CUC announces new head coach

Concordia Chicago named Troy Campbell as its new head coach on Saturday. Campbell was most recently the head coach at New Prairie (New Carlisle, Ind.) High School.

-Ricky Nelson

Walby takes over at WUSTL

Vanessa Walby was named the new head coach at Washington-St. Louis on Dec. 23. Walby, who takes over for WUSTL interim head coach Luke Young, was most recently the head coach at the University of Chicago.

WUSTL Q&A with Walby

UC press release

-Ricky Nelson

NCAA.org redesign reinstates valuable info

People spoke. The NCAA listened.

NCAA.org redesigned its site. Here is the D-III women’s volleyball section of the redesigned site. It now has the good stuff available to anyone who wants to read it instead of making the stuff available to anyone who wishes to read it and has an NCAA username and password.

Did you want to read the 2013 D-III women’s volleyball pre-championship manual? How about the D-III women’s volleyball annual meeting report from February 2013 that included talk of four sets of regional rankings, moving the SCAC to the West Region, and limiting the perceived advantages of the UAA? Have at it. Finally.

I and others scoffed at the NCAA’s decision a few years ago to hide these important documents behind a password-protected wall. My frustration with the password system reached new heights when student-athletes emailed me each season to ask what regional rankings were, how they worked, when they were published, etc. These women who devoted much of their time and energy to their sport didn’t know how the postseason worked. And it wasn’t their fault. The players were actively seeking information. That should be applauded, not made impossible due to red tape and credentials.

I answered the players’ questions the best I could all the while shaking my head that the NCAA wouldn’t make the information readily available to anyone who wished to read it.

Thankfully, I was given a PDF copies of D-III volleyball pre-championship manuals upon request. I had to get D-III baseball manuals from member schools because NCAA PR flacks refused to give me a copy. If the only weekly D-III baseball national columnist had trouble securing a copy, what chance does a shortstop in the Skyline Conference have?

Even when I pressed an NCAA public relations official on the baseball manual, the answer was a version of “The public does not need to read that.” The public does not need to read how the NCAA tournament field is selected? Interesting public relations indeed.

I could go on, but I’ve devoted enough interview questions and keystrokes to the matter over the years. I’m very happy that I don’t have to anymore. I hope.

Transparency is good. Thank you, NCAA. But it must be stated one last time that it was completely unnecessary to keep information seekers in the dark for years.

-Ricky Nelson