JULY 24, 2025 | composed by STEVE ULRICH

What DIII administrators, coaches, parents and fans are reading. #whyD3
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🍹  The Day Before the Weekend.

🗞️ In Today’s Edition. Pro-NCAA Bill Passes Hurdle to House Floor. DIII Management Council update. Boon Headlines Academic XC/T&F Team. North Central Picked to Repeat in DIII Football.

TOP STORY
1. College Sports Bill Moving to House Floor in Congress After Passing Committee Votes

by Steve Berkowitz and Tom Schad, USA Today

“Two U.S. House of Representatives committees on Wednesday, July 23 advanced a bill that would establish a variety of national rules concerning how college sports operate, making this the most comprehensive measure connected to the industry set to reach the chamber’s floor in decades.

After considering nearly a dozen amendments, the Energy and Commerce Committee ultimately voted 30-23 to send the bill to the House floor. It was a straight party line vote in which one vote was not recorded.

The Education and Workforce Committee also signed off on the bill later in the afternoon by a narrower margin of 18-17, with Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Wash., joining all of the Democrats in opposition.”

» What’s Next. “Barring last-minute intervention from another committee, the bill could receive a vote in September, perhaps within the first two weeks after the House is scheduled to return Sept. 2 from a summer recess that is expected to begin at the close of business July 23.”

» Reality Check. “If the bill moves to the Senate, its future will remain uncertain, as 60 votes will be needed to prevent a filibuster. So, even if all 53 Republican members back the measure — which so far has received bipartisan support and opposition in the House — seven Democrats also will have to approve.”

» What They’re Saying. "Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who is her party's ranking member of the Commerce Committee, also was critical of the legislation in a statement given to USA TODAY Sports. "Saving Olympic sports is going to take more than just allowing the biggest universities with the biggest boosters to always be in the conference playoffs," the statement said. "This legislation rolls back athletes’ rights established less than 30 days ago, undermines women’s and Olympic sports, squeezes small and mid-major schools, and makes the big schools richer, more powerful and less accountable.”

» Keep Reading

NCAA
2. Management Council Recap

by Olivia Brown, NCAA

“During its July meeting at the national office, the Division III Management Council approved a per diem increase for student-athletes participating in championships. That request will go to the Presidents Council for approval at its August meeting.

The Division III Strategic Planning and Finance Committee recommended an increase in per diem to $150 for traveling teams and $60 for hosts, effective for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 academic years.”

» New Playing Rules Structure. “The Division III Championships Committee's recommendation is based on the principles that playing rules should continue being as consistent as possible among divisions but also provide a structure that allows Division III to continue being able to adopt playing rules that are philosophically aligned and financially feasible for its membership to implement.”

» NCAA Convention Legislation. The council sponsored five proposals for the 2026 Convention, including one requiring the use of the NCAA Transfer Portal.

» Quotable. "Due to rising costs associated with championships participation and the controlled nature of the per diem increase, we approved incremental increases in per diem to provide immediate benefits to both institutions and student-athletes during their postseason experience," said Jason Verdugo, chair of the council and director of athletics at Wisconsin-Eau Claire.”

» Council Leadership. “The council elected Rob Larson, faculty athletics representative at Luther, as the next chair, and Crystal Gibson, director of athletics at St. Mary's (Md.), as the vice chair. They will assume their council leadership positions with the close of the 2026 NCAA Convention.”

» Continue Reading

ACADEMICS
3. Boon Headlines Academic All-America Women’s XC/T&F Team

Emory’s Nikki Boon was named the Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year for women’s cross country and track and field by College Sports Communicators.

Boon is a two-time national champion, winning the indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon in 2025. A graduate student from Dronten, The Netherlands, she has a 4.0 graduate GPA in biological and biomedical science and plans to pursue her Ph.D. in neuroscience.

Eighteen of the 46 members of the Academic All-America® Division III women’s track and field/cross country teams hold a perfect 4.00 GPA in their undergraduate work or graduate school. The 16 first team members have an average undergraduate GPA of 3.95.

