HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Championship athletics are back at Northern Kentucky University.
The Atlantic Sun Conference announced today that NKU will be eligible for all conference postseason championships for which its teams qualify starting with the upcoming 2014-15 season. Northern Kentucky is entering the third year of a four-year reclassification period before becoming eligible for NCAA Championships at the Division I level, but the change allows current student-athletes the opportunity to compete for a conference postseason title.
"This is tremendous news for all of our student-athletes and coaches," said NKU Athletics Director
Ken Bothof. "Since my arrival here at NKU, the ability to participate in postseason play is something that has continued to be a point of discussion. This is a wonderful opportunity to enhance the student-athlete experience. There are many conferences that discuss the importance of the student-athlete experience, but the Atlantic Sun continues to show it will be a leader in this discussion. Commissioner (Ted) Gumbart has not only done a great job of communicating the importance of our student-athletes, but he has also demonstrated a willingness to support them as well."
The change in policy not only affords Northern Kentucky a chance to compete in conference postseason play, but to host postseason events as well, as the Atlantic Sun Championships for men's and women's soccer and men's and women's basketball will be contested at campus sites.
"Postseason play is something that coaches and players look forward to each and every season," said men's basketball head coach
Dave Bezold. "We thought we had another two years to wait for that opportunity as a Division I program. Thanks to the A-Sun and NCAA we will have the chance to play in the postseason conference tourney this season. This is a great surprise for all of the coaches and student-athletes at NKU."
"This is great news for us at NKU," added women's basketball head coach
Dawn Plitzuweit. "All of our programs now have the opportunity to compete in the A-Sun for a regular season championship as well as for a postseason championship. This is a great step in moving our program forward in the era of Division I Athletics."
The change in A-Sun policy arose after NCAA clarification that a conference may set specific criteria allowing its highest ranked finisher to be the automatic qualifier (AQ) recipient if a non-eligible team were to participate and win the conference postseason tournament. Prior policy had determined that the conference would lose its AQ if an ineligible team won the tournament.
The A-Sun and its eight member institutions seized the opportunity to refine the conference's postseason AQ criteria to immediately allow NKU student-athletes full opportunity to qualify for and participate in all A-Sun Championships.
"For us it became a simple issue of include or exclude," Commissioner Gumbart stated. "Consistent with our Core Values, we unanimously chose to include."
For the past two seasons, NKU has competed at several A-Sun Championships, being initially eligible in eight sports, including men's and women's cross country, men's and women's indoor track & field, men's and women's golf and men's & women's outdoor track & field. Rising senior J.J. Webber became NKU's first conference champion last year, winning the individual medal at the A-Sun Men's Cross Country Championship last fall as well as the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter runs at the A-Sun Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
NKU, had they been eligible, would have also placed six other teams in A-Sun Championship play, including men's soccer and women's basketball both years, as well as volleyball and men's basketball during the 2012-13 season. The NKU women's basketball team has already had a taste of postseason success in Division I, defeating McNeese State last year in the first round of the Women's Basketball Invitational.
Northern Kentucky has had a strong history of success on the field throughout its history. As a member of the Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference, NKU won 71 conference regular-season or tournament championships, seven All-Sports Trophies and four consecutive Commissioner's Cup titles, an award based on finishes in the GLVC's core sports of baseball, men's and women's basketball, softball, men's and women's soccer and volleyball. In addition, NKU captured NCAA Division II national championships women's basketball (2000, 2008) and men's soccer (2010).
"I am very pleased that all of our student-athletes will now be eligible to participate in Atlantic Sun Conference championships," said NKU President Geoffrey Mearns. "I am grateful to the other presidents for supporting this initiative, and I am grateful to Commissioner Gumbart for his leadership."
