Grand Canyon University Making Big Jump To Division I, Joins WAC

November 28, 2012 / Swimming
FOX Sports Arizona

http://www.foxsportsarizona.com/11/27/12/Grand-Canyon-going-Division-I-joins-WAC/landing.html?blockID=826711&feedID=3702

Grand Canyon University announced Wednesday it has accepted an invitation to join the Western Athletic Conference and will begin the process of reclassification from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I status in athletics during the 2013-14 academic year.

“This is an historic day in the life of Grand Canyon University,” said Brian Mueller, the University’s president and chief executive officer. “We have made a commitment to excellence in athletics, just as we have academically, and that commitment has been recognized by the invitation to join the Western Athletic Conference, a conference with a storied past. NCAA Division I status will raise our university’s profile and illuminate the great things happening at Grand Canyon.”

Grand Canyon joins the WAC lineup to replace the University of Denver, which bolted for the Summit League after just one year in the WAC. But the WAC must find another school — and quickly — in order to keep its automatic qualifying berths in the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.

Grand Canyon, with an enrollment of 6,500, joins Cal State-Bakersfield, Idaho, New Mexico State, Seattle and Utah Valley in the WAC, which is dropping football next year.

“We welcome Grand Canyon University to the WAC and look forward to helping them make the transition in becoming a highly competitive Division I institution,” said WAC interim commissioner Jeff Hurd. “This is another important step in the rebuilding process of the WAC as we continue to strengthen the conference.”

Grand Canyon is currently a member of the NCAA Division II Pacific West Conference and will remain eligible for all PacWest Championships as well as NCAA Division II postseason play in 2012-13.

Its athletic teams will begin competing as Division I programs beginning next year, but because reclassification to Division I athletics is a four-year process, Grand Canyon will not be eligible for NCAA Championships. Following the transitional four-year period, providing the University has met all NCAA standards, it will become a full Division I member.

“Grand Canyon University is extremely grateful and thankful that this day has come,” said athletic director Keith Baker. “This is obviously not an overnight process. We are appreciative that the Western Athletic Conference Board has presented this invitation of membership, permitting GCU the opportunity to apply for reclassification of our athletics program to NCAA Division I, a process that we have already begun.”

The Antelopes are coming off of a 2011-12 season that saw them crowned as winners of the Division II Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup, which recognizes the top university based on athletic performance. GCU won a national title in men’s indoor track and field and saw 16 teams make postseason appearances.

“We owe special thanks to so many,” said Baker. “Our fellow Pacific West Conference member schools have been patient with us in this process. We will continue our devotion to furthering the significance of that association of schools over the coming months. The PacWest has provided a great platform from which to launch the next phase of our own institutional development.”

This fall, the Grand Canyon men’s soccer team advanced to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16, and its women’s volleyball team has qualified for the NCAA West Regional. Its wrestling, men’s and women’s swimming and women’s basketball programs are all nationally ranked.

“We have a great group of student-athletes at GCU,” Baker said. “The process that we are about to enter will provide them with a new competitive environment. We are committed to helping them continue to have successful student-athlete experiences.”

Grand Canyon’s facilities include the newly built 5,000-seat Grand Canyon University Arena, home to the men’s and women’s basketball teams, and a 55,000-square-foot state-of-the-art recreation center.


Leave a Reply