Opening night moved to Nov. 15

Posted on January 14, 2008 by Pat Coleman

It’s Monday at the NCAA convention, the day in which Division III member schools vote on the various legislative proposals.

It’s not a day in which they will vote on whether to split into two divisions. We have at least another year before that happens, and perhaps more, since we’ve heard discussion that it may be delayed from its planned 2009 convention date. But there are other proposals on the docket as well that will have an impact on Division III.

The basketball season will start on Nov. 15 in 2008 and in the future after a vote that passed 248-185 with two abstentions. Currently Oct. 15 is the first date of practice but the date of the first game is subject to the calendar (the Friday before Thanksgiving). This would make it more consistent, though Opening Night would float during the week as Nov. 15 does.

This means the 2008 season will open a whole six nights earlier than usual, 12 days before Thanksgiving … and the night before Division III football’s Selection Sunday!

The usage of male practice players was restricted in women’s sports, in another key vote. It passed narrowly, 223-206 with 17 abstentions (presumably from single-gender schools). It allows use only one day a week, among other cutbacks. Practice players must be declared eligible and use a season of intercollegiate eligibility in order to participate. Only three men can be used in a basketball practice, six in soccer, three in volleyball, or half of the typical starting lineup, rounded up.

Division III members voted overwhelmingly to ban text messaging to prospective recruits. Or, more specifically, they voted to limit electronic transmission of correspondence with recruits to e-mail and faxes. So, no text messages, no Facebook/MySpace, no IMs, etc. It passed by a vote of 362-72 with two abstentions, with good turnout from Division III schools.

A proposal to allow student-athletes to work at schools’ camps passed overwhelmingly as well, 425-13 with two abstentions.

Further proposals of note got voted down, then withdrawn. A proposal to allow provisional Division III members to be counted toward meeting a league’s seven-member automatic bid requirements failed 252-185-7. This was a proposed amendment to another proposal that was then withdrawn. Another proposal, to lift the ban on new single-sport conferences, was pulled from the agenda. This primarily affects women’s ice hockey but could have a football impact as well.

It’s important to note that, while many people assume that rules in Division III come down from the NCAA national office as if engraved on stone tablets, in fact Division III schools vote on all legislation and the membership shapes the rules.

From the Chase: Rochester’s big week

Posted on January 13, 2008 by Pat Coleman

Last week was big and this week will be even bigger for the No. 1 team in the country. Rochester hosts NYU on Friday to get back into the UAA schedule before No. 2 Brandeis comes to town on Sunday afternoon. Gordon Mann’s trip to the Chase Tournament gave D3hoops.com a chance to find out, up close and personal.

Remember, success isn’t new to the Rochester seniors, who played in the national championship game as freshmen. How is this year’s team different and, with No. 2 Brandeis coming to town on Sunday, are they ready for UAA play? Jon Onyiriuka has the answers in an interview below.

Despite the geographic dispersion of Rochester’s conference rivals, women’s coach Jim Scheible was concerned the Yellowjackets were too “scoutable” last year. Listen to how they’ve addressed that this season.

And picture traveling to Chicago and St. Louis. Cleveland and Atlanta. New York and Boston. That could be the weekend schedule for an NBA team’s charter jet but instead it’s just another weekend in the UAA. Yellowjacket junior Julie Marriott explains what life is like in Division III’s frequent-flyer miles conference.

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What D3 basketball players get for Christmas…

Posted on January 9, 2008 by Pat Coleman

We are three junior women who play basketball for Oglethorpe University. We would like to share with you the life of a D3 basketball player. We will recap our Christmas break.

The campus was a buzz about the ensuing month long winter break. The women’s basketball team was excited about the 9 day break we received! While everyone else was joyously stuffing there face with chocolate cookies, mac & cheese, Aunt Kathy’s chocolate cake, or anything that tasted delicious, we had to watch what we ate! We knew that we could not return to the gym as big as buses and slow as snails.

On Christmas Eve we were all snug in our beds dreaming of good ol’ Saint Nick and his presents. But the real excitement came when we realized the real Santa, aka Coach Sattele, had many more surprises in store for us. Once we anxiously returned we received these surprises. What else could they be but two-a-days and game film! What else would a girl need?!

No matter how grueling two-a-days can be we all knew that this was something that needed to be done to rise above the competition. We willingly sacrifice our break because we love the game and want to be the best. The goals we have set this year are high. We want to go as far as possible in the NCAA tournament as we can. We are not practicing two-a-days to have another disappointing ending, what team does? Now that the break is almost over we’re looking forward to the second half of the season. There will be more blogs to come just so you can really get into our basketball shoes!

Top 25 News and Notes–Week 6

Posted on January 8, 2008 by Pat Coleman

In the abbreviated week since the Week 5 poll was taken, the teams that made up the women’s Top 25 compiled an overall record of 28-2, and the only two losses were both in Top 25 matchups—with, in each case, the higher ranked team winning. As a result, the Week 6 poll looks amazingly like its predecessor. Nineteenth-ranked Baldwin-Wallace and #20 Lake Forest swapped positions, but otherwise the top 22 teams in last week’s poll remained the same in this week’s edition.

The men compiled a relatively pedestrian 30-8 record, but five of those 8 losses were confined to just two teams, last week’s #3 UW-Stevens Point (which went 0-2 and fell to #14) and then-#11 Brockport St. , losers of three games. Brockport, however, was the only Week 5 ranked team to fall out of the Week 6 poll; this is partly because the heirs apparent had generally bad weeks too—the top 5 teams in the ‘others receiving votes’ category had a composite 5-4 record this week.

