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🗞️ In Today’s Playbook. Congress Becomes Private Equity’s Latest College Sports Hurdle. Researchers Win NCAA Grant to Build AI-mentor For Student-Athletes. Gustavus’ Doyle to Officiate in the Winter Olympics. Pictures Worth Seeing.

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TOP STORY

1. Congress Becomes Private Equity’s Latest College Sports Hurdle

“Since the NCAA acceded to demands that college athletes be allowed to use their NIL rights in July 2020, the intercollegiate athletics industry has undergone seismic change at a speed few anticipated. What was once expected to take years—like the emergence of booster-backed NIL collectives—materialized in mere months. Changes previously thought to be decades away, including direct payments from schools to athletes, arrived within just a few years.

Given this precedent, it seemed only prudent to assume that once word leaked of schools and conferences fielding calls and Zooms with private equity firms, formal PE partnerships wouldn’t be far behind. Indeed, those conversations soon moved from behind closed doors to press conference podiums, a further indication that this next once-unthinkable development would soon become the new normal.

Instead, the courtship between institutional capital and college sports has been more of a slow stumble to the altar—full of fits, starts and revised announcements.”

» Driving The News. “This week, another obstacle reared its head: Congress. On Monday, Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-Wash.), introduced legislation that would amend the Title IV Program Participation Agreement (PPA) under the Higher Education Act to with private equity or sovereign wealth funds that give those entities ownership stakes or profit-sharing rights in athletic departments. That includes areas like multimedia rights, ticketing, premium seating and other commercial rights—the very domains such investors would be most interested in monetizing.”

» What They’re Saying. “The primary goal of these companies is to make money for the firm, which is unlikely to align with the academic goals of your university or its obligations as a not-for-profit organization,” wrote Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), who is the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee. “These investors will be focused on maximizing their investment, not on preserving and growing athletic and academic opportunities for student athletes.”

» Be Smart. “To be sure, Congress has struggled to move any college sports-related bill to a floor vote, let alone pass a bill. But in this case, it may not need to proactively legislate the issue at all to have a defining impact.” (Sportico)

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2. Researchers Win NCAA Grant to Build AI-mentor For Student-Athletes

“Its name is Sam. It’s here to support the well-being of student-athletes across the country.

Sam is a virtual mentor and the face of an artificial intelligence-powered mentorship app being developed by researchers at Temple University’s School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management.

The app, JournAI, was co-developed by STHM associate professor Elizabeth Taylor, a two-sport Division III student-athlete in track and volleyball at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. [The team] received around one-third of the $100,000 awarded for the 2025 NCAA Innovations in Research and Practice Grant.”

» What It’s About. “JournAI allows student-athletes to text with Sam, and chat about career planning, mental health support and other off-the-field resources that they need as college students, with an eye to life after school.”

» Between The Lines. “The pilot testing for the proposal occurred this Spring, with around 30 current and former student-athletes from various Division I, II and III schools participating. Taylor said the they were from a variety of sports, and pursuing a variety of majors “We’re trying to be really purposeful in getting a diverse sample so that we can understand,” she said. “Are there nuances for men versus women, or football players versus soccer players, or that sort of thing?”

» Quotable. “A chat with Sam is not meant to be a final resolution. Instead, it’s a bridge to the on-campus resources that are available to the individual, should they be needed. “It’s not meant to replace a person, but it’s meant to supplement conversations,” Taylor said.” (Billy Penn)

3. Gustavus’ Doyle and Her Lifelong Journey to Officiating in the Winter Olympics

“From now on, Valentine's Day for Melissa Doyle and her family is no longer going to evoke thoughts of roses, stuffed animals and boxes of chocolates.

The holiday has new meaning because it will forever be remembered as the day Doyle surprised her parents with amazing news: She had earned a spot in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy.

Doyle, who played Division III women's ice hockey at Gustavus Adolphus from 2010-14, was not going as a player, though. She was selected as one of 12 referees and 22 total officials to be a part of an all-woman officiating crew for the women's ice hockey competition.”

» Ice Awareness. “Dating back to her childhood, officiating hockey was the preferred form of family bonding time for Doyle and her family. At 12, Greg enrolled Melissa and her brother, Ryan, into officiating youth hockey in her hometown of White Bear Lake, Minnesota. In addition to playing, Doyle continued to officiate hockey through her freshman year at Gustavus Adolphus.”

» The Big Picture. “On the ice, Doyle was a part of three consecutive NCAA tournament teams, where her team made the semifinals round each time. In the classroom, she balanced double majors in biology and nursing. She also was a leader in her Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter and volunteered in her spare time with Special Olympics, Habitat for Humanity and a local high school hockey team. Doyle thinks the Division III model enabled her to still prioritize her passions and studies while playing a sport.”

» Quotable. "I think those types of experiences continue to remind you what's important in life and really ground you with a good foundation," Doyle said. "They really want you to be the best you can in every aspect of your life, and you're not singularly focused. And I really appreciated that about the Division III mentality. … For me, that was perfect." (NCAA)

4. Lightning Round ⚡️ 

College Degrees. “As public skepticism about the value of a college degree persists, the number of students who expect to earn one is also on the decline. Between 2002 and 2022, the percentage of students surveyed who said they expected to earn a bachelor’s degree or higher fell from 72 percent to 44 percent, according to a research brief.”

Layoffs. “Carnegie Mellon University has laid off 75 employees in its Software Engineering Institute as it wrestles with disruptions to federal funding.”

Finances. “Financially strapped Averett University has received three requested consents from the majority of holders of about $13.3 million in bonds, including one which will allow the private university in Danville to move forward with the proposed $18.15 million sale and leaseback deal of its E. Stuart James Grant North Campus.”

Fundraising. Concordia’s (Minn.) ‘Give to Grow’ athletics giving challenge brought in $257,094.19 from 1,195 gifts - 129% of its goal.

5. Comings and Goings 

• HAMPDEN-SYDNEY - Courtney Faller named head swimming coach

• KEAN - Therese Doyle Tullis named deputy director of athletics

• MSOE - Renata Schlomann named head swimming and diving coach

6. Pictures Worth Seeing

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