UMM coach accepts D II position

Former University of Minnesota Morris head coach Chad Braegelmann will coach St. Cloud State University, an NCAA Division II institution, in 2015. Braegelmann replaces former College of Saint Benedict coach Michelle Blaeser, who had coached SCSU since 2010 before being placed on paid leave in October and stepping down in April.

Braegelmann’s hire by SCSU was announced on July 6. Current UW-Stevens Point head coach Abbey Sutherland was also one of the three finalists for the SCSU position. UMM, which has begun its search, expects to name a new head coach in early August.

As far as I know, UMM and Blackburn are the only Central or Midwest Region teams that have not named new head coaches for the 2015 season.

-Ricky Nelson

NWU to join IIAC, become exclusive member of D III in 2016-17

Nebraska Wesleyan University will shed its unique distinction as the only dual member of the NAIA and the NCAA Division III, joining the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for the 2016-17 academic year. The agreement was forged on July 13 and announced this afternoon.

NWU will now have the distinction of becoming the only IIAC institution not located in Iowa. The IIAC will expand to nine institutions with the addition of NWU.

NWU will become an exclusive member of the D III effective July 1, 2016.

[Thank you to a reader for the tip]
-Ricky Nelson

Ricky Nelson’s 2015 preseason top 25

This is my second year posting a preseason top 25. Once the season gets underway, I’ll post my weekly top 10.

Some of my preseason polls have been better than others, but my preseason rankings tend to be different from the AVCA poll. See my preseason polls from 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011.

1. Calvin
2. Cal Lutheran
3. Emory
4. Washington-St. Louis
5. Wittenberg
6. Hope
7. Colorado College
8. Christopher Newport
9. Wisconsin-Stevens Point
10. Carthage
11. Clarkson
12. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
13. Juniata
14. DePauw
15. Eastern
16. Mary Hardin-Baylor
17. Augsburg
18. Hendrix
19. Wisconsin-Oshkosh
20. Whitworth
21. John Carroll
22. Southwestern
23. La Verne
24. Williams
25. Dominican

Another very solid 10 teams (alphabetical order): Bethany; Bluffton; Bowdoin; Carnegie Mellon; Chicago; Randolph-Macon; Stockton; UMass Boston; Washington & Lee; Wisconsin-Whitewater.

I like several other teams in the preseason, but lists have to end somewhere. Tell me where I’m wrong.

-Ricky Nelson