National Collegiate Athletic Association

NCAA News Archive - 2010

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Jun 7, 2010 8:32:58 AM

Cal State Bakersfield, in the process of reclassifying to Division I, announced recently that it will reinstate wrestling, tennis, and men's and women's golf for the 2010-11 academic year.

President Horace Mitchell attributed the decision to a "successful and aggressive" fund-raising effort.

To remain on the Roadrunner roster beyond next year, the teams will need to continue to raise the funds necessary to sustain their program.

The school's decision to cut the sports came at a time of budget crisis for the entire state of California. The school will reduce its overall budget by $625 million this year and may reduce enrollment by 700 students. The university decided to transition to Division I from Division II five years ago, before the economic downturn.

Mitchell stressed that no university funding will be spent on the sports in the future and that the sports budgets will not exceed the amount of funds raised in the coming years.

"Based on my confidence in their ability to reach their goal this year and in the future, I have decided to ‘Save the Sports,' " Mitchell said, using the name of the fund-raising effort. "I believe this is what our community wants the university to do, and it is what we want to do, as well."

Southland membership standards: The Southland Conference Board of Directors redefined the conference's sport-sponsorship standards to require all schools to participate fully within the conference's competitive structure in all of the sports that the league sponsors.

The decision is effective July 1, 2011. Institutions that choose to compete in some sports sponsored by the conference outside the conference will relinquish membership and notify the conference per withdrawal provisions. The conference requires a two-year notification process or a $250,000 penalty.

The conference sponsors 17 Division I sports, including football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, men's and women's outdoor track, men's and women's indoor track, men's and women's golf, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's cross country, women's volleyball, softball, and women's soccer.

The decision does not apply to sports offered by member institutions but not sponsored by the conference, such as men's soccer or women's bowling. The change does not require institutions to add sports they don't currently sponsor.

"The Board's decision clearly defines Southland Conference membership as a full commitment by each institution," board chair and Nicholls State President Stephen Hulbert said. "The conference provides numerous benefits to its full members, including automatic qualification to NCAA championships in many sports. The board believes these benefits and services can only be provided to those members participating with their entire athletics program."

SEC revenue distribution: The Southeastern Conference will distribute about $209 million to its 12 member institutions as part of the revenue sharing plan for the 2009-10 fiscal year. It is the highest total distributed in SEC history and represents a 57.7 percent increase from the 2008-09 distribution.

The distribution includes money generated by football television, bowls, the conference football championship, basketball television, the conference men's basketball tournament and NCAA championships. Not included in the $209 million 2009-10 distribution is the $14.3 million retained by the institutions participating in bowls and the $780,000 from the NCAA Academic Enhancement Fund that is divided among all 12 institutions.

Delaware milestone: Delaware baseball coach Jim Sherman captured the 300th victory of his 10-year career at Delaware May 23 when the Blue Hens defeated Northeastern..

Earlier this season, Sherman earned his 500th career college coaching victory with a win over Fairleigh-Dickinson.

Sherman is now 518-370 in 17 seasons as a college head coach and 300-246 at Delaware, his alma mater.