🎃 Heading to Halloween. NCAA Hit With Antitrust Suit Over Ban on D-III Athletic Scholarships. How NCAA Leadership Programs Shaped Donovan Wilson. Split Decision Atop Football Polls. Football Plays of the Weekend.

📆 What’s Happening Today. The Division III Presidents Council begins a two-day meeting in Indianapolis. The DIII Presidents Advisory Group also meets today.

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“A putative class action lawsuit against the NCAA challenges the association’s prohibition on athletic scholarships at the Division III level, seeking to recover damages for athletes who have competed under the ban as well as an injunction barring its enforcement.

In a complaint filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, a current D-III football player, former men’s basketball player and former dual-sport athlete seek to represent a class potentially comprising hundreds of thousands of athletes who have competed in the NCAA’s lowest division since Oct. 21, 2022.

“The NCAA has engaged in an ongoing conspiracy to fix the price of Division III athletic labor at zero by prohibiting every member of Division III, the NCAA’s largest division at more than 400 schools, from offering a single penny of athletic scholarship,” the complaint states.”

» Court Awareness. “Their lawsuit takes aim at NCAA Division III Bylaw 15.01.3, which states that a member institution “shall not award financial aid to any student on the basis of athletics leadership, ability, participation or performance.” The plaintiffs contend that, through this provision, “The entire NCAA membership prohibits more than 400 members of Division III, competitors in every meaningful sense, from offering one of the most common discounts on an American college education—the athletic scholarship.”

» Between The Lines. “The named plaintiffs are Jackson Hale, a senior defensive back at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington; Connor Printz, who played basketball at Claremont McKenna College in California from 2020 to 2024; and Chris Jennings, who swam and played lacrosse at the University of Lynchburg in Virginia from 2019 to 2023.”

» Reality Check. “The lawsuit has a notable precedent. Thirteen years ago, a federal court in Indiana dismissed the D-III scholarship-ban claims in Rock v. NCAA, an antitrust suit that challenged other NCAA restrictions on athletic financial aid. That suit was litigated by attorney Steve Berman, who would later serve as class co-counsel in House v. NCAA.”

» Be Smart. “If successful, the lawsuit could expose the NCAA to billions of dollars in damages, depending on the size of the class certified, the damages period and the court’s assessment of any antitrust injury. Approximately 210,000 athletes compete in D-III each year, according to the NCAA, and the plaintiffs are seeking treble damages under Section 4 of the Clayton Antitrust Act.”

“Donovan Wilson’s leadership is rooted in loss and legacy.

His mother, Dwanna, who died of ovarian cancer during his senior year of high school, was his “best friend” and a radiant connector whose work ethic and ability to be a light for others still guide him. In every space he enters, from the University of Puget Sound to the NCAA to the University of North Texas, Wilson believes his purpose is carrying her light forward — serving people, making them feel seen and heard, and ensuring that impact, not titles, defines his success.”

» Driving The News. “In addition to the lessons he carries from his mother, Wilson has used experiences in NCAA leadership development programs to make an impact in college athletics. He was part of the student-athlete leadership training program while playing basketball and majoring in business administration and African American studies at Puget Sound. He participated in the Emerging Leaders Seminar while interning in the athletics department at Colorado, and he served as an NCAA postgraduate intern.”

» Quotable. “There were a lot of Black kids on campus who were football or basketball players, but I noticed that a lot of us weren’t really well connected,” Wilson said. “So another guy who was on the football team and I took it upon ourselves to create a group for student-athletes of color and an affinity group, so I got more involved in the campus community and the surrounding Tacoma community. That’s where I started to align my passion of creating spaces for people that look like me, have similar backgrounds or just marginalized people in general.”

Two different DIII football polls … two different No. 1 teams.

Wheaton (Ill.) and Wisconsin-Platteville are both considered the top two teams in DIII football, according to the D3football and D3FBHuddle surveys, but who is No. 1 and who is No. 2 differs.

The Thunder tops the D3football poll with 20 first-place ballots, while the Pioneers picked up four firsts. UWP was slotted in the top spot in the D3FBHuddle list by three points over Wheaton. Platteville had one fewer first than the Thunder (12-11).

» D3football Top 10. 1-Wheaton (7-0), 2-UW-Platteville (7-0), 3-Saint John’s (7-0), 4-North Central (6-1), 5-UW-Whitewater (7-0), 6-Hardin-Simmons (6-0), 7-Endicott (7-0), 8-Washington U. (7-0), 9-Hope (7-0), 10-Christopher Newport (7-0).

» D3FBHuddle Top 10. 1-UW-Platteville (7-0), 2-Wheaton (7-0), 3-UW-Whitewater (7-0), 4-Saint John’s (4-0), 5-North Central (6-1), 6-Hardin-Simmons (6-0), 7-Endicott (7-0), 8-Washington U. (7-0), 9-Hope (7-0), 10-Cortland (7-0).

» Facilities. “Manhattanville University held a ceremonial groundbreaking Oct. 22 for a new multi-sport field. The plans call for the natural grass baseball field to be converted to a synthetic turf field, including a permanent pitcher’s mound, warning track and infield specialty turf treatments, shock pad, and subsurface drainage system. Associated site improvements include new field lighting, spectator seating and grandstand bleachers with a press box, recessed dugouts, two bullpens, two batting cages, fencing and gates.”

» Finances. “Ithaca College administrators announced at the Oct. 20 State of the College meeting that the ongoing budget deficit has jumped from a projected $4 million by the end of fiscal year 2027 to $8 million. Marc Israel, associate vice president for business and finance and interim chief financial officer, said the college missed the Fall 2026 enrollment target for new and returning undergraduate students by over 100 students.”

» More Finances. Kenyon College is expecting “roughly a $15 million operating deficit” this year. The College will find a short-term solution through fundraising efforts. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean there is financial stability in the long term.

» Endowment. “The Illinois Institute of Technology plans to borrow as much as $200 million from its endowment through fiscal 2028 as it struggles with a decline in international students. Its plan prompted S&P Global Ratings to slash the university’s credit rating deeper into junk, to BB from BB+, with a negative outlook. The endowment’s market value was projected at $300 million as of fiscal 2026.”

» Fundraising. Northwestern-St. Paul raised nearly $98,000 from 645 donors during its Giving Day. Saint Mary’s (Minn.) surpassed $210,000 in gifts from over 1,800 donors during its Cardinal Challenge.

» Golf (W). Keene State captured the Little East Conference championship by a commanding 35 shots, overcoming a one-shot deficit entering the final round. Eastern Connecticut’s Caroline Goderre carded a course-record two-under 69 to post a 36-hole total of 144 (+2) to take medalist honors.

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