👔 Hello, Monday. Closing out June in style

🗞 What You Need to Know. Working Group talks options. Conferences welcome new members. Tax implications for NIL recipients. Transactions. Using those leftovers.

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🎶 Your Morning Pick Me Up. Heat Wave. Martha and the Vandellas

The NCAA Division III Analysis Working Group met on June 16 and recommended to the Presidents Council that it approve its recommendations to forward identified options to select DIII governance committees and the membership to mitigate the identified core tensions.

The working group developed 36 options to mitigate the six identified tensions. After discussion and review, nine options were put in the parking lot to be addressed in the future, if needed. To increase its capacity to further develop some of the options, coupled with the understanding that existing governance committees were currently exploring some options, the working group is recommending that 12 options be referred to specific committees for further exploration. It also is recommending the Presidents Council refer five options back to the membership for consideration as they address campus and conference processes. The remaining 10 options are divided into three implementation categories: short-term (3-12 months, mediumterm (12-24 months) and long-term (24+ months).”

» Fundamental Change Option Considerations. The consultants introduced a process for the working group to use to explore fundamental changes if directed by the Presidents Council. During future meetings, the working group will develop case studies for the following fundamental change concepts:

» What’s Next. “Over the next five months, the working group will hold a series of videoconferences and an in-person meeting to further evaluate the remaining 12 options with the collected research and data, continue to seek membership feedback, and propose actionable solutions to the councils. The working group will present its findings at the 2027 Division III Issues Forum held during the NCAA Convention in January.”

It’s that time of year as we close the financial books on 2025-26 and say hello to new funds and 2026-27. Twelve institutions are also making new travel plans as they make moves from an old conference to a new grouping of colleges and universities.

2026-27
Alfred State 👋 AMCC ➡ SUNYAC
Azusa Pacific 👋 Division II ➡ SCIAC
Luther 👋 American Rivers Conference ➡ Midwest Conference
Maryville 👋 USA South ➡ Southern Athletic Association
Marywood 👋 Atlantic East ➡ Middle Atlantic Conference
McMurry 👋 SCAC ➡ American Southwest Conference
Neumann 👋 Atlantic East ➡ Middle Atlantic Conference
St. Francis 👋 Division I ➡ Presidents Athletic Conference
Schreiner 👋 SCAC ➡ American Southwest Conference
SUNY Cobleskill 👋 North Atlantic Conference ➡ SUNYAC
SUNY Delhi 👋 North Atlantic Conference ➡ SUNYAC
SUNY New Paltz 👋 SUNYAC ➡ New Jersey Athletic Conference

2027-28
VTSU Castleton 👋 Little East ➡ MASCAC
Concordia (Wis.) 👋 NACC ➡ CCIW
Keuka 👋 Empire 8 ➡ AMCC
Pratt 👋 Atlantic East ➡ CUNYAC
St. Anselm 👋 Division II ➡ NEWMAC
St. Elizabeth 👋 Atlantic East ➡ CUNYAC

“Ever since 2021, college sports have undergone an expensive makeover. Where once college athletes were strictly forbidden to accept compensation in any form, now the money that has always flowed around college sports is making its way to the players as well. In that brief span, Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) has come to mean far more than just the sponsorship deals it once referred to. Regardless of one’s opinion of whether or not this is a good thing for college sports, it’s certainly a good thing for college athletes’ bank accounts.

But with great money comes great tax obligations—and, consequently, great tax complications.”

» State of Play. “For many student-athletes, NIL will represent their first experience earning taxable income. Unfortunately, NIL income often entails many more tax complications than the average 18-year-old’s summer gig.”

» The Bottom Line. “Most straightforward is the federal tax. College athletes earning NIL will usually need to report their NIL income as self-employment income. At the state level, things become far more complicated. Normal state-level income taxes apply, as does the requirement to submit quarterly estimated tax payments. The final layer of tax for college athletes to concern themselves with is localities. Just as with state taxes, players who perform contractually obligated activities in cities or localities can be subject to all relevant local income taxes.”

» The Final Word. “But whether colleges prefer to designate athletes as W-2 employees or independent contractors, they should be scrambling to develop tax support for athletes. Most athletes are not earning millions of dollars on NIL—according to brand advisor and agent Bill Carter, the median NIL deal is worth about $60 (with the median athlete’s total earnings worth just over $1,000).”

» Layoffs. “Johns Hopkins University has laid off about 110 employees in response to federal research spending cuts. The cuts came largely in administrative roles at the private university in Baltimore.”

» Legal. “The NCAA reported spending $63.5 million in legal fees during the fiscal year that ended August 2025, according to its latest tax return, bringing its five-year total spending on outside counsel to $292.6 million.”

» Postgraduate Scholarships. The NCAA has awarded $10,000 to 20 exceptional Division III student-athletes as part of its Postgraduate Scholarship program.

» Transgender Ruling. A New York judge rejected a motion from RPI to dismiss the lawsuit brought by Sadie Schreiner after being barred from competition at a 2025 track meet. The judge said state law banning discrimination based on gender identity supersedes President Trump’s executive order on female sports.

“On a recent weeknight, I opened up my fridge and found an assortment of half-eaten or ignored food.

That included takeout that I didn't find appetizing enough to eat for lunch. A rotisserie chicken with most of the meat picked off. A couple of raw vegetables from the farmers market that were starting to wilt.

"There's nothing to eat," I told myself. Yet even I knew that was ridiculous. There was plenty of food in my fridge. I just didn't feel inspired to cook with it.

So I asked some chefs for guidance. How could I more consistently use leftovers and the other ingredients I tend to overlook?”

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