Transition timeline:
March 2009: Announcement made that Cedarville will apply for NCAA Division II membership.
July 2009: Application approved for Candidacy Year 1.
July 2010: Approval granted for Candidacy Year 2.
July 2011: Approval granted for Provisional Year.
July 2012: Approved for active D-II membership.
Division II conferences in Ohio:
Great Midwest Athletic Conference — Ohio: Cedarville, Central State¹, Notre Dame², Urbana¹, Ursuline³; Virginia: Wise University; Tennessee: Trevecca Nazarene. Kentucky: Kentucky Wesleyan, Georgetown.
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference — Ohio: Ashland, Findlay, Lake Erie, Malone, Ohio Dominican, Tiffin, Walsh; Michigan: Ferris State, Grand Valley State, Hillsdale, Lake Superior, Michigan Tech, Northern Michigan, Northwood, Saginaw Valley, Wayne State.
¹ Central State and Urbana compete in the Great Lakes Valley Conference in football only.
² Notre Dame is also a member of the GLIAC in football, men’s and women’s soccer and wrestling.
³ Ursuline is a women’s-only college.
CEDARVILLE — Kirk Martin still finds himself thumbing through the NCAA rule book or texting Cedarville University’s compliance officer. It’s not something you learn overnight, and even if you’ve passed the tests proving you know the rules, you may need a refresher course from time to time.
“I’ve been here 12 years, and think I lead the coaching staff in minor rules violations,” Martin joked, “just by doing things we always used to do in the NAIA.”
Martin’s women’s basketball program played a full NCAA Division II schedule for the first time last season; that will continue because the NCAA informed Cedarville on Thursday it had been approved for full active membership beginning Sept. 1.
Thursday’s announcement marked the end of a process that began in March 2009 when Cedarville announced it was leaving NAIA Division II to apply for NCAA membership.
“We have believed for some time we were going to get accepted,” Cedarville Athletic Director Alan Geist said. “But when someone else is controlling your destiny and making decisions, all kinds of things can happen. We were a little bit nervous earlier today.”
Cedarville joined a wave of NAIA schools moving to NCAA Division II when it announced its decision in 2009. Among the area schools, Central State took the first step, becoming a full NCAA member in 2008 after years in the NAIA. Urbana announced its move in 2007 and became a full member in 2010.
The NCAA grew stingy with invitations in recent years because many new NCAA schools had trouble with violations, Geist said.
Cedarville’s process started with the hiring of a NCAA compliance coordinator, Drew Howard. He helped guide the coaches. They had to pass NCAA tests before they could recruit. “We had classes, and we took practice tests,” Martin said. “Drew was on top of everything.”
With Notre Dame College also earning active status Thursday, Ohio now has nine NCAA D-II schools. Three more could become full NCAA members in 2013: Malone, Ursuline and Walsh. Five of those schools used to belong to the American Mideast Conference: Cedarville, Ursuline, Urbana, Notre Dame and Malone.
The AMC, which had 18 teams and two divisions six years ago, now has eight schools. Three are on their way to Division II, and two others announced a move to a new NAIA conference.
Cedarville and Urbana’s new league, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, has eight members, including Urbana and Central State. Only five of those have football teams, which is why Urbana and Central State are continuing to compete in the Great Lakes Valley Conference in football.
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