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JUNE 6, 2025 | composed by STEVE ULRICH

What administrators, coaches, parents and fans are reading. #whyD3
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🪅  It’s FRIDAY!

🏀 Hoop. There It Is. Did you know that the respective GM’s of the teams competing in the NBA Finals - the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers - are both DIII grads? #WhyD3 and #d3hoops

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TOP STORY
1. Shake Down the Thunder

Emma Lee hit the biggest home run of her collegiate career - a three-run blast in the top of the sixth - to power Trine to a 3-1 victory over Virginia Wesleyan for the Thunder’s second NCAA DIII softball championship in three seasons.

Alexis Michon allowed just two hits and an unearned run in the first in recording her 26th win of the season. The senior struck out eight and allowed a pair of free passes. She was named the tournament’s most outstanding player.

» What They’re Saying. ""It was a great game," said Trine head coach Donnie Danklefsen, "We knew it was going to be a battle and it was everything we expected. I kept thinking we haven't been shutout all year and eventually someone is going to get one on us. But Space [Lee] came through for us!"

» Worth Noting. It was the 46th triumph of the season for the Thunder, tying a program record for wins in a single campaign.

» Recap, Box Score

CONFERENCES
2. SUNYAC Adds Alfred State, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Delhi As Full Members

“The State University of New York Athletic Conference will expand to a dozen full-time members with the addition of three schools in 2026-27, while welcoming four new associates in two different sports for the upcoming year.

The announcement was made on Thursday, June 5, by Commissioner Tom DiCamillo following unanimous approval by the SUNYAC Presidents Council during the conference's annual meeting on June 4 in Syracuse, N.Y.

Alfred State, SUNY Cobleskill and SUNY Delhi will join the SUNYAC as full-member institutions beginning in the fall of 2026. All three institutions are associate members in track and field with Cobleskill and Delhi participating as associates in cross country this coming fall for the first time.”

» Coming Attractions. “Also beginning this fall, Penn State Altoona, Penn State Behrend and Pitt-Bradford will become associate members of the conference in the sports of men's and women's swimming & diving, while Elmira has been accepted as the ninth SUNYAC men's wrestling program in the league.”

» What They’re Saying. "This addition of Alfred State, SUNY Cobleskill and SUNY Delhi as full member institutions will register as a pivotal moment in the history of the SUNYAC," DiCamillo said. "In the proverbial shifting sands of today's world of intercollegiate athletics, the SUNYAC is stable, powerful and has positioned itself as an NCAA Division III leader for the foreseeable future."

» Of Note. “This marks the sixth round of SUNYAC expansion since October 2023 and sets the conference membership at 12 full members and 13 associates beginning with the 2026-27 campaign.”

» Read More

ALUMNI
3. Bringing DIII Thunder to OKC

by John Hollinger, The Athletic

“The bye-bye game was only six years ago.

That famous moment in Portland Trail Blazers lore, with Damian Lillard hitting a series-ending bomb over Paul George, also doubled as the nadir for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Eliminated from the 2019 NBA playoffs in five games for a third straight first-round exit, with an aging team and bloated salary cap that also paid a whopping $61.6 million in luxury tax while playing in the nation’s 47th-largest TV market, the Thunder appeared to be at an impasse.

It seemed like Lillard was waving bye-bye to an entire era in Oklahoma City, but as it turns out, Lillard was also waving hello to a dramatic rebirth, one that liberated Thunder team president Sam Presti — now in his 19th season at the helm — to paint his Mona Lisa. If the Thunder, as many expect, prevail in the NBA Finals over the Indiana Pacers, this season will serve as both the first-line item on Presti’s Hall of Fame resume and the thing that ensures his eventual induction.”

» #WhyD3. Presti is a 2000 graduate of Emerson College and played basketball for two seasons at Virginia Wesleyan before transferring to play for the Lions. “I had a separate education. A pivotal part of my college experience was basketball.”

» D3 Connections. The organization’s Chief of Staff is Glenn Wong, who played basketball at Amherst. The Vice Presidents of Basketball Operations are Rob Hennigan, who graduated as Emerson’s all-time leading basketball scorer, and Wynn Sullivan, who played soccer and golf at Pomona-Pitzer. Thunder assistant coach Connor Johnson also played hoops at Amherst, while VP of Experience and System Design, Ann Smith, is a Bowdoin grad.

» Why It Matters. “What happened since April 2019 has been one of the fastest and most complete rebuilds in NBA history. Starting from a spot where they seemed completely screwed, the Thunder took only half a decade to post the Western Conference’s best record with the league’s youngest team. One year later, they are massive favorites to claim the franchise’s first title in Oklahoma and set up to be favorites again and again and again for years into the future.”

» Keep Reading

ALUMNI
4. Time in DIII Lays Foundation For Indiana’s Run at NBA Title

by Tyler Tachman, Des Moines Register

“One of the front office masterminds of the Indiana Pacers' rise to the 2025 NBA Finals used to work in dorms as a hall director at Simpson College, supervising and assisting students who lived there.

That was just one of Chad Buchanan's responsibilities at the institution of higher education located in Indianola, Iowa. Assistant men’s basketball coach was another. So was teaching, serving as an advisor for freshmen student-athletes and coaching men's golf.

Buchanan was a jack-of-all-trades out of necessity as he tried to get his basketball coaching career off the ground. The assistant coaching position at Simpson offered around $6,000 per year, nowhere near a livable wage, so Buchanan took on a variety of roles to pad his income.

Now, Buchanan is the general manager of a franchise in the NBA Finals.”

» Court Awareness. “One of the figures pulling the strings for the Pacers’ rise to prominence comes from central Iowa. He grew up in West Des Moines, attended Valley High School, played baseball and basketball at Simpson College and got his start in the coaching industry under Dr. Tom Davis at the University of Iowa. Buchanan’s time in Iowa helped lay the foundation for where he is today.”

» Quotable. “Coach Davis was really good to me in the sense that he gave me exposure to a lot of different aspects of the program,” Buchanan said. “He didn’t narrow my exposure to what coaching and that part of basketball is about, which really broadened my horizon and understanding of how things fit together.”

» Why It Matters. “After Simpson, Buchanan worked for the Kansas City Knights of the American Basketball Association and then reunited with Davis at Drake, but his career hit a pivot point. He was offered a job with the Portland Trail Blazers in a scouting role. Buchanan found a home in the NBA and in 2017 was hired as the Pacers’ general manager. Buchanan has been a part of the defining moves that engineered the Pacers’ 2025 Eastern Conference Championship team, including trading for former Iowa State star Tyrese Haliburton.”

» Read More

NEWS YOU CAN USE
5. Lightning Round ⚡️ 

» Congress. “A House Commerce subcommittee is holding a legislative hearing on college sports next Thursday at 10 a.m. This legislative hearing suggests the introduction of a new House bill. It will be the 13th Congressional hearing on college sports since the NCAA lobbying effort began in 2019.”

» Courts. “Judge Claudia Wilken this week announced she would grant attorneys in the $2.8 billion House v. NCAA settlement an extension, moving the former June 6 deadline to June 27.”

TRANSACTIONS
6. Comings and Goings 

AUGUSTANA - Ramsey Vens named head swimming and diving coach
EDGEWOOD - Nick Pasquarello named director of athletics
MARIAN - Katherine Benes named assistant women’s basketball coach
ROANOKE - Chip Schaffner named assistant baseball coach
SPRINGFIELD - Sam Garcia named head softball coach
WILLIAM SMITH - Seraphine Hamilton named assistant basketball coach

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