90% can't fund D-1 athletics

[fighting sue]

I'm sure most of us who read these boards and support a D-1 move probably already know this, but a reality check from time to time can be nice.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20...NCAA_finds.html

[Sioux_Yeah_Yeah]

[star2city]

Two institutions that are still independents after Transition (In Savannah St's case, 5 years after DI move was completed)

Savannah Morning News: Flaws with Savannah State's jump to NCAA Division I

A 10-member committee appointed by Savannah State University Interim President Julius Scott found fundamental flaws with the school's lack of fundraising and preparation before making the jump to the NCAA's highest level of competition.

The committee - The Blue Ribbon Commission on Athletics - did not, however, recommend whether the historically black university should remain in Division I (I-AA in football) or move back to Division II.

The Blue Ribbon Commission on Friday released a report that placed special emphasis on examining the university's decision in 1999 to move its athletics program from Division II to Division I in 2002.

"Further, we found only one document, entitled 'Savannah State University Athletics, Proposal for Moving to Division I, December 3, 1999 (DRAFT)' and attached hereto, that purports to serve as an analysis of events and to produce evidence to support such a move.

"The document bears the name of no author and we could not determine who prepared it. Our searches did not find a document that moved the above mentioned draft to final status, and we found no written documentation through which the several communities, including athletic personnel, were informed of the decision to change divisions."

Longwood (Va) Conference Quest - The DI Transition is Otherwise Complete

Until recently, Longwood men's basketball coach Mike Gillian didn't have certain amenities at his disposal, ones other Division I coaches might take for granted.

Longwood had no spacious wood lockers in its locker room, just metal blue lockers one might find in a middle school. It didn't have a strength and conditioning coach.

The school lacked even the simplest things, like a functional squat rack in its weight room.

Gillian and his coaching staff made do. He queried friends in the weight-training world and came up with workout plans for his players. Assistant coaches moonlighted as strength coaches. Still, that squat rack ?

Let's just say Longwood's players made the most of their meager resources.

There's been progress."

Except in one critical area: Conference membership.

Conference call

Most Lancer coaches expected Longwood would be affiliated with a conference by the time the transitional period was complete.

"We were always under the assumption that we were going to be looking at the Big South," Longwood softball coach Kathy Riley said. "Just because of the dynamics of the travel."

Longwood has applied several times for membership in the Big South, which includes Liberty, VMI and Radford. But the Lancers' timing has been awful.

About the time Longwood made its Division I push, Big South commissioner Kyle Kallander made a similar push to increase the football-playing membership of the conference. In the last two years, the Big South added Presbyterian, which is transitioning from Division II, and Stony Brook, which joined as a football associate member.