G-MAC All-Sports and Conference Business Thread

[Uindy18]

No knowledge of anything with this situation, but there has been a trend of late of successful DII HCs leaving to be lead assistants at D1s. Charleston's HC left for an AC job at Youngstown State for example. Could be what is happening here.

[Bballfan]

No, but I love that the school is giving him his props on his way out.

After being there 24 years they should! He ran a nice program. Must be something good to give up all that after all this time there.

[BlueBlood]

No, but I love that the school is giving him his props on his way out.

[Uindy18]

Very interesting move out of Cedarville. Any idea where he is headed?

https://yellowjackets.cedarville.edu...challenge.aspx

[Bballfan]

My hope as an alumni is to adopt the North Dakota State approach and remain a big fish in a small pond. Ideally, that pond being the GMAC as well for the travel savings mostly.

Don't disagree. But there isn't a lot of D2 schools left in Indiana. Only 2, which is crazy when Ohio and Michigan have like around 10 each. For whatever reason, in Indiana you are D1, D3, or NAIA.

Hard to see Indianapolis supporting 3 D1 schools though, with IU south of town too. I think they might the right decision to stay D2.

Would gladly swap KWC for Indy. Indy would instantly become the strongest GMAC school, and it would be a great upgrade for the conference. Honestly KWC should probably drop down to NAIA, but that would be difficult for them to make that move given their hoops history. But for the college to survive, they might have to.

[Uindy18]

According to Wikipedia, some of the smallest D2 schools are Davis and Elkins, Wheeling, and KWC. But they all have at least 600 or more students. So Rio has some boosting to do.

With KWC cutting some sports though (and sports not near as expensive as some others), they could soon be the smallest D2 school in the nation. They have been around since 1850, but who knows what the future holds for them.

Few more additional thoughts:

1. One outlying factor with Rio is that they do have the capabilites of a 1 big time donor, as it is the birthplace of Bob Evans. If someone in the money around there got a notion, they could be funding an expansion of athletics.
2. If I was KWC, I would have to be at least kicking the tires on a move back to the GLVC. The trips over to McKendree and Quincy may be preferrable to going to Walsh/Malone or Northwood/Hillsdale.
3. This is just conjecture on my part, but I don't think there is a consensus within Uindy to committ the resources to a D1 move. They were strongly rumored to be connected to the OVC in the last big round of moves, but there was some on the board of trustees who were not sold on devoting the additional resources then (based on rumors I heard from those on campus that I knew from my time there). My hope as an alumni is to adopt the North Dakota State approach and remain a big fish in a small pond. Ideally, that pond being the GMAC as well for the travel savings mostly.

[Bballfan]

According to Wikipedia, some of the smallest D2 schools are Davis and Elkins, Wheeling, and KWC. But they all have at least 600 or more students. So Rio has some boosting to do.

With KWC cutting some sports though (and sports not near as expensive as some others), they could soon be the smallest D2 school in the nation. They have been around since 1850, but who knows what the future holds for them.

[BlueBlood]

I looked Rio up on the Dept of Education website. They have 462 full time students. 316 of them are student athletes. No wonder they want to add football.

[tuffeagle]

Rio is a good sports school. Had not heard they were adding football. Crazy. I could see them joining the GMAC as some of their former NAIA opponents are in it. Will they make the DII jump?

Indiana Wesleyan would be a good add. Similar to adding Thomas More I would say in terms of quality teams.

UIndy (if staying DII) would be the best add. They are on an island in the GLVC, sort of like Trevecca was in the GMAC. I could see the GLIAC wanting to poach them too. They were second in the Learfield Cup. Doesn't get much better than that.

[Uindy18]

I've long been intrigued by a few of the schools that are in the Crossroads League (NAIA). Specifically, Indiana Wesleyan, Marian and Taylor. They would nicely fill in some of the real estate that exists North of KWC, West of UF/Cedarville/TMU and South of Hillsdale. Plus, they are institutions that appear to fit the G-MAC profile. Their current conference only has 10 schools, many of which would appear to be just as vulnerable as the ones you outlined. Maybe it's time to kick the tires.

I have been on this side of GMAC expansion for a while. My GMAC expansion shortlist would be:

1. Uindy - No-Brainer
2. Marian - natural crosstown rival and travel partner with Uindy
3. IWU/Taylor - another natural partnership, and they are unlikely to break apart wherever they end up, much mike Walsh and Malone. IWU is a NAIA powerhouse as well in most sports.
4. Saint Francis (FW) - another strong football school in the Indiana/Ohio footprint

Wild Card: Rio Grande - They are adding football (just hired a coach), and are an NAIA power in most sports. Could be a Darkhorse candidate for either GMAC or MEC expansion.

[Bballfan]

There are less than 800 athletes in the whole school! These are not expensive sports like some others are. I would think football (ala Malone) would get cut first.

The GMAC needs to go after UIndy and Gannon. I don't have a lot of confidence in Lake Erie surviving long term, nor do I Ohio Dominican if the Catholic Church dumps them like what happened to Notre Dame College. The Mountain East has Wheeling and Davis and Elkins who are not healthy schools, poach Gannon!

[BlueBlood]

Update: per Dept of Education website - KWC had 97 track and field athletes and 20 bowling athletes.

[BlueBlood]

Just realized that KWC has eliminated M/W Cross Country, M/W Bowling, and M/W Track & Field. I'm not sure how many student athletes that affects, but this sure seems to go against the recent trend of small institutions adding sports to help drive enrollment. It's also interesting, because none of these sports are ones where the teams need to travel a lot for G-MAC play. They are all sports that you can attend local meets/events and then show up at the G-MAC championships only.

[Bballfan]

I've long been intrigued by a few of the schools that are in the Crossroads League (NAIA). Specifically, Indiana Wesleyan, Marian and Taylor. They would nicely fill in some of the real estate that exists North of KWC, West of UF/Cedarville/TMU and South of Hillsdale. Plus, they are institutions that appear to fit the G-MAC profile. Their current conference only has 10 schools, many of which would appear to be just as vulnerable as the ones you outlined. Maybe it's time to kick the tires.

Absolutely agree with you. Those three schools are comparable, or even better, than Thomas More which has been a great fit. For whatever reason, there is very little D2 presence in Indiana. Outside of Purdue Northwest or Indianapolis, there just isn't. Southern Indiana was the last school that was D2. And I know Indianapolis has debated about going D1 (Can Indy support that many D1 schools?). A couple of these schools would be perfect to get and fit in the GMAC day one.

[BlueBlood]

An article in the Chronicle of Higher Education this week just on how dire Lake Erie College's situation is. It is behind a paywall so I won't link it, but needless to say anybody that thinks this school is going to survive in the long-term is fooling themselves. They are in significant debt and pretty much used all the assets they have as collateral. Loan repayments will start again in the spring of 2025 and I would say at that point the college is going to close, if not sooner. They are only delaying the inevitable. Just a reality of the situation. Smoke and mirrors only works so long.

Next I would look at Ohio Dominican. If the Catholic Church drops their support, then I don't see them staying open.

Really tough times for private colleges now, and it is going to get worse before it gets better. Hopefully the GMAC has some contingency plans, especially when it comes to football.

I've long been intrigued by a few of the schools that are in the Crossroads League (NAIA). Specifically, Indiana Wesleyan, Marian and Taylor. They would nicely fill in some of the real estate that exists North of KWC, West of UF/Cedarville/TMU and South of Hillsdale. Plus, they are institutions that appear to fit the G-MAC profile. Their current conference only has 10 schools, many of which would appear to be just as vulnerable as the ones you outlined. Maybe it's time to kick the tires.