In mid-March the St. Francis (PA) Crimson Flash had a chance to do one thing each small D-1 faculty basketball program desires of: play in an NCAA match recreation. They ended up dropping a heartbreaking, 70-68, determination to Alabama State in a First 4 recreation in Dayton. It was nonetheless an enormous second for this system and a traditional recreation that highlighted the great thing about the First 4 video games.
It was additionally most likely the final time — at the very least for the foreseeable future — that St. Francis will ever have that chance.
Precisely one week later, this system made the surprising announcement on Tuesday that it’s dropping from Division I athletics all the best way right down to Division III.
The first cause given: The altering faculty sports activities panorama that’s now being pushed by NIL and the switch portal.
Here’s what faculty chairman Rev. Joseph Lehman said in the school’s statement regarding the decision:
“This was not a straightforward nor a fast determination for the Board of Trustees. The governance related to intercollegiate athletics has all the time been difficult and is simply rising in complexity based mostly on realities just like the switch portal, pay-for-play, and different shifts that transfer athletics away from love of the sport. For that cause, as a Board, we goal to greatest present sources and help to our student-athletes on this altering surroundings that aligns with our mission, Catholic establishment, and our group’s expectations.”
In loads of methods, it’s comprehensible for a faculty like St. Francis.
It was all the time one of many smaller D-I faculties, and in 2024, it had fewer than 2,000 college students enrolled. Additionally it is situated within the small city of Loretto, Pennsylvania, with a inhabitants of simply 1,168 individuals, and is hours away from one other main metropolis. Pittsburgh is roughly two hours away, whereas Philadelphia is 4 hours away. It does not have the cash or name-brand energy to draw gamers, it is not in a super location, it does not have the services to compete with energy faculties and success has all the time been troublesome to return by.
Regardless of being a D-I basketball faculty because the mid-Fifties, this yr’s match look was solely the second in program historical past (having additionally gone through the 1990-91 season). It didn’t win a recreation in both look.
The one cause the Crimson Flash made it this season is as a result of they went on a totally sudden convention match run to win the NEC title. That they had a dropping document through the common season (16-17) and haven’t really had a successful document since successful 22 video games through the 2019-20 season. Total this system has had just six winning seasons since the 1990-91 season.
The larger-picture query is that if different smaller faculties in St. Francis’ place will observe an analogous path.
The shortage of upsets on this yr’s match is already being attributed to the NIL and switch portal panorama, making it almost inconceivable for smaller faculties to maintain the kind of high-end expertise who can swing a recreation and result in a Cinderella-type run by way of the match.
St. Francis (PA) might simply be the tip of the iceberg for what’s about to occur in faculty sports activities with smaller faculties.
