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  • Finally The Brookings Register speaks on D1

    Here is the first of a series of three articles."

    http://www.brookingsregister.com/mai...41&page=25

    A step forward
    BY JERROD NIEDERMYER
    Editor's note: This is the first in a three-part series about the dawn of the Division I era at SDSU.

    Division I: It's a label many undoubtedly never thought would be tied to SDSU.
    But times change, and now South Dakota's largest university is little more than a week away from its first-ever Division I contest — a soccer match against the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
    "I think there's some real excitement about it," President Peggy Gordon Miller said. "It's not about whether or not we'll win in the first two or three seasons … but just an excitement about moving on."
    Within the framework of SDSU's history, reclassification will almost certainly stand out as a defining point in time, a notion that Miller downplays a little.
    "I think every single step a university makes is important and this is just going to be another one of those," Miller told the Register earlier this week. "It's a big step for us now, and you hope that you build on that."
    In many ways, SDSU was already a Division I institution — it just didn't have the official credentials, Miller said.
    "I don't think it was so much a move as it was a renaming," she said. "We just needed to go through the reclassification process."

    A little
    background
    SDSU started eyeing a switch from Division II to Division I about 4 1/2 years ago, when administrators heard from Big Sky Athletic Conference officials about why most of that conference's schools had left Division II in the 1970s.
    SDSU later hired a firm to study the feasibility of a move for SDSU, and the report showed that the university could move ahead with the transition process.
    It did, and in 2003, SDSU declared its intent to compete in Division I.
    A large gift earmarked for the university's athletic programs played a role, too, Miller said.
    "I think that was enough for us to say we ought to take this seriously," she said. "It would've been wrong not to make this effort at this time. Too many things lined up for us, and if we were ever going to do it, now is the time."
    The studies and prep work that preceded reclassification have helped SDSU avoid shocking discoveries, Athletic Director Fred Oien said.
    "By having gone through that study, the scrutiny of the budget, all of those kinds of things, we just haven't experienced a whole lot of major surprises," Oien said.
    Earlier this year, SDSU's Division I-AA football team joined the newly formed Great West Conference, and overall, the athletics program is still searching for a conference. A recent announcement that it will consider expansion has moved the Big Sky to the forefront as far as a potential conference is concerned.

    Raising the bar
    There's no doubt that SDSU is perceived differently — particularly by prospective athletes — now that it's a Division I university, Oien says.
    "We're talking to a whole different level of athlete," Oien said. "Kids don't wait as long to respond to us. We've got student-athletes calling us now that never did before. It is totally different than what people expected in the public, I think."
    Actually, recruiting has presented some pleasant surprises, Oien said.
    "I think all of us probably had a little bit of nervousness about the recruiting … that whole bombardment of 'Well, if you can't play for a championship, then they'll never come here.' The student-athletes that have signed with us for the coming years, it's just the opposite," he said. "There's a few that say, 'If I can't compete then I'm not going to come here,' but when you show them who we're going to play against, those athletes say, 'Let's have at it.'"
    SDSU will be eligible to compete for championships in every sport by the 2008-2009 year. That means every incoming recruit this year will have a chance to play for at least one title.

    Tickets and
    facilities
    As advertised, ticket prices for Division I events will show a limited increase in line with the "natural progression."
    Adult single-game ticket prices for football, volleyball, soccer, wrestling and basketball didn't change from last year. The only increases for individual spectators were for children attending soccer, wrestling and volleyball events. Those tickets cost $1 more than they did in the 2003-2004 school year. Since part of student activity fees goes toward athletics, SDSU students will continue to be admitted with their student IDs.
    When it comes to facilities, SDSU already has upgraded seating at Frost Arena and improvements to Coughlin-Alumni Stadium are in the works, according to Oien.
    A new on-campus baseball facility could be fenced this fall. Additionally, a new softball stadium has been designed and "we are about ready to put the finishing touches on that," Oien said.

    More than just
    athletics
    Miller said the reclassification process taught her that being Division I affected people's views of SDSU outside the realm of athletics.
    "It describes us in different terms. It puts us in a different category," Miller said. "Division I is a shorthand that says you're comprehensive … .
    "It does open opportunities to the students and to the faculty, and I think our obligation is to open as many doors for them as possible. Then they decide whether to go through the doors."

