Thoughts and Notes as we get closer to tip-off: Cabrini cancels its season, NJCU's non-conference schedule looks fantastic, Regent University to D-III
It’s time for a D-III women’s basketball news update, as we’ve seen a few different stories on this front released over the couple weeks, from coaching news, to schedule releases, to the cancellation of a season. Yep, the cancellation of a season.
That was Cabrini, who most know announced the tough news of its closure in late June. The Philly-based university, founded in 1957, had seen declining enrollment for a handful of years, dropping to about 1,500 students in the Fall of 2022, according to Inside Higher Ed. While several D-III schools operate with smaller enrollment than that, each institution has a different financial situation, and considering Cabrini enrolled 2,448 students in 2013, the sharp decline was not a good sign of the university’s future.
It’s disappointing, too, because they had a solid athletics program, and their men’s basketball team had gone all the way to the National Title Game in 2012. From a basketball standpoint, Cabrini had definitely added to the legacy of Philadelphia basketball, but those days are quickly coming to a close. In fact, those days are no more for the women’s program, who was forced to cancel its entire 2023-24 season. The news came out last Thursday, when the word “Canceled” showed up next to every scheduled game on the previously-published slate.
The same had happened with the women’s volleyball program a month or two ago, and likely stems from student-athletes transferring out. Additionally, head coach Kate Pearson took the head job at Rowan this summer, and to date, a replacement had not been announced.
In more positive news, plenty of programs have released their 2023-24 schedules, including NJCU. Though the NJAC is weak this year, almost certainly making it a one-bid league, credit to head coach Pat Devaney for going out and putting together a tough non-conference slate.
Albertus Magnus is the first D-III opponent on the schedule, and is very much the frontrunner in the GNAC. SUNY New Paltz is the fourth game on the slate, and another Top 50 opponent that is likely to reach the national tournament. That is followed by a duel with Amherst, who brings back its entire roster and is in my Early Preseason Top 30. That contest is on the road, by the way. You have the NJAC schedule that follows that, with a non-D3 contest against Bridgeport thrown in there in early December.
I really like it. NJCU brings back about 67% of its 2022-23 roster, including Damaris Rodriguez, who can score from pretty much anywhere on the court. This team could make a run in the NCAA Tournament.
Misericordia announced Jess Rini as the interim head coach of the program late last week. She returns to the place where she began her coaching career as a grad assistant after most recently assistant coaching at Landmark Conference power Scranton. This is a good move by AD Chuck Edkins, considering Rini has only been away from the program for a year, and thus, likely has some familiarity with the returners on the roster.
Rini likely (and I say “likely” because we don’t have an official roster available) inherits a team that returns four incoming seniors from 2022-23. Obviously, a majority of the seniors from last year do have an additional year of Covid eligibility, but like in most cases, I’m unsure how many, if any, will take advantage of that. But of the five starters from 2022-23, which formed a team that went 18-8, all were either seniors or grad students. That is tough to follow, considering the experience level on the roster isn’t as high as it was last season (which could change depending on who all comes back).
With that said, they have a solid schedule, and I think a decent win percentage is certainly in the cards. Playing in the MAC Freedom along with DeSales and Stevens is not easy, especially when it comes to qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. Time will tell, but I wish Coach Rini the best of luck as she enters her first season as a head coach!
As I got ready to publish this, Scott Peterson sent me the link to the schedule for the 2023 Puerto Rico Classic. This is a holiday tournament played just before and after Christmas and has a pretty impressive field on the women’s side. I know there is a debate somewhat of whether these types of events are especially beneficial to a team from an NCAA Tournament resume perspective, as the schedule typically gives teams a matchup against a top-level opponent as well as one against a lower-tier opponent. In essence, the lower-tier game can cancel out the top-level game from a strength of schedule perspective. But anyway…there’s some great matchups on this slate!
Dec. 19 features two really intriguing matchups: UW-Whitewater vs Messiah and Elizabethtown vs Loras. That second game will be especially important, considering Elizabethtown and Loras are both likely to be the No. 2 teams in their respective conferences in the preseason polls. So creating a viable Pool C resume is that much more important. The same obviously could be said for Whitewater, who is the WIAC favorite, but plays in a league with incredible parity with a Pool A bid is far from a guarantee. Case Western Reserve vs Emmanuel might be an interesting matchup on Dec. 20. Both could be in contention for an NCAA Tournament bid come February.
A new group of teams comes to Puerto Rico starting on Dec. 29. Rochester vs Mary Washington might be the best game out of that set of games, and these are two teams who will likely need solid Pool C resumes considering the conferences they play in (Rochester in a very deep UAA league, and Mary Washington contending for the C2C Pool A bid with Christopher Newport).
It’s exciting getting more schedules announced and tournaments like these finalized. There is still a good portion of tournaments whose pairings haven’t yet been determined (or announced) so I’ll continue to keep an eye on those. It is Sept. 18, and currently, I have an exhibition/scrimmage between NJCU and D1 Wagner noted for Oct. 22. This basketball season will be here before we know it! Have a great week!
UPDATE: I figured I should throw in one last note before I send this out. Earlier this afternoon, Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, announced its decision to pursue D-III membership “beginning with an exploratory phase during the 2024-25 academic year”.
It is an NCCAA school that currently sponsors men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s track & field and men’s and women’s cross country, as well as women’s volleyball. They’ve got about 2,300 full-time undergraduate students and appear to be a good fit for D-III. This move could also sustain the Coast-To-Coast Conference, which is struggling with membership right now.
Women’s hoops wise, they posted a 2-16 record last season and faced D-III opponents in Hollins, Virginia Wesleyan, Christopher Newport, Mary Washington, Trinity (DC), and Eastern Mennonite. Based on the press release, “If the exploratory application is approved in January 2024, the official exploratory year will begin on September 1, 2024, and continue through the 2024–25 academic year.” The NCAA requires one year of exploratory membership and three years of provisional membership before gaining full acceptance as a D-III member.