This week could well see more of the same. Among the 51 games on the schedules of the Top 25 women’s teams this week, just one matches ranked teams: #15 Southern Maine at #25 Eastern Connecticut this Saturday. Then men’s schedules, on the other hand, are chock full of great matchups, including key games in the CCIW (#10 Elmhurst at #5 Augustana Sat.) and ODAC (#17 Virginia Wesleyan at #11 Guilford Sun.), as well as the Little Three matchup of #4 Williams and #3 Amherst (Saturday at Amherst) and the annual JP Morgan Chase Tournament, featuring #1 Rochester as well as unbeaten and unranked Geneseo St. and a dangerous Brockport St. team looking to rebound from their miserable beginning of 2008.

Debutantes:
Women: None this week.
Men: It’s a happy new year for #24 California Lutheran, which parlayed a Jan. 1 victory over then-#3 UW-Stevens Point into a first-ever berth in the D3Hoops.com Top 25. Congratulations to the Kingsmen!

Streakers:
Women: Twelfth-ranked DePauw has now received votes in the last 120 consecutive polls. Carroll is off to a good start in matching that string, having received votes in 10 straight polls.
Men: #20 Wooster, the holder of most of the men’s poll records, extended one of them this week, receiving votes for the 130th consecutive time. If Wooster were to drop from the voting rolls (something that’s not happened since the poll’s inception in 1999), it would take #3 Amherst (next best at 86 weeks) about 3 years to equal this streak. It would take #14 UW-Whitewater about about 8 years to do it, but they’re off to a good start by receiving votes for the 10th straight week. Mississippi College dropped from the voting rolls for the first time in 45 weeks.

Milestones:
Women: Sixth-ranked Messiah is a Top 10 team for the 50th time in this poll. Lake Forest dropped a notch to #20, but still achieved a Top 25 ranking for the 20th time, while #13 Kean is ranked for the 10th time. #12 DePauw was left out of the Week 10 poll in the 1999-2000 season, but has received votes in every other women’s poll ever compiled, making this week their 130th appearance among the votegetters. Other votes-received milestones achieved this week include #24 Capital (90 weeks), Wheaton (IL) (90), #18 George Fox (75), Puget Sound (50), Washington & Jefferson (40), and William Paterson (25).
Men: Top-ranked Rochester achieved three milestones with this poll: their 90th week in the voting, 60th appearance in the Top 25, and 40th berth among the Top 10. #9 Puget Sound is a Top 10 team for the 30th time. #3 Amherst is ranked for the 90th time in 130 polls. #13 Wheaton (IL) and #15 UW-Whitewater each made their 60th appearance in the Top 25 this week, while #17 Virginia Wesleyan is ranked for the 40th time and received votes for the 60th time. #20 Wooster has received votes in all 130 polls, and is joined in the achievement of votegetting milestones by #5 Augustana (80 weeks), #8 Hope (80), UW-Platteville (60), and Roanoke (30).

High-Water Marks:
Women: With the women’s poll virtually static, no new highs were set, but several were equaled, including #2 UW-Whitewater, #7 Thomas More, #8 McMurry, #10 Illinois Wesleyan, and #17 Tufts.
Men: Top 25 debutante #24 Cal Lu is at an all-time high ranking, while #2 Brandeis equaled their best-ever mark.

Movers and Shakers:
Women: There was very little shaking and almost no moving among the women this week. The biggest move was made by Puget Sound, which shed 78 points and dropped from #23 out of the rankings. The largest upward movements were virtual baby steps, gains of 27 and 26 points by #17 Tufts and #18 George Fox respectively, neither of which was enough to change their ranking. #24 Capital moved into the Top 25, despite actually losing six points from their Week 5 total.
Men: Former #11 Brockport St. had a dismal 0-3 week which cost them 327 points and their berth in the Top 25. Then-#3 UW-Stevens Point dropped two straight, shedding 244 points and eleven slots in the poll. The Pointers were knocked off at home by #12 UW-Oshkosh, which gained 153 points and six places in this week’s poll.

Southern Hospitality: Coaches speak

Posted on January 3, 2008 by Pat Coleman

That’s “coaches speak” rather than “coachspeak” because I felt like we got some really well thought-out responses in speaking to coaches on the Southern Hospitality tour this week in the deep South.

In all I talked to 13 coaches with the recorder rolling, as well as a couple of others. Most interviews were preceded or followed by some more discussion off the record. Those discussions are great background for me to use in understanding what’s going on.

But I spotlight four coaches in this section, three of them from Georgia and one from Alabama. They have varying levels of experience in Division III and in coaching, varying lengths of time at their schools. But if you listen, you’ll hear some common themes.

For Mitch Cole, at Birmingham-Southern, it’s building a team from scratch. The program itself has been there throughout, obviously, with the infrastructure in place. But every player is new this year after the school did not field a team last season. The things that have to be micromanaged by the coach are somewhat surprising. Listen to his interview for more.

For Philip Ponder, at Oglethorpe, it’s a battle to grow into a competitive program with a young team.

For Lee Glenn, at Piedmont, the concern is getting numbers into the program. And taking care of a newborn baby, as his wife gave birth about five hours after this interview concluded. (Congrats!)

For Jason Zimmerman, at Emory, it’s also getting adjusted to Division III. He’s new to Emory, with a team that has six seniors but not a lot of experience. He has something to say about how Division III players compare with Division I players, having coached at both levels.

But the benefits of some of the schools are interesting as well. Listen in to each take.