USD has Division 1 buzz
By Dolly A. Butz Journal staff writer | Posted: Sunday, February 25, 2007
University of South Dakota basketball player Dylan Grimsley takes a shot during practice Tuesday. Grimsley, of Sioux City, transferred from the University of Northern Iowa, a Division I school, to USD. Grimsley will play for USD at both the Division I and II levels. (Staff photo by Jim Lee)
When North Dakota State University chose to leave the North Central Conference in 2004 and Augustana College announced its intention to seek affiliation with the Northern Sun Conference in November, University of South Dakota President Jim Abbott said the university had to make a decision.
Either step up or step down.
In announcing the decision on Nov. 29, 2006, Abbott said the university chose to step up and make the leap from NCAA Division II athletics to Division I.
Since then, a 5-year transformation process has been set into motion. Athletic administrators are researching conferences, coaches are being educated on new recruiting rules and fundraising is in high gear.
Although the university anticipates having to raise an extra $2 million annually to make the Division I move, Abbott said becoming a Division I athletic institution in 2008-2009 will benefit academics and athletics alike.
"Over a period of time I think athletics can contribute to building the reputation of the university and from that standpoint I think the typical student will be well served," he said. "There is a certain Division I buzz and there's no denying it. Does it automatically result in better academics or more research, or greater graduate programs? No. But to the extent that your university profile is bettered, it's helpful."
Sophomore basketball guard/forward Dylan Grimsley of Sioux City transferred from the University of Northern Iowa, a Division I school, to USD this year.
Grimsley said the transition to D1 will pose some challenges the first few years, but said he and his teammates are anticipating the switch.
"We're looking forward to it," he said. "We don't really know what our future holds as far as conference and playing in the post season. It's going to be tough, but I think we've got players that we can be successful with in the first and second years."
Men's basketball head coach Dave Boots has been coaching for 19 years at USD. Boots said coaching at the D1 level wasn't high on his list of career goals, but he said he is looking forward to the opportunity.
"I think the kids that we have in our program are looking forward to it," he said. "I know in recruiting it's a huge goal of high school players to play Division I basketball, so I think we're going to be able to attract a pretty good player to come here."
How they made the decision
USD began exploring a Division I move last summer. Abbott appointed a 26-member Athletic Review Task Force, that included students, faculty, alumni, coaches and community members, to review the university's NCAA division classification and conference affiliation. The task force was assisted by the Inter-Collegiate Athletic Consulting group.
On Nov. 6, the task force recommended to Abbott that the university reclassify its athletic programs to Division I.
"I think it's fair to say that we want to be competitive at USD, but we didn't necessarily think we had to be in Division I to be competitive or respected as an athletic force," Abbott said.
When other schools started leaving the North Central Conference three years ago, Abbott said it became obvious that the conference was in trouble.
"I pretty much made the decision after consultation with the athletic director and others that it would be necessary to take the step," he said. "The University of North Dakota making the move to Division I kind of sealed the fate of the NCC. When North Dakota announced, that took it to six teams and when Augustana said they were leaving, that took it down to five, so the conference wasn't any longer viable."
After making the decision, Abbott formally requested permission from the South Dakota Board of Regents to begin the process of moving the university's athletic programs to NCAA Division I-AA for football and Division I for all other sports.
The Board of Regents held a public hearing on Dec. 11. After hearing testimony and reviewing the Inter-Collegiate Athletic Consulting group's report, it unanimously approved the university's request to reclassify its athletic programs on Dec. 14.
Making the move
On a trip to Dallas last week athletic director Joel Nielsen said an alumnus inquired about how long it would take USD to get on ESPN's bottomline ticker.
"That kind of stuff interests our people now that we've made the decision to make the move," Nielsen said.
The transition to the Division I level is a 5-year process. One of those 5 years serves as an exploratory year. Nielsen said they anticipate 2007-2008 will be their exploratory year. It will also be their last year as a Division II institution. Although the university's first "pure Division I transition year" will be 2008-2009, Nielsen said they are already preparing for the transition.
"It's a process of putting together our financial pro formas from an expense and revenue side to better understand the financial commitment and financial resources that need to be raised to make this move through the 5-year transition," he said. "Another big piece that we're working on is conference affiliation and scheduling."
Nielsen said a conference affiliation will probably not be seen for a few months in football and possibly longer for the university's other 16 sports.
"That's very typical in the Division I world as you transition from DII to D1," he said. "Very few schools already have a conference lined up."
Nielsen said getting into a new conference isn't as simple as picking up the phone and dialing. He said they need to research conferences and apply for membership. He said he doesn't anticipate gaining acceptance will be a problem.
