Warren Wilson College accepted to NCAA Division III
The Valley Echo
At the end of February, the Warren Wilson College women's basketball team won the Eastern Metro Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament championship. In September, Warren Wilson will enter the NCAA Division III provisional membership process. Courtesy Warren Wilson College
An undertaking that began more than a year ago will lead to big changes for the athletic program at Warren Wilson College.
The NCAA Division III Membership Committee accepted the Owls into the NCAA Division III provisional membership process, effective Sept. 1, 2020.
The membership process brings additional sports and wider opportunities for student-athletes attending the Swannanoa college, while advancing the college’s vision of expanding its athletic programming.
“Our athletes look forward to being able to compete at the NCAA level,” said Joni Williamson, the director of athletics and adventure sports at Warren Wilson. “NCAA Division III is a natural fit for the college, is in alignment with our mission, and will continue to help us elevate our athletics program and provide a quality student-athlete experience.”
Benefits of membership include closer travel, conference and post-season championship opportunities, resources, grant opportunities and professional development.
Currently, the college is in the exploratory year of the membership process. Over the past year, Warren Wilson helped satisfy requirements by introducing lacrosse as a new varsity sport and hiring coaches for both women’s and men’s teams. The coaches are recruiting full teams during this academic year, and the teams will begin to practice and compete in the 2020-2021 academic year.
The membership committee commended this progress in its feedback.
“Launching two team sports in the same season and on the same timeline is a challenge, and the committee was pleased to see the hiring of these coaches a full year before the teams will begin competing,” the committee said in a letter of acceptance to Warren Wilson College.
Members from the NCAA membership committee visited Warren Wilson College last fall. The visit provided the opportunity for the committee to learn more about Warren Wilson and for the college to better understand the necessary steps in order to move forward within the membership process.
Warren Wilson currently has approximately 120 student-athletes which will increase with the addition of lacrosse and as team sizes increase. Other current varsity teams at the college include men’s and women’s basketball, cross country, cycling, soccer, swimming, and tennis.
The new classification will not affect the Owls cycling team, as it is not an NCAA-sponsored sport.
More than 180,000 student-athletes at 450 institutions make up Division III, making it the largest NCAA division both in number of participants and number of schools.
Warren Wilson is currently a member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Division II. The NCAA Division III membership process takes four years to complete, with Warren Wilson entering the second year of the process in September.