Malone, Walsh denied NCAA entry

By JOE FROLLO

The switch from NAIA to NCAA is on hold for Malone and Walsh universities. On Friday, the Stark County colleges had applications denied for entrance into NCAA Division II.

The common issue both schools need to address is staffing, specifically the hiring of a full-time compliance officer. Malone athletic director Charlie Grimes and Walsh A.D. Dale Howard both said the announcement came as a surprise but does not end their school’s desire to join the NCAA.

“It’s disappointing, but we’re not finished,” Howard said. “We knew we had staffing concerns when we did the application, but my interpretation was that that is what the two-year candidacy period was for to get us ramped up to speed. [The NCAA] thought differently.”

Malone and Walsh are two of six Ohio schools that had applications reviewed Friday. Cedarville and Notre Dame were accepted. Ursuline and Mount Vernon Nazarene were also denied.

In all, 15 schools had applications reviewed Friday and seven were accepted, including Simon Fraser in Burnaby, B.C., the first Canadian college to gain NCAA status.

According to an NCAA release, committee members compared the applications against a set of minimum expectations the panel adopted this past year in sports sponsorship, compliance, personnel, strategic planning and financial aid among others.

The schools that were denied have 30 days to appeal the decision or can re-apply by June 2010. Howard expects Walsh to appeal. Grimes said Malone is deciding which route to go.

“We felt like we were locked on with their expectations,” Grimes said. “But this is just part of a process. Rather than a denial, we are calling it a delay.”

Malone officials were told there is concern with the number of part-time coaches on its staff. Only 11 of the 20 varsity sports Malone sponsors have full-time coaches.

“This is not a knock on the coaches we have, only that they don’t work full time on campus,” Grimes said. “The institution will have to make a financial commitment to this.”

For Walsh, one of the concerns centers around Howard, who also serves as the vice president of student affairs. The NCAA prefers athletic directors have no other responsibilities.

“They want some more detail on what I do,” Howard said. “I think it’s working OK, but ultimately they get to make those decisions. The question is, will my explanation be good enough, or will we have to look at splitting those jobs apart?”

Both schools received good marks for facilities, the number of sports offered and the amount of scholarships offered. The athletic directors will sit down with their presidents in the coming weeks and decide how to move forward.

“This is a big change for us. We didn’t meet the criteria, but we intend to,” Grimes said. “We knew that this was going to be a big transition for us.

“This is the first step to get the evaluation started. It came back saying we weren’t ready,” he said. “We definitely will continue. We want to produce the best athletic department we can, and we believe the NCAA is a big part of that goal for us.”