In challenging economic times, athletics programs at NCAA member schools are wrestling not only with better business practices, travel costs, staffing efficiencies and sport-sponsorship concerns but also even with whether to change NCAA division affiliation as a way of either reducing costs or increasing revenue.

In light of the current economic climate, The NCAA News asked Division II Presidents Council Chair Stephen Jordan (president at Metropolitan State), Management Council Chair Tim Selgo (athletics director at Grand Valley State), Championships Committee Chair Dave Riggins (athletics director at Mars Hill) and former Management Council Chair Clint Bryant (athletics director at Augusta State) to discuss the fiscal impact of Division II membership, including whether the notion of athletics as a financial drain is myth or reality.

In Part 3 of this three-part series, Bryant recounts how he took over a Division I institution and quickly realized that it was appropriate to choose Division II instead.

NCAA News: In 1988, you took over as the athletics director and head men’s basketball coach at Augusta State, which at the time was a member of the Division I Big South Conference. You quickly molded a men’s basketball team that came within one game of participating in the Division I tournament. Yet just as quickly, you advocated that the institution change its division affiliation to Division II. Why?

Clint Bryant: We were the only school in the country at that time to decide to go from Division I to Division II, and that was my decision. I just thought we were blowing smoke in the wind. In 1990, the Peach Belt Conference developed and our traditional rivals like Lander and South Carolina Aiken and Georgia College and Armstrong Atlantic and Columbus State were joining. If it had just been about basketball, we had developed a team by then that was competitive at the Division I level. We were playing for the conference championship and a berth in the NCAA tournament by that third year. But it was about more than just basketball and what kind of money and budget we were realistically going to compete with. Going to Division II gave us the opportunity to not just be invited to the dance, but perhaps to win it.

If the commitment was going to be to add sports and scholarships – which I knew that commitment had to be – we were not in position being an urban school that was nontraditional and nonresidential to attempt to have a competitive broad-based program at the Division I level. It made more dollars and sense, so to speak, for us to compete at the Division II level.

NCAA News: What was the reaction from your constituents when you made the decision to reclassify to Division II?

Bryant: Sure, there were some people who were upset when we moved to Division II, but those were the people who didn’t realize the magnitude of what we were trying to do. There was no way in the world that we could have tried to compete with schools whose basketball budgets were more than my total athletics budget.

NCAA News: What about the non-basketball programs? Did they benefit from this decision as well?

Bryant: Last year, seven of our 10 teams participated in their respective NCAA postseasons. And participation in the NCAA tournament is a good thing, let me tell you. But Division II provides other benefits as well. It is an opportunity for us to keep in perspective what intercollegiate athletics is all about, which is enhancing the university’s image, instilling pride in students and alumni, and playing the game for the reasons we’ve always professed – character development, teamwork, hard work and individual discipline. It’s not about lucrative coaches’ contracts or a $1 million free throw as it can be in Division I.

It’s interesting that some schools have made the move so they can see their scores on the ESPN scroll. They think that somehow gives you legitimacy or defines you as an institution. Certainly not. People get caught up on all the wrong things. Some people, including presidents and athletics directors, use reclassification as a resume builder in order to get that next job.

NCAA News: Talk about the community pride in your success in Division II, even though people know you used to be Division I. Do people miss Division I?

Bryant: Our run last year to the men’s basketball national championship game solidified that for our community. We have the winningest program in the state over the last three years, regardless of division. It brings a lot of pride to Augusta. It’s like one of our players said after we almost beat Georgia in men’s basketball last year: “The difference between Divisions I and II is only a Roman numeral,” he said. He’s exactly right – the same English and science textbooks they use in Division I schools are the same ones we use here. It’s a matter of where you put your priorities and where you want to make your statement. What you want to do is be able to compete at the level at which you are.

A lot of our student-athletes have to work or get loans to go to school, and a lot of times participation in athletics is the only chance for them to receive a college education. That’s what I continue to like about this level: We can keep athletics in perspective. The current economic times will lead institutions to retreat more toward center and be where they need to be as opposed to where they think they should be. Division II is where Augusta State needs to be – it’s good for our university, our city and our area.

•        If you missed Part 2: Jordan, Selgo and Championships Committee Chair Dave Riggins discussed the motivations behind reclassification.

•        If you missed Part 1: Jordan and Selgo discussed the real costs associated with sponsoring competitive, broad-based athletics programs.