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⌛️ Hard to Believe. This is the last D3Playbook of June and FY24. Where did the time go?

📆 What’s Happening Today? The DIII Commissioners Association and the DIII Membership Committee meet in Indianapolis. The DIII Nominating Committee is slated for a virtual meeting.

TOP STORY
1. Eastern Nazarene To Begin Process of Closing

“The Board of Trustees of Eastern Nazarene College announced it has voted unanimously to begin the process of closing ENC and transitioning it into a new educational enterprise that will carry on ENC’s legacy of providing a transformational education that equips diverse students to lead and serve our world as agent of Christ’s love and truth.

Like all small, private, liberal arts colleges, Eastern Nazarene has faced significant financial headwinds in recent years. During that time, the Board and multiple presidents have pursued numerous alternatives to closure. While these efforts produced fruit that enabled ENC to continue operating until now, the underlying challenges have intensified. It has become clear that transitioning to a new educational enterprise is the only viable path for continuing ENC’s mission of providing transformational education.

“As we enter this season of transition, the Board and President (Colleen) Derr are focused on three priorities: caring for the present, honoring the past, and ensuring a vibrant future,” said Dr. David W. Bowser, Chair of the Board of Trustees of ENC. “Our top priority in the coming weeks is caring for those most directly affected by this decision: our students, faculty and staff.”

» What’s Next. “ENC’s goal, pending the commitment of a critical mass of students and faculty, is to continue serving undergraduate and graduate students who are on track to graduate by the end of the year.”

» Quotable. “We look forward to creating opportunities to celebrate this rich history and preserve ENC’s legacy moving forward,” said Bowser. “Taking this step now will ensure the continuation of ENC’s mission to provide a transformational education through annual scholarships that empower students living in our region to attend other Nazarene schools.”

» Athletics. The Lions, who sponsored 16 sports, joined the North Atlantic Conference a year ago, after spending the previous six seasons in the NECC.

» Continue Reading

NCAA

2. Champs Committee Recap

The NCAA DIII Championships Committee met via videoconference on June 17-18 and made recommendations involving championship pairings and site selection.

The Championships Committee is requesting a waiver of Bylaw 31.3.5.1 (b) that requires geographic proximity (i.e., the competition site is within 500 miles of the institution) to take precedent over seeding when constructing a championship bracket. The committee discussed several possible methods to provide sport committees with greater flexibility when building their brackets that would allow top-seeded teams to be protected in the preliminary rounds.

The committee also recommended that once selected, teams shall be grouped in clusters according to natural geographic proximity. Teams shall then be paired according to geographic proximity. A team may be moved to numerically balance the bracket if geographic proximity is maintained. Teams shall be paired and eligible according to geographic proximity (within 500 miles). An exception may be granted when there are not enough teams within the 500-mile radius to fill the region.

» Why This Matters. "Teams may be seeded on a regional basis, however, geographical proximity shall take precedence over seeding. Seeding may be a consideration when selecting hosts but is not determinative.

» Conference Rematches. The committee also proposed that teams from the same conference shall not play one another in the first round.

» Web Streaming. The committee recommended that as DIII considers expanding video streaming to include preliminary rounds, there needs to be continuity in access and minimum production expectations of the live stream. To that end, it was recommended that $456,000 per year be allocated to reimburse preliminary-round hosts ($1,000 per hosting day) to offset costs.

» Continue Reading

RULES
3. Women’s Lax Proposes Video Review

by Greg Johnson, NCAA

“The NCAA Women's Lacrosse Rules Committee has proposed making video review an optional rule for all games and allowing coaches to have two review challenges per game, beginning with the 2025 season.

Under the recommendation, both teams would have to agree to use the rule.

If a team chooses to issue a video review challenge and the call on the field is confirmed or there isn't enough video evidence to overturn a call, that team will be charged a timeout. A team would have to have a timeout to issue a video review challenge.”

» What They’re Saying. "The rules committee is in full support of moving video review from an experimental rule to an NCAA rule," said Kim Wayne, committee chair and women's lacrosse coach at Davidson. "Although the rule will be optional, the hope is that more teams and conferences will consider adding video review throughout the season. Adding video review will allow women's lacrosse to incorporate video review into the NCAA tournament, which the committee believed was an important next step."

» Worth Noting. “Charging would no longer result in a one-minute releasable penalty between the restraining lines. Instead, it would be categorized as a general foul for the upcoming season.”

» Read More

NEWS
4. Lightning Round

» 🗞️ News. Keystone College has cut 29 faculty and staff positions as part of an effort to reduce costs at the financially struggling school. The dismissals include a few summer furloughs and elimination of vacant positions. The moves are estimated to save $3.5 million a year.

» 🗞️ News. “Marietta College was planning to welcome a new president in July. Instead it’s back to the drawing board after President-elect Susan Stuebner backed out of the job before it started.”

» 🗞️ News. The University of Puget Sound has received a $1 million gift from 1991 graduate Christi Offutt and the Offutt Family Foundation. The donation establishes the Offutt Family Foundation Endowed Fund for Women Athletes' success, with a focus on promoting wellness and leadership.

» 🤼‍♀️ Wrestling. “The American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) will begin sponsoring women’s wrestling in 2024-25 as the league’s 24th sport. The A-R-C will become the second NCAA Division III conference to sponsor women’s wrestling.”

TRANSACTIONS
5. Comings and Goings

• AVERETT - Meg Stevens is stepping down as vice president and director of athletics. Danny Miller named interim athletic director

• BELOIT - Larry Knight named head women’s basketball coach

• BETHANY - Jayson Ameer Rasheed named assistant director of athletics for communications

• BRANDEIS - Julie Prichett named head women’s basketball coach

• BREVARD - Sarah Perry named head women’s lacrosse coach

• CAL LUTHERAN - Howard Davis named director of athletics

• CATHOLIC - Aaron Jahnke named director of sport performance

• CEDAR CREST - Kate Cochran named head field hockey coach

• DREW - Stefani Peluso named head women’s lacrosse coach

• HANOVER - Ashlie Bobb named head women’s lacrosse coach

• IMMACULATA - Ashley Ainsworth named head women’s soccer coach

• JOHN CARROLL - Jeff Pawlowski named head men’s golf coach

• KNOX - Corey Goff resigned as director of athletics

• LINFIELD - Jessica Hollen named assistant director of athletics for compliance

• MARY BALDWIN - Daniel Eacho named head men’s basketball coach

• NEUMANN - Kurt Nusshag named interim head women’s soccer coach

• NORTH CENTRAL (Ill.) - Grant Zamin named head men’s wrestling coach

• NORTH CENTRAL (Minn.) - David Rohrbach named head women’s basketball coach

• OZARKS - Sergio Molina named interim athletic director

• ROWAN - Pat Ruley named head football coach. Eric Brennan named head men’s basketball coach

• ST. NORBERT - Announced it will team with Synergy as its strength and conditioning partner

• UNION - Michelle Connors stepped down as head softball coach

• VTSU CASTLETON - Eric Kraut named head softball coach

• VTSU LYNDON - Zach Blaser named head men’s soccer coach

• WASHINGTON U. - Randi Henderson stepped down as head women’s basketball coach

• WASHINGTON and LEE - Brittany Kemp named head women’s basketball coach

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