"We have an extraordinary story to tell from what we have available from an academic standpoint, from a community standpoint, from some of the other positive things we hear from our graduates," he said. "Also we're a flagship institution and there's only so many of those in the country and behind that comes a lot of weight and a lot of credibility."
If the Coyotes are not accepted into a conference early on in the transition process, Boots said it will be difficult winning games as an independent and recruiting high-caliber players.
"I think the challenges that we're going to have are first, can we recruit a good enough player to come here that will let you win more than you lose? And No. 2, when and if we get into a conference will be the other great challenge," he said. "As an independent program I just really don't see how that will give you a really good chance to be highly successful. You're going to have very few home games. If you have to do this all on the road, that's really going to decrease your chances of winning."
In the long run, Boots said Division I status will help with recruiting. He said the possibility of playing Division I basketball may have factored into last year's recruiting classes' decision to sign with USD.
"We lose a lot more kids to other Division I schools than we do to other Division II schools," he said. "You really have to get through that 5-year period before you can really sell (Division I). You're going to want to sell those kids on an opportunity to hopefully play a pretty competitive schedule through that process. I think that's going to be a difficult selling job. I know our recruiting after the five years will certainly be way better then it is at the early stages."
Fundraising
Abbott said fundraising will remain in high gear to support the Division I move and scholarships.
Every dollar of the estimated annual $2 million needed to support a Division I program has to come from fundraising, private or corporate donors, ticket sales or game guarantees. Under the parameters of the Board of Regents' policy that was put in place when South Dakota State University moved to Division I, university or state funds cannot be reallocated to finance a Division I move.
"For the foreseeable future neither tuition nor fees will be affected," Abbott said. "Even if we were allowed, as most schools are, to charge some sort of athletic fee, it would not be onerous and we will not under any circumstances remove dollars from academics to support athletics -- no matter what.
So far, Abbott said the university isn't having any trouble raising funds. He said Campaign South Dakota, which had a goal of $60 million, raised $130 million for the university.
"There's no question that fundraising was in high gear and it will be in high gear, but it's been in high gear," he said. "It will be just a little bit different."
Abbott said the focus of fundraising will now change from buildings and projects to scholarships and operating dollars to support Division I.
Dan Hanna, athletics development officer, said $1.6 million of the annual $2 million budget increase will go toward athletic scholarships. The university currently offers 105 full athletic scholarships. At the end of the 5-year transition period that number is anticipated to climb to 165 or 170 scholarships. Football will go from 36 to 63 scholarships, men's basketball from 10 to 13 scholarships and women's basketball from 10 to 15 scholarships.
"The money that's being raised for Division I is going toward primarily scholarships, and scholarships are the lifeblood of any program," Hanna said. "With more student-athlete scholarships, that increases our enrollment, hopefully enhances the image of the University of South Dakota and makes it a positive step with the entire university."
NCAA Compliance
Jill Theeler, assistant athletic director/compliance officer/senior woman administrator, has two rule books in her office, one for NCAA Division I and one for Division II. Educating staff on the changes that are taking place is a balancing act between the two.
"When you transition from Division II to Division I, it's looking from one rule book to another," she said. "For the most part the frame work is the same, but there are some key differences and probably some more detailed rules."
Theeler said they are in the process of forming a compliance committee, which would bring representatives from financial aid, the registrar, admissions and advising together to project the necessary changes that need to be made. She said staying ahead of the game is key to a successful transition.
"A lot of it is rules education," she said. "Some things the university has to have in check. There are things that coaches need to know when they're out recruiting. Not everything is black and white. It's not rocket science, but there's a lot of detail."
Beginning in the fall of 2008, freshman students going into a Division I school for the first time will be required to meet 16 core courses in the NCAA Clearinghouse. Currently they are required to meet 14. Theeler said USD is expected to hit this change during the transition, so it should not pose a problem for incoming student-athletes.
For current student-athletes there are requirements for degree progress at the Division I level. Going into their third year student-athletes are required to have 40 percent of their degree completed, in their fourth year 60 percent and in their fifth year 80 percent.
"A good goal is to not lose any students in the process to eligibility issues that we can project," Theeler said. "The students have to take care of the success in the classroom themselves."
Dolly Butz may be contacted at (712) 293-4275 or dollybutz@siouxcityjournal.com.
Student reaction
Nick Woltman - Junior history major, Cherokee, Iowa
"I guess it could be exciting with the rivalry with SDSU. There's a lot of talk about that being a big deal again. Other than that, I think we'll have a losing record at least at first. I hope it doesn't have too much of a negative effect, but I can see it having some effect on tuition."
Randall Van Bemmel - Graduate student in public administration, Sioux Falls
"I don't see it as helping me as a student, and if it makes the cost go up, it's really not helping anyone else. I know it's a long drawn out process, but they never came forward and said why, and I'm not sure I know why. Is it because the other schools are moving to Division I or do we actually think it's going to make the university better?"
