Emmert: Taking the Heat

D3Playbook DECEMBER 12, 2019 | written by STEVE ULRICH your must-read briefing on what's driving the day in NCAA Division III Our goal is to keep you - the influencers in DIII athletics - apprised of what's happening around Division III - the games, polls, news, happenings, awards, calendar of events, and much more. We hope you enjoy d3Playbook and that you'll share this with your friends, colleagues and co-workers.

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1. Emmert: Taking the Heat  Daniel Libut and Luke Cyphers, coeditors of The Intercollegiate, wrote a piece on NCAA president Mark Emmert leading up to his appearance next week at the Aspen Institute symposium on college athlete pay. Although much of the story is not complementary to Emmert, it does hit upon a much-overlooked part of his job - he and the NCAA take the heat, so others don't have to. >> Situational Awareness: "A common defense Emmert defaults to when pressed about the ethics of amateurism — but which also happens to be true — is that the NCAA represents the collective interests of its member institutions. If the leaders of those institutions wanted to dramatically improve the system of college sports, they could. They haven’t." >> Of Note: At the start of his tenure, Emmert proposed a $2,000 annual stipend for scholarship athletes. It was shot down by the presidents and ADs. He also pushed for reform in college basketball, requiring that men's programs meet academic performance requirements to compete in the NCAA tournament. It was a no-go. >> Yes, But: "One of the most salient criticisms of the NCAA is how it disproportionately punishes schools for things that shouldn’t actually matter to civil society, like players getting free tattoos, as compared to the things that should — like systemic cover-up of sexual assault cases." (see Larry Nassar at Michigan State). >> Quotable: “He met with me, which was great, and I appreciated that. But the governing board has an awful lot of power. … It’s a strange setup. You do kind of get the fox guarding the hen house mentality. You do feel like the NCAA doesn’t like to do investigations, because they like their relationships (with university officials and conferences).” - Kathy Redmond, founder of the National Coalition Against Violent Athletes >> Quotable II: “The NCAA is the judge, jury and executioner and punching bag. The universities can always complain about the NCAA being heavy-handed and have the criticism of them deflected. That is what happened with the (Jerry) Sandusky situation (at Penn State).” - Richard Southall, executive director of the College Sport Research Institute >> What's Next: "The devil's in the details. For example, what does the NCAA mean by 'consistent with the collegiate model'?" - Nancy Skinner, California state senator, talking about the NIL bill. >> The Final Word: “His function is really to herd the thousand cats that are the NCAA schools." - Joe Nocera, Bloomberg News Go Deeper

2. Southern Virginia Joins USA South The USA South Athletic Conference is pleased to announce that Southern Virginia University has been accepted for full membership within the League. The Knights are currently an NCAA Division III institution primarily competing in the Capital Athletic Conference. SVU's football program currently is an affiliate member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The Knights will begin play as USA South members in the 2021-22 academic year, growing the League's membership to 19 institutions. >> Quotable: "I am very pleased that the USA South Presidents Council agreed to extend membership to Southern Virginia University. SVU is an institution that aligns well with the rest of the Conference members, and this decision coincides with the strategic direction of the Conference. I welcome them wholeheartedly." - Dr. Tom Bogart, President of Maryville College and Chair, USA South Presidents Council >> Quotable II: "We are pleased to have Southern Virginia University join the USA South. SVU adds to our membership by providing another high quality institution dedicated to the ideals of Division III." - Dr. Tom Hart, USA South Commissioner. >> Go Deeper

3.  Best of the Decade  We continue our "Best of the Decade" series with a look at the champions, runners-up and final four participants in ice hockey. Champions: Plattsburgh State (5), Norwich (2), Amherst, Elmira, RIT. Runner-Up: Norwich (3), Elmira (2), Adrian, Hamline, Middlebury, RIT, UW-River Falls. Top Four Finishes: Plattsburgh State (8), Norwich (7), Elmira (5), Gustavus Adolphus (5), Middlebury (3), UW-River Falls (3), Adrian (2), Hamline (2), RIT (2), St. Thomas (2), Amherst. Champions: St. Norbert (4), Norwich (2), UW-Stevens Point (2), Trinity, UW-Eau Claire. Runner-Up: Oswego State (2), St. Norbert (2), UW-Stevens Point (2), Adrian, Norwich, Salve Regina, Trinity. Top Four Finishes: St. Norbert (7), Norwich (6), Oswego State (5), UW-Stevens Point (5), Adrian (3), Geneseo (3), Amherst (2), Trinity (2), Colby, Hobart, Plattsburgh State, Salve Regina, Utica, UMass-Boston, UW-Eau Claire. >> Tomorrow: swimming and diving.

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4.   NFHCA All-America Team  National champion Middlebury placed three players on the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) All-America team. Forty-eight players were honored, including eight that were recognized for the third time - Bowdoin's Kara Finnerty, Salisbury's Jillian Hughes and Franklin & Marshall's Erin Coverdale. First Team Forwards: Cayla Andrews, TCNJ; Kara Finnerty, Bowdoin; Kristen McCarthy, Endicott; Morgan Mullen, Ithaca; Lily Mynott, Franklin & Marshall; Erin Nicholas, Middlebury; Kayla Peterson, TCNJ; Marguerite Salamone, Tufts. Midfielders: Marissa Baker, Middlebury; Caroline Brotzge, Centre; Devon Goetz, MIT; Melissa Gula, Franklin & Marshall; Arielle Johnston, Salisbury; Maggie Sohns, FDU-Florham. Defender: Jillian Hughes, Salisbury. Goalkeeper: Nicole Andrini, Montclair State. >> Complete All-America Teams

5. About Last Night  No. 8 Hobart upset No. 2 Trinity, 4-2, in a men's ice hockey showdown in Geneva. Joe Halstrom made 25 saves, including seven in the final period. No. 7 UW-River Falls scored twice in the second period to break a 1-1 tie and go on to down No. 4 Gustavus Adolphus, 3-1, in women's ice hockey action.  In a top-25 women's basketball battle, No. 21 Augsburg took out No. 9 St. Thomas, 69-65, in overtime. Jazymn Solseth led the Auggies with 19 points. The Tommies have lost back-to-back MIAC games for the first time since 2013. Congrats to Penn State Behrend head men's basketball coach Dave Niland who picked up his 500th career win last night - a 76-60 triumph over Fredonia. Zac Haese scored the go-ahead layup with :03 left as No. 15 UW-La Crosse remained unbeaten with a 54-53 win vs. Ripon.  Total points won was the criteria needed to separate No. 5 Johnson & Wales and No. 14 Coast Guard on the mat. The Wildcats won the last three matches to force a 16-16 deadlock that went JWU's way on total points (63-58).

6. Comings and Goings Chris Bledsoe stepping down as athletic director at NYU effective August 2020. Matt Griggs named head men's basketball coach at Mary Baldwin. Tucker Nelson named interim head men's lacrosse coach at Pfeiffer. Ian Clark named head men's wrestling coach at Elmira.

7.  1 Undefeated Thing

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