  • #2
    Re: Finally The Brookings Register speaks on D1

    Here is another article on finding a conference.

    http://www.brookingsregister.com/mai...46&page=25

    Quest for a conference
    BY JERROD NIEDERMYER
    n SDSU would be 'proud' to be a member of Big Sky

    Editor's note: This is the last in a three-part series about the dawn of the Division I era at SDSU.

    The Big Sky Athletic Conference is considering expansion, and SDSU officials hope that might signify the end of the university's search for a home in Division I.
    But while they're optimistic, no one is banking on that scenario playing out.
    "We have to protect all our interests, too, and not close dialogue with other conferences," Athletic Director Fred Oien told the Register.
    With that said, SDSU would answer if the Big Sky came calling.
    "SDSU has an ongoing relationship with many of the Big Sky schools — mostly from an academic standpoint," Oien said. "They're institutions that have a (strong) track record. We'd be proud to be a member of that group."
    SDSU left Division II and the North Central Conference following the 2003-2004 school year. Last week, the Big Sky decided it would seriously consider expansion. SDSU already has sent a letter of intent to the conference, and has received a letter in response.
    The opportunity at hand could be golden, Oien said."They decided it was time to really look at the institutions that are interested. It's our job to make the best-case scenario against the standards that they put forth," he said. "We'll make our best case about who we are as an institution, how we can fit into their mix. Hopefully that's strong enough to get us in their conference."

    Timeline
    SDSU next will receive a questionnaire, and in late fall, Big Sky presidents will invite some institutions to meet with them in Salt Lake City, Big Sky Commissioner Doug Fullerton said. After that, SDSU will find out whether an evaluation team will travel to Brookings for a site visit. The Big Sky’s decision is expected to come by the end of April 2005.
    An evaluation committee visit to SDSU in spring 2005, would be fast, furious and comprehensive. And it would be welcome.
    The committee would "talk to townspeople, the boosters, the faculty, the student-athletes to make sure indeed that everyone is committed to this move," according to Fullerton. "A move to Division I and to the Big Sky is going to cost. It’s going to cost money, and people need to be committed."
    SDSU’s athletic facilities and travel to and from the university also would get attention during a two-day visit.

    Favorable comparison?
    The Big Sky will consider adding as many as three members, but could just as easily decide not to expand, Fullerton said.
    "We could get through this process and find out that there’s nobody out there that really satisfies the criteria that we want," Fullerton said. "We’re heading into this with a very open mind, and I hope that we do find (what we want)."
    Three other schools expected to bid for membership are North Dakota State, Northern Colorado and Southern Utah. The Big Sky has said prospective members will be evaluated on: academic quality; athletic competitiveness; commitment to gender equity; commitment to student-athlete success; and geography with regard to travel and travel time.
    How does SDSU stack up, when compared to the other three? Pretty well.
    For starters, it's the only one of the four that has all 13 core sports required to join the conference. SDSU also satisfies the gender equity requirement, since it is set to begin an equestrian program.
    SDSU and North Dakota State are farther from most other Big Sky schools than Southern Utah or Northern Colorado, but travel isn't as big of an issue as it's made out to be, Oien said.
    Since schools schedule the most contests allowed in each sport, SDSU would fill slots that were otherwise occupied, creating a trade-off of sorts.
    "It's the difference in costs of adding South Dakota State versus who they had on their schedule before," Oien said. "They had travel costs. It isn't just adding on."
    SDSU doesn’t necessarily need to "win" against the other universities to become a Big Sky member, Oien said.
    "It may not be a race against the other schools as much as it is, 'How does our institution fit with what the desires of the Big Sky are?' he said. "We're not going worry about how we compare to the other institutions."

