GVSU Basketball

[Feature/writer]

Congrats to Grand Valley State University and its sports radio broadcast partner flagship WJRW-AM 1340 & FM 106.1 for giving equal time this season to both the mens and womens basketball game play-by-play coverage and coach's interview shows.
It doesn't hurt that the GVSU women's team has been nationally ranked all season, and is currently the top seed remaining in the final four of the national Division 2 tournament.
Hats off to play by play announcer Bryan Fongers, who has labored all season without an on-air color analyst partner, and is in Pittsburgh to air the Lakers' games during their tournament run.

[GrahamWellington]

Seeing that GVSU is most likely paying Cumulus for the airtime, I'm sure WJRW had no issue with providing equal time to both teams. Either air national sports network programming on barter listened to by 15 people, or air GVSU games listened to by 15 people but getting paid for it.

Kudos though to GVSU for supporting equal coverage.

[Feature/writer]

Well, they're still at it.
The GVSU Lakers have played their way into the championship game for the Womens' basketball Division 2 title with Wednesday's victory over Pittsburgh State.
The deciding game is Friday (3/28) vs. California State University.
By the way, word is that coach Mike Williams - this year's NCAA Div. 2 coach of the year - is on the list of those being considered for the women's coaching job at Western Mich. University in Kalamazoo - which would be a jump to Div. 1 !!!

[TC Talks]

I'd rather be #1 than at the bottom of a new division.

Western has a total undergraduate enrollment of 13,874 while GVSU has a total undergraduate enrollment of 19,243. Why are the Lakers still Division 2?

[Feature/writer]

..not suggesting a GVSU move to Div. 1. (there are several obstacles to that.....)
But a move for coach Williams to WMU would be a jump up in Divisions.
(At least one other former GVSU women's coach (Dawn Plitzuweit) is currently coaching Div. 1 at the University of Minnesota....)

[dwp49423]

I'd rather be #1 than at the bottom of a new division.

Western has a total undergraduate enrollment of 13,874 while GVSU has a total undergraduate enrollment of 19,243. Why are the Lakers still Division 2?

This was discussed when I was a student there. We were told it came down to facilities. NCAA requires a certain seating capacity for D1 sporting events. It's been 20 years since I attended so my memory is hazy on the number of what the NCAA D1 requirement is vs what GVSU facilities have.

[Feature/writer]

....one other option for GVSU might be to move up to Division 1 in select sports (for example, Ferris State in hockey). Before Oakland U (in Rochester Mich.) moved up to Division 1, they competed Div. 1 in swimming. Now they're in the Div. 1 Horizon League, a league whose members do not play football..)

[TC Talks]

I feel GVSU should remain Div 2. They do quite well and gain more notoriety than if they were at the bottom of Div 1. I remember having a conversation with Matt McLogan about this years ago.

[Bull Shannon]

I'd rather be #1 than at the bottom of a new division.

Western has a total undergraduate enrollment of 13,874 while GVSU has a total undergraduate enrollment of 19,243. Why are the Lakers still Division 2?

This was discussed when I was a student there. We were told it came down to facilities. NCAA requires a certain seating capacity for D1 sporting events. It's been 20 years since I attended so my memory is hazy on the number of what the NCAA D1 requirement is vs what GVSU facilities have.

Along with facilities, I believe the scholarship requirements for D1 are a lot higher as well, even at the FCS level.

[billmich88888]

....one other option for GVSU might be to move up to Division 1 in select sports (for example, Ferris State in hockey). Before Oakland U (in Rochester Mich.) moved up to Division 1, they competed Div. 1 in swimming. Now they're in the Div. 1 Horizon League, a league whose members do not play football..)

this was abolished a few years ago, and schools are not allowed to "play up" in certain sports.

existing examples are grandfathered in such as Ferris and the UP schools in hockey, or Johns Hopkins in lacrosse

[MWmetalhead]

Calvin University (division III) has a much nicer basketball arena than a decent number of mid-major Division I programs. Same can also be said of Hope College in Holland.

The GVSU Fieldhouse in Allendale has crappy wooden bleacher seating for basketball and volleyball spectators, and the football stadium is so low budget it looks like it belongs to a high school or community college.

[TC Talks]

Fortunately, spectator accommodations don't impact team performance.