First Team

• Kayla Behnke, UW-Eau Calire, Sr., 4.00, Computer Science & Mathematics

• Megan Bell, Rochester, Sr., 3.96, Biomedical Engineering

• Nikki Boon, Emory, Grad, 4.00/4.00, Biological & Biomedical Science

• Riley Buese, Lewis & Clark, Sr., 4.00, Biology

• Sophie Bull, Calvin, Jr., 3.97, Kinesiology

• Izzy Burman, Ohio Northern, Sr., 4.00, Accounting

• Eva Carchidi, Emory, Grad, 4.00/4.00, Nursing

• Faith Duncan, Wilmington, Jr., 3.88, Organizational Communication

• Charlotte Frere, Augustana, Jr., 3.99, Biology & Kinesiology

• Annie Huang, Johns Hopkins, Grad, 3.93/3.95, Molecular & Cellular Biology (U) / Biotechnology (G)

• Lauren Jarrett, UW-La Crosse, Jr., 3.62, Exercise Sport Science

• Ebun Opata, Washington (Mo.), Grad, 3.93/3.94, Social Work

• Thea Ring, North Park, Jr., 3.95, Physical Education

• Gillian Roeder, MIT, Grad, 4.00/4.00, Mechanical Engineering

• Hailey Surace, MIT, Sr., 4.00, Business Management

• Kenadee Wayt, Mount Union, Grad, 4.00/3.91, Physician Assistant Studies

» Complete Team

FOOTBALL
4. Cardinals Picked to Repeat in D3football Preseason Poll

The defending champion North Central (Ill.) Cardinals are the favorite among the D3football.com pundits as the organization’s 2025 preseason Division III poll was released yesterday.

» Top 10. 1-North Central (Ill.), 2-Mount Union, 3-Johns Hopkins, 4-Susquehanna,
5-Saint John’s, 6-Hardin-Simmons, 7-Salisbury, 8-Mary Hardin-Baylor, 9-Wartburg,
10-Cortland

» Complete Poll

NEWS YOU CAN USE
5. Lightning Round ⚡️ 

» Awards. Women Leaders has selected Jacqueline Schuman, vice chancellor and AD at UMass Boston, as an Executive of the Year. The organization also named former Atlantic East Conference commissioner Jessica Huntley as its Innovator of the Year

» Flag Football. The United East Conference will sponsor women’s flag football as a varsity championship sport in 2025-26

» Swimming. Johns Hopkins will join the Centennial Conference for men's and women's swimming beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. The Blue Jays have competed as an independent since leaving the Bluegrass Mountain Conference (BMC) after the 2015-16 season

» Basketball (W). Brad Schmidt, a Division I women's basketball official for more than two decades, will be the next NCAA secretary-rules editor for women's basketball.

» Layoffs. “Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C. eliminated 6% of its workforce as part of strategic budget cuts aimed at addressing financial challenges from economic and demographic shifts.”

TRANSACTIONS
6. Comings and Goings 

BETHANY - Brandon Thorsen named head men’s basketball coach
BRANDEIS - Arthur Levine named president
DUBUQUE - Hannah Bauch named coordinator of creative media, marketing and fan engagement
GUILFORD - Dylan Neisler named head men’s lacrosse coach
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS - Jordan Benson named sports information director
HUNTINGDON - Erin Burleson named assistant athletic trainer
JOHN JAY - Michael Sporton named associate athletic director for facilities and operations
KEUKA - Tom Wilk named head men’s basketball coach
KING’S - James Schuld named assistant director of athletic communications
La ROCHE - Greg Schmitt resigned as head cross country coach
MARTIN LUTHER - Tim Grundmeier resigned as co-head men’s soccer coach
NAZARETH - Chris Heckman stepped down as head swimming and diving coach
NICHOLS - Jack Hayes resigned as vice president/director of athletics. Kristan Mallet named interim director of athletics. Javier Godoy Gomis named head tennis coach
OHIO WESLEYAN - Cody Hartzler named head women’s basketball coach
REGENT - Bri Cooper named head softball coach
RIVIER - Joseph Brady named director of athletics
ROANOKE - Will Abdi named interim head men’s golf coach
THOMAS - MJ Rose named head women’s volleyball coach
TRANSYLVANIA - Cameron Deckett named assistant athletic trainer

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