Erin Blatchford - Senior marketing major, Sioux Falls
"I think it's not a good idea in the short run, but in the long run it might be a good idea to help get new students here and make more money. In the short run we have to come up with a lot of money to begin it."
Either step up or step down.
In announcing the decision on Nov. 29, 2006, Abbott said the university chose to step up and make the leap from NCAA Division II athletics to Division I.
Since then, a 5-year transformation process has been set into motion. Athletic administrators are researching conferences, coaches are being educated on new recruiting rules and fundraising is in high gear.
Although the university anticipates having to raise an extra $2 million annually to make the Division I move, Abbott said becoming a Division I athletic institution in 2008-2009 will benefit academics and athletics alike.
"Over a period of time I think athletics can contribute to building the reputation of the university and from that standpoint I think the typical student will be well served," he said. "There is a certain Division I buzz and there's no denying it. Does it automatically result in better academics or more research, or greater graduate programs? No. But to the extent that your university profile is bettered, it's helpful."
Sophomore basketball guard/forward Dylan Grimsley of Sioux City transferred from the University of Northern Iowa, a Division I school, to USD this year.
Grimsley said the transition to D1 will pose some challenges the first few years, but said he and his teammates are anticipating the switch.
"We're looking forward to it," he said. "We don't really know what our future holds as far as conference and playing in the post season. It's going to be tough, but I think we've got players that we can be successful with in the first and second years."
Men's basketball head coach Dave Boots has been coaching for 19 years at USD. Boots said coaching at the D1 level wasn't high on his list of career goals, but he said he is looking forward to the opportunity.
"I think the kids that we have in our program are looking forward to it," he said. "I know in recruiting it's a huge goal of high school players to play Division I basketball, so I think we're going to be able to attract a pretty good player to come here."
How they made the decision
USD began exploring a Division I move last summer. Abbott appointed a 26-member Athletic Review Task Force, that included students, faculty, alumni, coaches and community members, to review the university's NCAA division classification and conference affiliation. The task force was assisted by the Inter-Collegiate Athletic Consulting group.
On Nov. 6, the task force recommended to Abbott that the university reclassify its athletic programs to Division I.
"I think it's fair to say that we want to be competitive at USD, but we didn't necessarily think we had to be in Division I to be competitive or respected as an athletic force," Abbott said.
When other schools started leaving the North Central Conference three years ago, Abbott said it became obvious that the conference was in trouble.
"I pretty much made the decision after consultation with the athletic director and others that it would be necessary to take the step," he said. "The University of North Dakota making the move to Division I kind of sealed the fate of the NCC. When North Dakota announced, that took it to six teams and when Augustana said they were leaving, that took it down to five, so the conference wasn't any longer viable."
After making the decision, Abbott formally requested permission from the South Dakota Board of Regents to begin the process of moving the university's athletic programs to NCAA Division I-AA for football and Division I for all other sports.
The Board of Regents held a public hearing on Dec. 11. After hearing testimony and reviewing the Inter-Collegiate Athletic Consulting group's report, it unanimously approved the university's request to reclassify its athletic programs on Dec. 14.
Making the move
On a trip to Dallas last week athletic director Joel Nielsen said an alumnus inquired about how long it would take USD to get on ESPN's bottomline ticker.
"That kind of stuff interests our people now that we've made the decision to make the move," Nielsen said.
The transition to the Division I level is a 5-year process. One of those 5 years serves as an exploratory year. Nielsen said they anticipate 2007-2008 will be their exploratory year. It will also be their last year as a Division II institution. Although the university's first "pure Division I transition year" will be 2008-2009, Nielsen said they are already preparing for the transition.
"It's a process of putting together our financial pro formas from an expense and revenue side to better understand the financial commitment and financial resources that need to be raised to make this move through the 5-year transition," he said. "Another big piece that we're working on is conference affiliation and scheduling."
Nielsen said a conference affiliation will probably not be seen for a few months in football and possibly longer for the university's other 16 sports.
"That's very typical in the Division I world as you transition from DII to D1," he said. "Very few schools already have a conference lined up."
Nielsen said getting into a new conference isn't as simple as picking up the phone and dialing. He said they need to research conferences and apply for membership. He said he doesn't anticipate gaining acceptance will be a problem.
"We have an extraordinary story to tell from what we have available from an academic standpoint, from a community standpoint, from some of the other positive things we hear from our graduates," he said. "Also we're a flagship institution and there's only so many of those in the country and behind that comes a lot of weight and a lot of credibility."
If the Coyotes are not accepted into a conference early on in the transition process, Boots said it will be difficult winning games as an independent and recruiting high-caliber players.
