NEWS: D2 Azusa Pacific moving to D3
The APU women's basketball program has recorded seven 20-win seasons since 2017
Division III’s presence on the West Coast is expanding in a massive way, as Azusa Pacific University announced its intention to reclassify from Division II to Division III on Monday afternoon in a press release that simultaneously announced the revival of its football program.
APU, a Christian university located just over 20 miles northeast of Los Angeles, will compete as a full member in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC). Considering the process to go from D2 to D3 can be completed in as few as two years, a press release from the SCIAC on Monday indicated that APU will be “integrated into conference scheduling as soon as 2026-27,” as the university is expected to become a full D3 member in 2028-29.
"We were pleased to invite Azusa Pacific University to become a member of the SCIAC,” President Strom Thacker of Pitzer College said in a SCIAC press release. “President Morris and the leadership at APU are eager to become partners in our shared vision for the Division III student-athlete experience. We look forward to continuing to provide unparalleled opportunities for our students to succeed academically and athletically in a respectful environment.”
It is especially notable from a women’s basketball standpoint, considering APU has put together seven straight 20-win seasons (excluding the Covid year in 2020-21 when they played just 17 games) under head coach T.J. Hardeman. That includes five consecutive D2 Tournament appearances since 2020.
The addition of APU to the SCIAC will raise the conference to 10 full-time members once the Cougars complete their transition to D3, with eight of those programs sponsoring football. APU’s move marks the third expansion of the SCIAC within the last 35 years.
"The move to the SCIAC will extend APU Athletics’ culture of excellence, where student-athletes are empowered to reach their given potential academically, athletically and spiritually,” Gary Pine, APU Director of Athletics, said in the SCIAC release. “In the days we all competed in the NAIA, some of the most memorable games in Cougar sports history were played against longtime SCIAC foes and we are excited to be a part of those renewed rivalries again.”
It is the first instance of a D2-to-D3 move since Pfeiffer University did so in 2017, going from the Conference Carolinas to the USA South Conference. Prior to that, McMurry University spent two seasons in the transitionary process to D2 before moving back to D3 in 2014.
So while not unprecedented, this is an announcement that has not come often in recent years, and even more so from a West Coast institution. With the changing landscape in college sports, particularly surrounding NIL and revenue sharing, it is anticipated that the D3 model of non-scholarship athletics will provide for a more stable alternative for low-major D1s and D2s.
The University of Hartford made a headline-grabbing announcement in 2021 when the school announced its intentions to go from D1 to D3, and now APU is set for its coming move to D3. As Hoopsville’s Dave McHugh wrote in a post on X/Twitter on Saturday, confirming a rumor of APU’s intentions to reclassify to D3, “this is only the start of what is expected to be a lot of moves into D-III.”
It should be noted that the move to D3 also contributed to an opportunity for APU to bring back its football program, whose discontinuation in 2020 was met with plenty of opposition. That is a key piece of this announcement, giving APU the chance to expand its athletic offerings starting in 2026, while remaining in a competitive, high-caliber conference on the West Coast.
Zeroing in on the women’s basketball implications of the announcement, you never know how a reclassification may impact a program’s momentum. But on the surface, this is extremely notable. As mentioned above, APU has established itself as one of the most consistent D2 programs in the West Region in the last decade, and the year-by-year results speak for themselves. The Cougars finished atop the PacWest standings in three straight seasons from 2021 to 2024, including a 20-0 conference campaign last year that saw APU enter the postseason ranked No. 6 in the country by the WBCA.
Facility-wise, APU’s home games are played in the Felix Event Center, which should be amongst the largest home gyms in Region 10 by seating capacity. The event center, which opened in 2000, has 3,500 permanent seats, and features seating on all four sides of the court, with two tiers along both sidelines and balconies above both baselines.
» Press Release from Azusa Pacific University
» Press Release from the SCIAC
Nice!!! Agree, may see more of this.