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OCTOBER 20, 2025 | composed by STEVE ULRICH
No publication covers NCAA Division III better. #whyD3

☀️ Hello, Monday. Let’s have a great week, shall we?

🗞️ In Today’s Playbook. College Sports Is ‘Too Big of an Opportunity.’ Quinn Sets All-Divisions NCAA Rushing Mark. New Sport and Playing Rules Appointments. Big Cross Country Weekend. Denison, NYU Top Swim Rankings.

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TOP STORY

1. College Sports Is ‘Too Big of An Opportunity’

“Experts agree that college sports will start receiving major infusions of private capital, but while the opportunity is massive, the challenges are just as big.

The sentiment that college sports is on the precipice of entering into private-capital deals was shared by speakers across multiple panels at the inaugural Front Office Sports Asset Class summit in New York. The idea should come as no surprise. For weeks, there’s been a drip-drop of reporting about a potential private-capital deal for the Big Ten, although University of Michigan board members are opposed. Meanwhile, the Big 12 explored potential private-equity deals earlier this year, although for now that conference has hit the brakes.

According to Jason Belzer of Sequence Equity, “College sports is the next frontier.””

» Situational Awareness. “Experts agree that private-credit deals—which wouldn’t involve the capital provider taking an equity stake in the school or conference—are the cleanest way for private capital to enter college sports. Such deals are structured as loans, with investors providing financing, collecting interest, and getting repaid. The arrangements tend to carry less risk and fewer restrictions than equity, although returns are not as compelling, since lenders don’t share as much in the big upside of college sports’ commercial growth.”

» Be Smart. “Any infusion of private capital comes with risk, however, and there are sensitivities about academic institutions getting into bed with firms. While questions remain, the theme was clear: Private capital is coming for college sports. It’s just a matter of when, and how.” (Front Office Sports)

2. Curry’s Quinn Sets All-Divisions NCAA Rushing Record

Curry RB Montie Quinn set a NCAA all-divisions record by rushing for 522 yards and scoring seven touchdowns as the Colonels defeated Nichols, 71-27. Quinn scored on runs of 85, 84, 76, 64, 58, 30 and two yards. He averaged 26.1 yards on 20 carries.

» What They’re Saying. "I'm just humbled and grateful. Breaking the record is something I never imagined coming into today," Quinn said. "The O-Line was dominating all game; receivers were blocking like crazy and coaches put us in position to make plays. This belongs to all of us; I just happened to be the one carrying the ball"

» For The Record. Heidelberg’s Cartel Brooks held the previous DIII record, running for 465 yards on 38 attempts vs. Baldwin Wallace in 2013. The DI FBS record is 427 yards, set by Oklahoma’s Samaje Perine in 2014.

» Perspective. Forty-four (44) DIII teams have not rushed for at least 5222 yards this season. (Curry release)

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3. New Sport and Playing Rules Appointments

The DIII Championships Committee approved the following sport and playing rules committee appointments, effective immediately.

• Basketball (W). Shawna Armstrong, Elmhurst

• Soccer (M). Joe Calabrese, Endicott

• Baseball Rules. Erik Scherer, Cal Lutheran

• Ice Hockey Rules. Jim Ward, Connecticut College

• Lacrosse Rules (M). Jake DeCola, Albion

• Swimming and Diving Rules. Charles Griffiths, Calremont-Mudd-Scripps; Brian Jensen, Brooklyn

• Track and Field Rules. Hannah Chappell-Dickey, Amherst; Christine Pereira, Wentworth

• Volleyball Rules (W). Kristin Consuegra, Presidents Athletic Conference; April Elsbernd, Coe

• Wrestling Rules (M). Nathan Shearer, Washington and Lee

4. Feng, Cristiani Capture ITA Cup Singles Championships

It was a day for Emory sophomore Ruilin Feng and Babson senior Matia Cristiani to shine, as the Eagles’ first-year and the Beavers’ senior captured the singles titles at the ITA Cup.

The unseeded Feng topped top-seed and defending champion Advik Mareedu of Claremont-M-S, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5, to become Emory’s fourth ITA DIII champion. Cristiani, seeded first, downed CMS’ Rebecca Kong in the final, 6-1, 6-3, to become Babson’s first ITA Cup winner.

Emory came home with even more hardware as the doubles tandem of Ajay Kartik and Matthew Johnstone defeated third-seeded Henry Wilson and Sibi Raja of CMS, 6-3, 5-7, 10-6, in the final. Kong did not come home empty-handed, teaming with Lindsay Eisenmann to take the doubles title by a 6-1, 6-2 score against the Johns Hopkins duo of Lia Melvin and Jay Xiao. | Complete Results

5. Denison, NYU Top Preseason Swimming Dual Meet Rankings

“The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) has released the October edition of the Division III Top 25 dual meet poll. The Denison men and NYU women have claimed the the top spots of the Division III October polls.

» Men’s Top 10. 1-Denison, 2-Emory, 3-NYU, 4-Chicago, 5-Kenyon, 6-Carnegie Mellon, 7-MIT, 8-Tufts, 9-Williams, 10-Washington U.

» Conference Call (M). UAA (6), NESCAC (5), C2C (2), Centennial (2), MIAA (2), NCAC (2), NEWMAC (2), SCIAC (2), E8 (1), NJAC (1).

» Conference (W). 1-NYU, 2-Denison, 3-Emory, 4-MIT, 5-Kenyon, 6-Williams, 7-Hope, 8-Pomona-Pitzer, 9-Chicago, 10-Tufts.

» Conference Call (W). UAA (6), NESCAC (5), Centennial (3), C2C (2), MIAA (2), NCAC (2), SCIAC (2), NEWMAC (1), ODAC (1), SAA (1).

6. Lightning Round ⚡️ 

» Admissions. “Institutions of higher education and their advocates are sounding the alarm about the Trump administration’s plan to require colleges to submit new data about their admissions decisions. Under the Department of Education’s proposed Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement, institutions would have to submit applied, admitted and enrolled student data broken down by test score quintiles, grade point average quintiles, income ranges, Pell Grant eligibility and parental education levels, as well as data regarding aid and student outcomes.”

» Field Hockey. Congratulations to Skidmore head coach Beth Hallenbeck, who became the sixth active DIII coach to reach 400 career wins as the Thoroughbreds defeated Ithaca, 2-1.

» Cross Country (W). No. 2 Williams won the Connecticut College Invitational, defeating runner-up #5 MIT by 24 points, 73-97. #3 Johns Hopkins (113), #4 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (158) and top-ranked NYU (179) followed.

7. Comings and Goings 

• ELMIRA - Chuck Lindsay announced his retirement as president in June

• KEENE STATE - Donald Birx named interim president. Kirsti Sandy and Nathalie Houder responsible for day-to-day operations

• KEYSTONE - Announced addition of women’s wrestling in fall 2026

• WILMINGTON - Jayson Wiseman named head tennis coach. Zach Sudinsky named head golf coach

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