Posted: 02/14/07

The division decision
Should St. Michael's College be Division II or Division III?

Jessie Forand | contributing writer
jforand@smcvt.edu

As part of the Northeast-10 conference, St. Michael's College athletics are considered Division II. However, there have been discussions about whether or not Division III is the best fit for St. Michael's athletics.

Tom O'Shea, head coach of the St. Michael's men's basketball team, explains that the difference between divisions is that in Divisions I and II, athletic aid may be awarded, whereas with Division III it may not.

St. Michael's is currently considered Division II within the NCAA. (Jessie Forand, photo)

Athletic Director Geri Knortz, wrote in an e-mail interview, "All sports teams at SMC are declared National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Division II. By NCAA rules, we must declare the same division for all teams, except we are permitted to declare one men's team / one women's team up a division, but it cannot be basketball or football. We declare all teams as DII classification."

According to Knortz, the difference between divisions has to do with scholarships.

"There are philosophical differences between Division I, Division II, and Division III. The biggest difference between Division III and Division I and Division II is that Division III does not give athletics scholarships," she wrote, "As a Division II school we must award a minimum amount or number of athletics scholarships, and we meet that minimum with our 10 men's and 10 women's basketball scholarships."

Seth Cole, St. Michael’s sports information director, explains why basketball is the only sport receiving scholarships.

“It is our philosophy to only give scholarships in basketball because that was sort of how the athletics was founded,” he says.

Cole says that scholarship recipients are decided upon by coaching staffs that recruit student athletes. He says it is contingent on the prospective athletes getting accepted into St. Michael’s.

Some scholarships are given out during the first year at St. Michael’s, while others are awarded later on. Once a scholarship is awarded, it is only taken away for reasons other than performance on the basketball team, Cole says.

“[Scholarships] are never taken away for not performing as well on the court,” Cole says.

The division in which a school team is categorized is chosen by the institution, says Paul Schimoler, head coach for St. Michael's men's lacrosse. This decision is based on a number of factors, but Schimoler feels that given the size of the school, it could not afford to be Division I.

“Philosophically we’re more the mindset of Division III,” Cole says.

One reason for the Division II status is geographic. According to Cole, it makes sense for St. Michael’s to be part of its current conference.

“If we were in a different spot geographically we might be in Division III.”

“We’re in a conference that we have a relationship with – the Northeast-10. We’ve been in the conference for some time,” St. Michael's men's lacrosse coach Paul Schimoler, says. (Jessie Forand, photo)

Schimoler, who is in his fourth year at St. Michael's, says conferences require that a minimum number of athletic scholarships be awarded to level the playing field, but some exceed the minimum and the NCAA regulates a maximum number of scholarships given.

As far as being part of a division, Schimoler says, "Whatever your basketball team is decides what your institution is." He adds that basketball, as well as football, are big revenue producers for schools.

“There’s not necessarily a correlation of quality but Division I, Division II and Division III delineate how much support the school gets,” Schimoler says.“Every institution is their own entity.

Schimoler uses Middlebury College as an example of a Division III institution. They are first and foremost an academic institution and decided to participate at the Division III level because all schools that are Division III follow the same rules about athletic scholarships, he says.

Schimoler points out that there are Division III schools that find athletics important, and may award scholarships based on talent, he says, "whether you are an outstanding violinist or an outstanding basketball player," he says.

Change or stay the same?

“What division we belong to is an institutional decision,” Knortz says. “Ultimately the president would decide.”

Dr. John (Jack) Neuhauser, who was recently named 16th president of St. Michael’s, says, “I do think it would be good to play in a league where you aspire to be like the other schools.” He continues, “I have a slight preference for Division III.”

Currently, some St. Michael’s teams do play Division III schools, like men’s soccer, according to Schimoler. While his men’s lacrosse team does not have games with schools outside of Division II, they will scrimmage with Division III institutions. Scrimmages do not count towards the team’s record.

“It may not be that easy for us to be Division III because I don’t know what conference we’d fit into,” Schimoler says, “Institutions should be really defined on academics first.”

Cole explains that, generally speaking, Division III schools have more of an academic basis. He adds that this is something St. Michael’s highly values.

Scattered opinions

“Everybody is going to have an opinion on this,” says Schimoler. “We have no scholarships. We’re really a Division III-model program playing against Division II teams. It doesn’t appear to be a level playing field.”

Last season, the men's lacrosse team won seven games and lost three. Those three teams distributed scholarship money to their athletes, according to Schimoler.

“It’s very much a David and Goliath set up,” he says. “Are we really looking to compete or to participate?”

Schimoler says that the only way St. Michael’s would truly be Division II is to gain more support from the institution and probably have to eliminate some sports in order to provide more money for others.

“In an ideal world we would give out more scholarships in all facets,” Cole says, using academics and theater as examples. “In that aspect it comes down to money.”

“I think ultimately we are in the best fit for us now and moving ahead to the future," says Seth Cole, the St. Michael’s sports information director. (Jessie Forand, photo)

Schimoler recognizes that the NE-10 is important to St. Michael’s. “We’re in a conference that we have a relationship…we’ve been in the conference for some time.”

“The Northeast-10 is such a valued conference and does a lot for our student athletes,” Cole says.

There would have to be a special set of circumstances for Saint Michael’s to move to Division III, he says.

“From a longterm standpoint I think we should become more Division II,” Schimoler says.

“To some extent it depends on what’s appealing to the student body,” Dr. Neuhauser says. “I intend to go to a lot of games.”

“I think ultimately we are in the best fit for us now and moving ahead to the future,” Cole says.