The NCAA News Digest

December 20, 1999

• PARTICIPATION
• RESEARCH -- Number of participating student-athletes up by 5,000
• FOOTBALL -- Attendance climbs past 39 million mark for first time
• DIVISION II -- Four individuals selected to help grant selection process
• HONORS PROGRAM -- Today's Top VIII features Olympian, national champions
• STAFF -- Donohoe joins national staff as women's basketball director

PARTICIPATION

Men's and Women's

RESEARCH

Number of participating student-athletes up by 5,000

The number of student-athletes participating in NCAA-sponsored sports increased by nearly 5,000 from 1996-97 to 1997-98.

The annual NCAA Participation Statistics Report indicates 338,796 student-athletes participated in intercollegiate athletics in 1997-98, compared to 333,889 in 1996-97. Significant gains were seen primarily in women's sports, but participation figures for men also showed increases from the 1996-97 academic year.

Women's sports participation rose 3.3 percent to 135,110 participants in 1997-98. A total of 203,696 men participated in sports in 1997-98, up .24 percent.

Staff contact: Todd A. Petr

FOOTBALL

Attendance climbs past 39 million mark for the first time

NCAA college football and home attendance exceeded the 39 million mark for the first time in 1999, boosted by attendance at Division I-A games.

All NCAA football teams combined posted a 1999 attendance total of 39,482,657, a record jump of 1,991,477. It also was the sixth consecutive year that college football attendance surged upward.

Division I-A totaled a record 29,032,973 home fans, an average of 43,593 per game. The University of Michigan took the home attendance title for the second straight year, setting another per-game record. With an average of 111,008 at Michigan Stadium, the Wolverines became the first college team to average more than 111,000 per home game.

Staff contact: Richard M. Campbell

DIVISION II

Four individuals selected to help grant selection process

Four individuals with close ties to Division II have been chosen to review applications and eventually select the first set of winners in the Division II Strategic Alliance Matching Grant Enhancement Program.

The members of the committee will be Alfreeda Goff, associate commissioner of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference; Adam Herbert, chancellor of the State University System of Florida; Stanley D. Johnson of Stan Johnson and Associates; and former Division II Chief of Staff Nancy L. Mitchell.

Staff contact: Mike L. Racy

HONORS PROGRAM

Today's Top VIII features Olympians, national champions

Eight student-athletes, including an Olympian, two members of national champion teams, a two-sport participant and other outstanding student-athletes in football, basketball, baseball and field hockey have been selected as this year's Today's Top VIII.

The selections are Michael Hunter Bledsoe, baseball, Vanderbilt University; Debbie L. E. Ferguson, track and field, University of Georgia; Brian D. Moorman, football and track and field, Pittsburg State University; Stephanie Nickitas, tennis, University of Florida; Sally Northcroft, field hockey, Ball State University; Chad Pennington, football, Marshall University; Michael D. Ruffin, basketball, University of Tulsa; and Kelly L. Schade, softball, Simpson College.

In addition, Williams College's John E. Berry Jr., a two-sport student-athlete who gave up his final year of eligibility in football to donate a kidney to his older brother, will be honored with the NCAA Special Award for Valor.

Berry and the Today's Top VIII will be recognized January 9 at the honors dinner during the NCAA Convention in San Diego.

Roger Staubach, a former quarterback at the U.S. Naval Academy, also will be honored at the Convention with the Theodore Roosevelt Award, the NCAA's highest honor.

STAFF

Donohoe joins national staff as women's basketball director

Sue Donohoe, former associate commissioner of the Southland Conference, has been hired as NCAA director of the Division I Women's Basketball Championship, operations.

She is the second administrator hired for the newly created Division I women's basketball staff at the national office, working with Donna J. Noonan, who was appointed as vice-president for the Division I Women's Basketball Championship in September.

Donohoe, who was serving as chair of the NCAA Women's Basketball Rules Committee, will be in charge of day-to-day administration of the championship, including duties related to tickets, officiating and game management.

Staff contact: Donna J. Noonan