"I think the challenges that we're going to have are first, can we recruit a good enough player to come here that will let you win more than you lose? And No. 2, when and if we get into a conference will be the other great challenge," he said. "As an independent program I just really don't see how that will give you a really good chance to be highly successful. You're going to have very few home games. If you have to do this all on the road, that's really going to decrease your chances of winning."
In the long run, Boots said Division I status will help with recruiting. He said the possibility of playing Division I basketball may have factored into last year's recruiting classes' decision to sign with USD.
"We lose a lot more kids to other Division I schools than we do to other Division II schools," he said. "You really have to get through that 5-year period before you can really sell (Division I). You're going to want to sell those kids on an opportunity to hopefully play a pretty competitive schedule through that process. I think that's going to be a difficult selling job. I know our recruiting after the five years will certainly be way better then it is at the early stages."
Fundraising
Abbott said fundraising will remain in high gear to support the Division I move and scholarships.
Every dollar of the estimated annual $2 million needed to support a Division I program has to come from fundraising, private or corporate donors, ticket sales or game guarantees. Under the parameters of the Board of Regents' policy that was put in place when South Dakota State University moved to Division I, university or state funds cannot be reallocated to finance a Division I move.
"For the foreseeable future neither tuition nor fees will be affected," Abbott said. "Even if we were allowed, as most schools are, to charge some sort of athletic fee, it would not be onerous and we will not under any circumstances remove dollars from academics to support athletics -- no matter what.
So far, Abbott said the university isn't having any trouble raising funds. He said Campaign South Dakota, which had a goal of $60 million, raised $130 million for the university.
"There's no question that fundraising was in high gear and it will be in high gear, but it's been in high gear," he said. "It will be just a little bit different."
Abbott said the focus of fundraising will now change from buildings and projects to scholarships and operating dollars to support Division I.
Dan Hanna, athletics development officer, said $1.6 million of the annual $2 million budget increase will go toward athletic scholarships. The university currently offers 105 full athletic scholarships. At the end of the 5-year transition period that number is anticipated to climb to 165 or 170 scholarships. Football will go from 36 to 63 scholarships, men's basketball from 10 to 13 scholarships and women's basketball from 10 to 15 scholarships.
"The money that's being raised for Division I is going toward primarily scholarships, and scholarships are the lifeblood of any program," Hanna said. "With more student-athlete scholarships, that increases our enrollment, hopefully enhances the image of the University of South Dakota and makes it a positive step with the entire university."
NCAA Compliance
Jill Theeler, assistant athletic director/compliance officer/senior woman administrator, has two rule books in her office, one for NCAA Division I and one for Division II. Educating staff on the changes that are taking place is a balancing act between the two.
"When you transition from Division II to Division I, it's looking from one rule book to another," she said. "For the most part the frame work is the same, but there are some key differences and probably some more detailed rules."
Theeler said they are in the process of forming a compliance committee, which would bring representatives from financial aid, the registrar, admissions and advising together to project the necessary changes that need to be made. She said staying ahead of the game is key to a successful transition.
"A lot of it is rules education," she said. "Some things the university has to have in check. There are things that coaches need to know when they're out recruiting. Not everything is black and white. It's not rocket science, but there's a lot of detail."
Beginning in the fall of 2008, freshman students going into a Division I school for the first time will be required to meet 16 core courses in the NCAA Clearinghouse. Currently they are required to meet 14. Theeler said USD is expected to hit this change during the transition, so it should not pose a problem for incoming student-athletes.
For current student-athletes there are requirements for degree progress at the Division I level. Going into their third year student-athletes are required to have 40 percent of their degree completed, in their fourth year 60 percent and in their fifth year 80 percent.
"A good goal is to not lose any students in the process to eligibility issues that we can project," Theeler said. "The students have to take care of the success in the classroom themselves."
Dolly Butz may be contacted at (712) 293-4275 or dollybutz@siouxcityjournal.com.
Student reaction
Nick Woltman - Junior history major, Cherokee, Iowa
"I guess it could be exciting with the rivalry with SDSU. There's a lot of talk about that being a big deal again. Other than that, I think we'll have a losing record at least at first. I hope it doesn't have too much of a negative effect, but I can see it having some effect on tuition."
Randall Van Bemmel - Graduate student in public administration, Sioux Falls
"I don't see it as helping me as a student, and if it makes the cost go up, it's really not helping anyone else. I know it's a long drawn out process, but they never came forward and said why, and I'm not sure I know why. Is it because the other schools are moving to Division I or do we actually think it's going to make the university better?"
Erin Blatchford - Senior marketing major, Sioux Falls
"I think it's not a good idea in the short run, but in the long run it might be a good idea to help get new students here and make more money. In the short run we have to come up with a lot of money to begin it."
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gkm wrote on Feb 25, 2007 8:09 AM: