polls; Lincoln has been mentioned 20 straight times; and #5 St. Thomas and #6 Whitworth are vote-getters for the 10th consecutive week.
> UW-Whitewater had received votes in 82 consecutive polls before falling short this week. Calvin had a 30-week voting string snapped as well.

    High-Water Marks:

#11 Averett reached an all-time high ranking for the fourth straight week, a streak likely to end after their loss to Guilford last night. #2 Ohio Northern, #6 Whitworth, #15 Bates, and #20 NYU also attained their highest-ever rankings this week, as did #22 UT-Dallas and #23 Brandeis, our top 25 debutantes.

    Milestones:

> #1 UW-Stevens Point is in the top 10 for the 60th time;
> #14 Hope and #16 Wheaton (IL) are each ranked for the 50th time;
> #9 William Paterson is in the top 25 for the 40th time;
> #6 Whitworth is ranked for the 20th time;
> CCIW rivals #16 Wheaton (IL) and #17 Carthage are vote-getters for the 75th time each; and
> #5 St. Thomas received votes for the 70th time in this poll, and Worcester Polytech attracted votes for the 30th time.

Congratulations to all of these outstanding programs!

Who should teams practice against?

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An NCAA committee issued a position statement calling for a ban on the use of male practice players in women’s intercollegiate athletics and Division III is voting to severly restrict it at the upcoming NCAA convention. The proposal being considered does not eliminate the practice, but limits it to one practice per week. The proposal also would limit the number of male practice players in team sports to no more than half of the number required to field a starting women’s team (for example, only two male practice players would be permitted in a sport with five starting players).

Vassar coach Barb Bausch, who is in her 11th season as a Division III women’s basketball head coach, wrote the following opinion piece:

Citing the spirit of Title IX as their reasoning, an NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics recently criticized a little known, but common practice in women’s sports — using male players during practice sessions to emulate larger opponents.

Barb BauschWith all due respect, I must disagree with the committee.

I know from personal experience, as a former player and someone who has coached females in basketball for 20 years now, that practicing against stronger and bigger players, whether they’re men or women, is an effective tool for getting better.

As a coach, I always try to make practice more competitive than what the opponent can give. At the high school level, I encouraged my teams to seek out the best competition they could find for pickup games, male or female. When we had to compete against two 6-foot-6 female athletes on the same team, we found a guy that tall so we could have a sense of what 6-6 was like. It makes sense to use the overload principle to prepare a team for all possibilities. That is what good coaches do.

As a college coach, I seek out anyone who is quicker, stronger and faster to practice against before we face our opponents. Generally, these tend to be male undergraduates. When a player learns that she can make a move against that type of speed or strength, she never forgets it. It’s not only the starters who practice against the guys — the whole team does. What this does is help the level of play within the team become more equal.

As an educated professional who has dedicated her career to the advancement of women’s opportunities in life through sport, I find it hard to accept a committee telling me what is best for the women I coach. I, as well as many others in this profession, have worked hard and sought out education and experiences from so many points of view to give our best to the student-athletes we have the good fortune to coach. It would be their loss and the loss of all those in which they come in contact if they could not benefit from our knowledge and well thought out choices that we make for the women we coach. It would be beneficial, however, if there was more help in finding solutions to raise the percentage of women coaching women and men in sport and in securing women in administrative positions.