PSU Magazine Winter 1995

Already, PSU's footba ll team is competiti ve with Big Sky schools. (Last eason, the Vikings beat two Big Sky schools-Eastern Washington Univer ity and Idaho State University.) However, as part of attaining Division l tatu , PSU sports team would have to change their' recruiting practices to meet Big Sky and NCAA Division I and I-AA requirements. PSU has to meet al l recruiting and eligibility requirements for a two-year period before being eligible for post-season play. NCAA Di vi ion l eligibility rules differ from those of Division 11. Divisi n I rule sta te that once a tudent athlete enr lls full time at any institution, he or he has fiv years to play four year of sports ( rn il itary duty and religious miss ion work are exempted). Division II requirements are more flexibl e, allowing students to fo llow a "15 quarter/10 semester rule." Thi means Division 11 tudent athletes have 15 quarters to participate four years in sports, allowing time off if desired between terms. Division I membership would also mean that any high school "non-qua lifier" (a high schoo l student who doesn't achieve a minimum SAT score or grade point average), must receive an Assoc iate of Arts (AA) degree to move to a Division I institution. Under Division II rules, these students are able to move to PSU after completing 36 credit hours at a junior college. Academic requirements for Division I and II schools are basically the same; student athletes must maintain a 2.0 grade point average , 12 cred its per term, and 36 cred its per year. But Nordlof says PSU would not cons ider joining the Big Sky until fa ll 1996, to be fair to current athlete recruited on the basis of Division 11 criteria. Another big question facing Nord lof is whether PSU would be allowed a year or two to field all its Big ky core sports teams, or if it would be required to fie ld a team immed iat ly in 1996-97 . Big Sky ommiss ioner Stephenson ay he thinks the conference' Presidents Council could pos ibly vote to change the ex isting code, thus allow- ing P U a year or two w get a men' basketball team together, for examp le. For years, PSU's barrier to joining a Division I conference ;;uch as rhe Big ky was its lack of an adequare facility for men's basketball. Former P U athlet ic director R y Love believes that was the reason P U's Big ky app lication was rejected once before, in the mid -1970s, "although the official reason they gave to u. was that our funding ba eat the time wa n t up to th ir expec ati on ," ·ays Love. In 1995 , the ituation has changed. The Portland Trail Bla:ers will open their 1995-96 ea on in the new Ro e Garden arena, thus opening up Memorial Coli eum for po sibl u e by PSU . Nordlof has had what he ca lls "encouraging" preliminary ta lks with Blazer officials about renting Memorial Coliseum or the Rose Garden fo r men' ba ketball. Hav ing Memorial Co liseum avai la– ble wou ld also prov ide a venue fo r new men' and women's indoor track team . But thorny questions surround the future of 68-year-old Civic Stadium, where PSU plays its footba ll games. The city-owned statlium , which is managed by Metro, may need costly renovation s if it's to continue to Viking Club President Sue Remy • operate. Metro wants to form a joint ta k force with the city to study options for the tadium, which include con truction of a new stadium and/or demolition. Nor<llof says joining the Big Sky shou ld not mean PSU would eliminate any of it ex isting sp rts. He also says moving to the Big Sky would mean increased scholarship for not only footba ll athlete but for male and female athletes in other port . "My goal is to provide more opportunitie for student-athete , not fewer,'' he says. "I like the sports we currently ha\'e. I th ink we've got a good program of non-Big ky c nfer– ence sport that we'd love to keep." Joining the Big ky cou ld help PSU in recruting athletes, he adds. "Once we establish regular rivalries in the various sport , we'll ga in familiar– ity in the Bi Sky communities," say Nord lof. "This wou ld help give our athletic program more of an identity We don't really have one now." Ramaley sees additional rea ons to join the Big ky, if the finances can be worked out. "You want to compete :i.gainst institutions that are somewhat like you," she says. "Each of the Big Sky WINTER 1995 7