OCTOBER 28, 2024 | written by STEVE ULRICH

News and notes on the largest and best Division in the NCAA. #whyD3
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😄 Monday, Monday. How was your weekend?

Headlines
🗞️ Historic House-NCAA Settlement Leaving Hundreds of Olympic Sport Athletes in Peril
🎙️ Beloit’s Joe Davis on ‘Gibby, Meet Freddie’ World Series Call: ‘That’s the Dream’
🏈 Who’s No. 1?
⚽️ #1 WashU Blanks #2 Carnegie Mellon
📣 Plays of the Weekend

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TOP STORY
1. Historic House-NCAA Settlement Leaving Hundreds of Olympic Sport Athletes in Peril

by Ross Dellenger, Yahoo! Sports

“On Nov. 13, college athletes across the country can sign financial aid agreements with their chosen university.

While the NCAA eliminated the National Letter of Intent program, signing day remains in place as a seminal moment for college-bound athletes to make their verbal commitments binding. It is traditionally a celebrated day.

For some, that’s not the case this year.”

» What’s Up? “Hundreds of college prospects, many of them participating in Olympic sports, are in a precarious position as the signing date approaches. Schools have eliminated roster spots and, for some, scholarship offers that they were once promised. Meanwhile, several dozen current college athletes are being notified that they are no longer part of their teams — some of the notifications arriving after the fall semester even began.”

» Why It Matters. “In all, the 68 power conference schools are expected to eliminate at least 3,000 roster positions as administrators work to adhere to new roster limitations, reallocate resources from lower-tier to revenue-generating sports, and balance men and women opportunities to comply with the federal Title IX law.”

» Worth Noting. “Officials implemented the new roster structure as a way to preemptively avoid any legal action over the scholarship restrictions. They also wanted to give schools the opportunity to “increase the number of scholarships and support for players.”

» Quotable. “The roster limit is one of several significant flaws of the settlement,” said Tom Wiegand, an attorney with MoloLamken. “We’re pursuing our objection in the hope the court will fix this settlement to be truly fair to all impacted by it.”

» Continue Reading

ALUMNI

2. Beloit’s Joe Davis on ‘Gibby, Meet Freddie’ World Series Call: ‘That’s the Dream’

by Noah Furtado, The Athletic

“Joe Davis, a graduate of Beloit College, stepped into his home office Friday night, having just delivered a potential career-defining call mere hours earlier. He sat down, looked up and pinched himself. There it was: a framed canvas of Kirk Gibson in the on-deck circle, moments before his iconic walk-off home run as a pinch hitter in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. The home plate umpire can be seen taking his lineup card out to make the change with a wall of fans in the backdrop. History followed.

While Davis was renovating his old house five years ago, he asked longtime Dodgers historian Mark Langill for something special. Langill offered the picture of Gibson in the on-deck circle as an undeveloped slide. That Davis got the opportunity to honor the memory of his predecessor, the late play-by-play legend Vin Scully, who voiced Gibson’s subsequently hobbled home-run trot, was almost too good to be true.

But true, it was, 36 years later.”

» Here’s The Pitch. “Freddie Freeman, on a bum right ankle in the bottom of the 10th, smashed one over the right-field wall at Dodger Stadium — just as Gibson did with an injured hamstring. And Davis, in Scully’s words, said, “She is gone!” followed by words to be remembered: “Gibby, meet Freddie!”

» What They’re Saying. “I wasn’t thinking about Vin or thinking about Vin’s call, but I think the fact that I’ve seen that ball hit a million times — we all have … that’s just the first thing that popped into my head. We’ve seen and heard that call a million times and it was like, ‘Well, yeah, that’s exactly what this is.’”

» Reality Check. “As Davis received universal praise for his ability to meet the moment, he woke up the morning after thinking about how it could’ve been better.”

» Continue Reading

FOOTBALL

3. Who’s No. 1?

There is a difference between the voters and the computers as to who is the top team in Division III football after week 8.

The NCAA’s Power Index says it is Saint John’s, while D3football.com pollsters selected North Central. The No. 2 slot also does not agree, as the NPI says Salisbury while voters say Cortland.

» D3football.com Top 10. 1-North Central, 2-Cortland, 3-Saint John’s, 4-Mount Union, 5-Hardin-Simmons, 6-Salisbury, 7-Susquehanna, 8-UW-Platteville, 9-UW-Oshkosh, 10-DePauw. Complete Top 25

» Touchdown Machine. North Central QB Luke Lehnen became DIII’s all-time leader with 179 total touchdowns. He has 137 passing and 42 rushing TDs.

» Saturday Scoreboard

SOCCER (W)

4. #1 WashU Blanks #2 Carnegie Mellon

Top-ranked Washington U. remained unbeaten with a 3-0 whitewashing of No. 2 Carnegie Mellon in a UAA showdown between the top two teams in DIII’s NPI.

Olivia Clemons scored twice for the Bears who also topped Case Western Reserve on Sunday, 3-1, to move to 16-0-1 overall.

The Tartans fell to 10-2-3 after falling at Chicago on Sunday by a 1-0 count.

» Read More

ROUNDUP
5. Lightning Round ⚡️ 

⚾️ Baseball. Waynesburg alum Mason Miller of the Oakland A’s was named the Sporting News AL Rookie of the Year

🏈 Football. “The Whittier College Board of Trustees has officially approved the return of the College’s football program for the 2026-27 academic year, marking a pivotal moment in Whittier’s storied athletic history.”

🏆️ News. The Extra Points Bowl, featuring teams from the PAC and OAC, needs your help in designing the Bowl Trophy.

🏃 Cross Country. Hunter swept the CUNYAC men’s and women’s championships on Sunday. It is the fourth straight title for the Hawk men, while the women extended their CUNYAC streak to 10 years.

TRANSACTIONS
6. Comings and Goings

• NORTHLAND - Anne Kriskovich named head women’s soccer coach

HIGHLIGHTS

7. Plays of the Weekend

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