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» 🥎 Thursday. Let’s Play Some Softball. Thanks for your support of D3Playbook. We could not do this without you.

TOP STORY
1. With Payments to College Athletes, Another Fight Looms for Women

by Billy Witz, New York Times

“After decades of striving, the growing popularity of women’s basketball — including a lucrative new television deal — and recent gains in other sports have put women on closer to equal footing with men in college athletics.

Yet that progress could be stymied by a proposed $2.8 billion settlement announced last week that would allow the first revenue-sharing plan for college athletes. The deal would resolve a class-action antitrust lawsuit between athletes and the N.C.A.A., along with its major conferences.

Perhaps the biggest question about this landmark moment is a familiar one: Will the agreement be fair for women?”

» Why It Matters. “Administrators at two universities in major conferences said they wondered if Judge Claudia A. Wilken, the federal court judge overseeing the class-action lawsuit, might scuttle the settlement over concerns that it violated Title IX. The 1972 law, and lawsuits brought by athletes to ensure its enforcement, have played a role in many of the advances in women’s college sports, which have accelerated lately at a breakneck pace.”

» Reality Check. “Under the proposed deal, the back pay would largely go to football and men’s basketball players because their games have generated most of the college sports revenue since 2016, according to people familiar with the agreement. The future payments would be determined by individual schools, according to an N.C.A.A. official speaking on background because he was not authorized to discuss the details publicly.”

» The Bottom Line. “College athletic departments do not have a stellar record of complying with Title IX, which requires universities to provide equal opportunity, financial aid and treatment for women and men. A 2019 survey by the nonprofit Women’s Sports Foundation found that 80 to 90 percent of athletic programs did not comply with Title IX.”

» Continue Reading

NEWS
2. Who Does Your College Think Its Peers Are?

by Jacquelyn Elias, Chronicle of Higher Education

“Each year, universities choose their peer institutions when reporting their data to the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, or Ipeds. In return, they receive a customized report that compares their performance to that of their selected peers on various measures, like enrollment, graduation rates, and average staff salaries.

The Chronicle compiled the peer institutions for nearly 1,500 institutions from the 2022-23 year. Explore to see whom your college considers to be its peers — and who thinks your college is its peer.”

» Check it Out

SOFTBALL

3. Championship Preview

The Division III softball championship begins today and runs through June 5 in Marshall, Texas - home of East Texas Baptist.

#1 seed Linfield (48-2) vs. #8 Tufts (38-8), noon ET

Linfield: Titles (2007-11). AVG: Brynn Nelson (496). HR: Nelson, Claire Seats (14). RBI: Cydney Hess (70). SB: Tiani Wayton (19). W: Tayah Kelley (30-2). SO: Kelley (271). ERA: Kelley (1.26).

Tufts: Titles (2013-14-15). AVG: Kaitlyn Perucci (442). HR: Lauryn Horita (10). RBI: Perucci (45). SB: Michelle Adelman (15). W: Sophia DiCocco (17-4). SO: Sky Johnson (108). ERA: DiCocco (0.92).

#4 UW-Oshkosh (44-5) vs. #5 Virginia Wesleyan (40-8), 2:30 ET

UW-Oshkosh. AVG: Hannah Ritter (436). HR: Sophie Wery (11). RBI: Wery (47). SB: Sydney Rau (11). W: Sydney Nemetz (19-3). SO: Nemetz (157). ERA: Brianna Bougie (0.71).

Virginia Wesleyan: Titles (3). AVG: Mackenzie Myers (398). HR: Alison Pollack (4). RBI: Olivia Knight (39). SB: Julia Piotrowski (37). W: Emma Adams (24-2). SO: Adams (97). ERA: Adams (1.31).

#2 East Texas Baptist (39-2) vs. #7 Rowan (39-8), 5:00 ET

ETBU: Titles (2010). AVG: Haylie Stum (481). HR: Tristan Maddox (15). RBI: Maddox (55). SB: Courtney White (34). W: Hannah Benavides (16-0). SO: Avery Holland (54). ERA:Benavides (1.33).

Rowan. AVG: Payton MacNair (404). HR: Cat Thomas (3). RBI: MacNair (45). SB: Mckenzie Melvin (18). W: Emily McCutcheon (20-1). SO: Rylee Lutz (127). ERA: McCutcheon (0.91).

