DECEMBER 18, 2024 | written by STEVE ULRICH

News and notes on the largest and best Division in the NCAA. #whyD3
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🐫 Happy Hump Day, DIII

Headlines
💰️ Lawyers For Plaintiffs in NCAA Revenue-Sharing Settlement Are Seeking $525 Million in Legal Fees
🏑  Panthers Place Three on All-America Team
⚽️  Donovan, Sullivan Honored As National Players of Year
🏒  Knights, Mammoths Top NPI Ranking

🗓️ What’s Happening This Week. The DIII Membership Committee meets virtually on Thursday.

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TOP STORY
1. Lawyers For Plaintiffs in NCAA Revenue-Sharing Settlement Are Seeking $525 Million in Legal Fees

by Steve Berkowitz, USA Today

“Lawyers for the plaintiffs in a proposed multi-billion-dollar settlement of three athlete-compensation antitrust cases against the NCAA and the Power Five conferences are asking a federal judge to award them nearly $525 million in attorneys’ fees and costs, according to filings they made Tuesday.

In addition, as permitted by the proposed agreement, the plaintiffs' lawyers also asked for the right to apply annually to a judge or special master for additional amounts that, according to the filings, could total roughly another $250 million.

Nearly all of the money comprising both amounts would be set to be paid over a 10-year period. The plaintiffs have been led primarily by Steve Berman of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP and Jeff Kessler of Winston & Strawn LLP.”

» Between The Lines. “The additional $250 million for which the plaintiffs' attorneys are seeking to the right to apply comes from a provision in the settlement agreement that would allow them to seek 0.75% to 1.25% of the annual total amount spent by Division I schools on NIL agreements with athletes, and up to certain limits, new scholarships and academic achievement awards that were created when NCAA restrictions on education-related benefits for athletes were overturned by the Supreme Court in the Alston case in June 2021.”

» The Key Stat. “While the damages pool under the proposed settlement is $2.8 billion, lawyers for the plaintiffs said in their filings Tuesday that "expert and lay evidence indicates (the settlement) is likely (to) increase benefits to college athletes by $20 billion or more" over the next 10 years. The filings described this as "one of the largest recoveries in antitrust history.””

» Why It Matters. “In furthering their case for the fees and costs award, the plaintiffs' lawyers called this a "bet-the-company" case resulting in a "monumental settlement" that "revolutionizes college sports" and will "provide college athletes with the opportunity to earn the same percentage of revenues as professional athletes in the NFL and NBA."

» Continue Reading

FIELD HOCKEY
2. Panthers Place Three on All-America Team

National champion Middlebury placed three members on the first team as the NFHCA announced its 2024 Division III All-America team

First Team

GK-Belle Fields, York PA
D-Brooke Billheimer, Christopher Newport
D-Liz Falterer, Johns Hopkins
D-Berit Sharrow, Babson
M-Riley Buschert, York PA
M-Hanna Corrigan, Cortland
M-Anna Cote, Bates
M-Andrea DelGuidice, Tufts
M-Amy Griffin, Middlebury
M-Katherine Lantzy, Middlebury
M-Allie Palumbo, Rowan
M-Caroline Segal, Middlebury
M-Farren Winter, Shenandoah
F-Kiki Higgins, Williams
F-Marli McDorman, Salisbury
F-Kylie Rosenquist, Tufts

» Player of the Year. The 2024 NFHCA Player of the Year award winner will be announced on Thursday.

» Complete Team

SOCCER
3. Donovan, Sullivan Honored As National Players of Year

Wisconsin-Eau Claire senior Nathan Donovan and Johns Hopkins senior Katie Sullivan were recognized as the United Soccer Coaches Division III National Players of the Year.

Donovan becomes the first player in Blugolds men's soccer history to receive national player of the year honors. The two-time All-American led all of NCAA men's college soccer — regardless of Division — in scoring with 26 goals this fall. He also had a team-high 15 assists for a total of 67 points.

Sullivan earned All-America honors four times, including three first-team selections, in her career. The 2024 Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Year, she led Hopkins in goals (19), assists (8) and points (46).

ICE HOCKEY
4. Knights, Mammoths Top NPI Ranking 

While the data is yet to become available from the NCAA, the USCHO.com website provides NPI data through the first semester of hockey action. While Hobart and Middlebury top the group’s poll, it’s Geneseo and Amherst that sit atop the NPI.

» NPI (M). 1-Geneseo (10-0-1) 62.729; 2-Hobart (10-0) 62.155; 3-St. Norbert (12-1) 61.768; 4-Utica (9-2-1) 60.546; 5-Trine (12-1-1) 59.898; 6-Aurora (10-2) 59,890; 7-Curry (9-3) 58.965; 8-Trinity (6-1-1) 58.199; 9-Adrian (9-3) 57.280; 10-U. of New England (7-4-1) 56.409 | Complete Listing

» NPI (W). 1-Amherst (7-0) 65.712; 2-Middlebury (8-0) 64.845; 3-Bowdoin (8-0) 63.244; 4-Oswego (7-0-1) 61.722; 5-Colby (5-2) 59.941; 6-Cortland (7-2-1) 59.816; 7-Plattsburgh (6-2-1) 58.897; 8-Arcadia (10-1-1) 58.664l 9-UW-Eau Claire (10-3) 58.645; 10-Endicott (9-3) 58.596 | Complete Listing

AROUND THE NATION
5. Lightning Round ⚡️ 

🗞️ Basketball. Rachel Okoye scored 22 points as Mary Hardin-Baylor (8-2) overcame a 14-point halftime deficit to hand No. 2 Wartburg (8-1) its first loss of the season, 67-64.

🏈 Football. Bethel DB Matt Jung, the 2024 MIAC Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-American, has entered the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining.

🎽 Track and Field. Puget Sounds’s Alexander Rhodes and St. Norbert’s Eden Maranell were named the USTFCCCA DIII National Athletes of the Week.

TRANSACTIONS
6. Comings and Goings

• ENDICOTT - Dejan Stankovic named head tennis coach

• GRINNELL - Kara Lowe named assistant athletic director for facilities, equipment and events

• MAINE MARITIME - Bill Mottola named director of athletics

• SAINT JOHN’S - Tudor Flintham named head soccer coach

1 THING
7. Tough Day in D.C.

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