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JUNE 9, 2025 | composed by STEVE ULRICH

What administrators, coaches, parents and fans are reading. #whyD3
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🪅  Good Monday Morning DIII. And welcome to our summer schedule. We’ll be sending your newsletter on Mondays and Thursdays with an occasional breaking news update.

🗓️ What’s Happening This Week. The NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports meets today and Tuesday in Indianapolis. The Faculty Athletics Representatives Advisory Group, the Playing Rules Oversight Panel, and the Presidents Advisory Group meet virtually on Tuesday.

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TOP STORY
1. House Settlement Approved

by Ross Dellenger, Yahoo! Sports

“College athletics is officially entering a new world.

A California judge on Friday night a little bit past 9 p.m. ET granted approval to the NCAA’s landmark settlement of three antitrust cases, often referred to as the “House settlement,” ushering in an era where schools are permitted to share revenue with athletes within a new enforcement structure led by the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC.

Claudia Wilken, the 75-year-old presiding judge in California’s Northern District, granted approval of an agreement between the named defendants (the NCAA and power conferences) and the plaintiffs (dozens of suing athletes) to settle three consolidated cases, all of them seeking more compensation for athletes.”

» Court Awareness. “The House settlement will pay thousands of former athletes — playing from 2016-2024 — a whopping $2.8 billion in backpay from lost name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation. Even more groundbreaking, the settlement paves the way for schools, for the first time ever, to directly compensate athletes in a system that features an annual cap and a new enforcement entity that is expected to more heavily scrutinize booster-backed payments.”

» What’s Next. “With its approval, the settlement ushers into college sports a more professionalized framework but one, many believe, that is ripe for more legal scrutiny. Already, attorneys are gearing up for future legal challenges over, at the very least, the new NIL clearinghouse, Title IX and the capped compensation system — much of which can be resolved, legal experts contend, with a collective bargaining and/or employment model that college executives have so far avoided.”

» Keep Reading

HOUSE SETTLEMENT
2. A Letter From NCAA President Charlie Baker

“Many looked to April's hearing about the House settlement as a culmination of sorts, but the court's final approval of the settlement in fact marks a new beginning for Division I student-athletes and for the NCAA. For several years, Division I members crafted well-intentioned rules and systems to govern financial benefits from schools and name, image and likeness opportunities, but the NCAA could not easily enforce these for several reasons. The result was a sense of chaos: instability for schools, confusion for student-athletes and too often litigation. Sometimes member schools even supported that litigation — some of which spurred hastily imposed court orders upending the rules.

Approving the agreement reached by the NCAA, the defendant conferences and student-athletes in the settlement opens a pathway to begin stabilizing college sports. This new framework that enables schools to provide direct financial benefits to student-athletes and establishes clear and specific rules to regulate third-party NIL agreements marks a huge step forward for college sports.”

» What’s Next. “We will focus on further enhancing what is working: elevating the student-athlete experience and maintaining fair playing rules and eligibility and academic standards. Student-athletes will benefit from the rich opportunities they enjoy now, plus far more scholarship opportunities, landmark financial benefits and a streamlined NCAA to support them.”

» Be Smart. “Yes, this all means change, and change at this scale is never easy. This is new terrain for everyone. Given the defendant conferences' new ownership of complicated pieces of rulemaking and enforcement, there will be a transition period and certainly bumps in the road. Opportunities to drive transformative change don't come often to organizations like ours. It's important we make the most of this one.”

» Read the Entire Letter

HOUSE SETTLEMENT
3. What I’m Hearing About NCAA Revenue Sharing

by Justin Williams, The Athletic

“The House v. NCAA settlement, granted final approval Friday, has been touted as a means of restoring order to this Big Money Era of college sports.

But because schools have been preparing to navigate this new world order — and how to gain a competitive edge under it — many in the industry expect the budding NIL arms race to continue at the top of the sport, and at a price point much higher than the cap.

“The top (football) teams are going to cost $40-50 million a year,” said one power conference personnel director. “That’s where this is going. Anyone who thinks different is nuts.”

» Title. “The Athletic spoke with more than a dozen sources across each of the Power 4 conferences about how they plan to approach this new revenue sharing model and all that will come with it — including in-fighting between coaches at the same school, why “tanking” could factor into college sports and how programs will continue to bend rules and find competitive advantages in a post-settlement era.”

» Quotable. “There are a lot of rich people that can’t buy a professional sports franchise, but they can give a ton of money to their alma mater,” said a power conference administrator. “And if you’re telling millionaires and billionaires what they can and can’t do with their money, you’re probably going to lose that battle.”

» Read More

PODCAST
4. Congressman Talks NCAA, CFP, NIL and Why Congress Could Get Involved

Congressman Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) joined the PoliticsPA podcast ‘Voices of Reason’ for a thoughtful conversation on the changing landscape of college sports. From NIL policies and Title IX to the growing influence of major conferences, Boyle shared his concerns about fairness, the impact on Pennsylvania schools in particular, and why this issue is gaining attention in Congress. A timely and informative discussion you won’t want to miss.

» Of Note. You may recognize the host of the program.

» Watch and Listen

NEWS YOU CAN USE
5. Lightning Round ⚡️ 

» Golf. George Fox’s Alison Takamiya was selected as the WGCA DIII National Player of the Year. She collected five tournament wins and finished in the top four in all but one event.

TRANSACTIONS
6. Comings and Goings 

ALFRED STATE - Steve Peed named head women’s lacrosse coach. Zach Healy departed as head swimming and diving coach. Announced it will not support swimming program in 2025-26 and will discontinue diving after next season
ALLEGHENY MOUNTAIN COLLEGIATE CONFERENCE - Announced addition of Elmira and John Carroll as affiliate members in women’s wrestling. Established women’s wrestling as a championship sport in 2025-26
AZUSA PACIFIC - A.J. Parnell named head football coach
COVENANT - Samantha Russell named assistant women’s basketball coach. Renato Mizutani named associate tennis coach
FRANKLIN - Ashley Blanch named head women’s basketball coach
HIRAM - Joe Vandervere named assistant men’s ice hockey coach
HUSSON - Zach Sugar named head baseball coach
LYNCHBURG - Jake Reed stepped down as head cross country/track and field coach
MARYVILLE - Katie Brinker stepped down as head women’s golf coach
MILLIKIN - Brad Soderberg named assistant men’s basketball coach
OHIO WESLEYAN - Stacey Ungashick Lobdell resigned as head women’s basketball coach
OLIVET - Haley Diringer has concluded her tenure as director of athletics. Ryan Shockey will assume interim leadership
PENN STATE ALTOONA - Tyshawn White resigned as head wrestling coach
PITT-BRADFORD - Kelly Unverdorben named head women’s volleyball coach
RHODES - Jeff Cleanthes announced his retirement as head baseball coach
WESTERN NEW ENGLAND - Michael B. Alexander named interim president
WILLIAM PEACE - Hali Christensen named athletic trainer
WILLIAM SMITH - Jake Gallo named assistant basketball coach
WITTENBERG - Jamie Peterson named head men ‘s volleyball coach

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