#3 Case Western Reserve (40-7) vs. #6 Belhaven (42-7), 7:30 ET

CWRU. AVG: Karen Potts (435). HR: KaiLi Gross (9). RBI: Gross (62). SB: Potts, Stevie Rieger (26). W: Lexi Miskey (26-4). SO: Miskey (235). ERA: Miskey (2.00).

Belhaven. AVG: Anna Caime (415). HR: Allie Gordon (14). RBI: Gordon (59). SB: Madi Miller (21). W: Kennedy Carruth (26-4). SO: Carruth (238). ERA: Carruth (1.18).

» Championship Central

BASEBALL
4. All-America Teams

“Eric Colaco, a two-time NCAC Player of the Year earned 2024 D3baseball.com Player of the Year honors. He led the country in hits, runs, doubles and was top five in total bases, steals and triples. Include a high ranking in RBIs, you have a player that played an elite game that kept his team near the top of the rankings all year long. The 2024 D3baseball.com Pitcher of the Year is Jackson Teer. Teer had steller stats, ending the year in the top five in ERA, strikeouts and WHIP. Nathan Stafford had a dominating debut campaign and is the 2024 D3baseball.com Rookie of the Year. His rookie season was so dominating that he not only took home NEWMAC Rookie of the year honors but was tabbed the NEWMAC Player of the Year as well.”

First Team
C-Cole Palmeri, Colby
1B-Sam Angelo, Montclair State
2B-Davie Morgan, North Carolina Wesleyan
SS-Trent Youngblood, Transylvania
3B-Freddy Forgione, SUNY Maritime
OF-Jacob Charon, Lawrence
OF-Eric Colaco, Denison
OF-Matt Scolan, UW-Whitewater
DH-Andrew Mazzone, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
UTL-Conor Maryniak, Misericordia

SP-Sayers Collins, East Texas Baptist
SP-Michael Hilker Jr., UW-Whitewater
SP-Jackson Teer, Trinity (Texas)
SP-Dylan Weber, Christopher Newport
RP-Josh Berzonski, Penn State Harrisburg

Pitcher of the Year: Jackson Teer, Trinity (Texas)
Player of the Year: Eric Colaco, Denison
Rookie of the Year: Nathan Stafford, Coast Guard

» Complete Teams

NEWS
5. Lightning Round

» 🥍 Lacrosse (W). Middlebury junior Hope Shue was named the DIII Player of the Year as the IWLCA handed out its DIII positional awards. She also received the Attacker of the Year award. William Smith’s Maddie Montgomery (Midfield), Salisbury’s Natalie Held (Defender) and York’s Bella Garabo (Goal) were also honored.

» 🎽 Track and Field. Sam Blaskowski of UW-La Crosse, Joseph White of Carthage, Emma Kelley of Washington U., and Alexis Boykin of MIT were recognized as the outstanding performers of the DIII Outdoor Track and Field championship.

» 🤼‍♀️ Wrestling (W). The NWCA announced its sites and dates for the 2025 NCWWC regionals.

» 🏈 Football. “Within the NCAA’s government structure, officials are seriously considering legislative changes to permit schools to display corporate logos on their football fields. While more debate is expected next month within the NCAA playing rules oversight committee, administrators expect a resolution that opens the door for on-field sponsorships — and, perhaps eventually, corporate patches on player jerseys.”

TRANSACTIONS
6. Comings and Goings

• BETHANY LUTHERAN - Dan Nessler stepped down as head softball coach

• GREENSBORO - Jerry Fisk named director of athletics

• HEIDELBERG - Daniel Simpson named head cross country coach

• ILLINOIS TECH - Kirk Lamitie named assistant director of athletics and will step down as head women’s lacrosse coach

• KALAMAZOO - Lumumba Shabazz stepped down as head men’s soccer coach

• MISSISSIPPI U. for WOMEN - Breylee Linder named head volleyball coach

• SOUTHERN ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION - John St. Clair named coordinator of men’s basketball officials

• THIEL - Jaelyn Royal named assistant women’s basketball coach

• TUFTS - Joel Williams stepped down as head cross country/track and field coach

• WABASH - Liam Thompson named assistant men’s basketball coach

• WASHINGTON U. - Patrick McGrail named assistant men’s basketball coach

• WHITMAN - Chris Duncan named head women’s lacrosse coach

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