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    • #3
      Re: Finally The Brookings Register speaks on D1

      The rest of the article

      What needs to
      happen?
      Technically, to get in, SDSU needs only to satisfy the presidents of six of the eight Big Sky universities. The conference would require a two-thirds majority vote to expand. But all of that is just technical, Fullerton told the Register.
      "It’s more than a 6-2," Fullerton said. "It’s got to be a conversation among the presidents where there is an agreement reached and then people are satisfied with the direction we’re going."
      The Big Sky’s member schools stretch geographically from northern Arizona to the West Coast to Montana. That fact alone makes it tough to make any predictions, Fullerton said.
      "I think what’s really critical to the Montana schools may not be as critical to Sacramento and vice versa," he said. "What needs to happen in a nutshell, is that I think we need to look at the institutions very closely and we need to think, one, that they’re going to be the kind of program that are going to make us better — over the long run, they’re going to be able to compete at this level, long term.
      "I think (SDSU is) going to have to satisfy all of the presidents. Some of them are going to have to give and take."
      Fullerton added that he thought distance and travel were important factors from the conference’s perspective.
      "I want to be honest up front. … Conferences struggle to survive for a lot of reasons when they’re too spread out," he said.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Finally The Brookings Register speaks on D1

        This the second of three articles::

        http://www.brookingsregister.com/mai...44&page=25

        A higher level
        BY JERROD NIEDERMYER
        Campus energized a week before first Division I event in SDSU history

        Editor's note: This is the second in a three-part series about the dawn of the Division I era at SDSU.

        There's a little different feeling on campus these days, just a week before SDSU's women's soccer team engages in the first Division I contest in school history.
        "You can tell it in the student-athletes," Athletic Director Fred Oien said as practices for fall sports were getting under way. "I think many of them probably took their off-season workouts more seriously — that's real for them. They want to prove that they're equal to the task."
        The "task," of course, is competing at a higher level than ever.
        That higher level is something soccer player Maggie Eilers says is on her mind.
        Eilers, a sophomore from Brookings who plays right defense for the Jackrabbits, said the team was working on aspects of the game like precision passing and "touch."
        "We're really working on the minor details," Eilers said. "We know that the first few games are going to be really, really tough."
        Eilers is right about that. The Jacks open next Friday against the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and on Sunday they face Marquette. The following Saturday the soccer team squares off against perennial powerhouse Creighton in Omaha, Neb.
        "They've got a really great program," she said of the Bluejays. "It'll be a really good experience."
        Is there any nervousness? Sure. But that's not all.
        "It's more exciting," Eilers said.
        More than anything, the team wants to play as well as it can, she added.

        Energy in the air
        The new kind of energy in the air at SDSU is a direct result of student-athletes preparing for Division I opponents, Oien said.
        "They know who they're going to get to play, and they want to say, 'Hey, not only were we good at Division II, but we're capable of playing at another level,'" Oien said.
        The same could be said for SDSU's coaches and their staffs.
        "Internally we changed — our hearts, our desire, the bar they set and our ability to think at a higher level," head football coach John Stiegelmeier said during SDSU's media event earlier this week. "It's a new energy."
        Head volleyball coach Andrew Palileo, whose team opens its season Sept. 3, at the Seasider Invite in Hawaii, told the media day audience, "If we look at it as a short-term goal it's tough to stay focused. This is a long-term process for us. I'm just happy to be part of the baby steps it takes to get to that next level."
        First-year cross country coach Rod DeHaven said he was excited for the program to officially enter Division I.
        "I think we're in a unique position to do well, cross country being an individual sport," DeHaven said.

        'A great
        opportunity'
        Division I means stronger competition and stronger competition often demands a greater commitment to the sport. But that's not necessarily the case for SDSU, soccer player Elise Bray said.
        Coach Lang Wedemeyer already trains the team to be the best possible, regardless of competition level, Bray said.
        For years now, talk of competing in Division I has swirled around at SDSU, so the fact that the time to play has finally arrived is welcome, Bray said.
        "The idea's been held out there so long we're just to the point, we're like, 'Just let us play,'" she said.
        Eilers' views on SDSU's inaugural Division I season are more than likely shared by the majority of Jackrabbit athletes.
        "We're viewing it as a great opportunity for us to prove ourselves in D-I," she said.

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        • #5
          Re: Finally The Brookings Register speaks on D1

          Thanks for those posts.

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