BY: Allison Singleterry
Auburn University at Montgomery recently became a full Division II member of the NCAA in the Gulf South Conference.
Jessie Rosa, AUM’s Director of Athletics, says it has been about a 10 year process to fully make the switch to this division and conference. This process started years ago by first having at least 10 sports participating for the university. From this point, they had to get approval from the Auburn University Board and the NCAA. Once they had the approval they needed, they were able to move forward in the process. From this point, it took three years to fully transition into the NCAA. During this transition period, all of the sports could compete, but they were not eligible to participate in post-season play. This means that even if they were ranked highly enough, they were not allowed to compete in the conference playoffs.
Making the switch to NCAA has a lot of benefits for not only the sports programs but also for the university as a whole. Simply having the title of being an NCAA Division II school attracts the attention of higher profile athletes. Rosa says that people are more aware of what the NCAA is and there is more visibility within NCAA. The association promotes their teams well, which helps with recruitment. Rosa says “there’s a heightened sense of interest when associated with the NCAA,” which can be useful for the overall student body.
Rosa believes the athletics department has set themselves up well with student-athletes, coaching staff, etc. to make a large impact on the conference across all sports this year.
Now that AUM is a full member of the NCAA, all sports have the opportunity to play for post-season competition. There is now the opportunity for student-athletes and coaches to be given conference honors and awards. AUM women’s soccer player Ruby Mendez was named to the Pre-season All-GSC team just weeks after the official switch to the NCAA. This was the first official NCAA recognition given to any of AUM’s student-athletes.