Mid-South Community College has successfully petitioned the National Junior College Athletic Association to move from Division III to Division II for the 2012-13 and 2013-2014 basketball seasons.
The change will allow MSCC to offer tuition, fee, and book scholarships to studentathletes, will give the Greyhounds a better opportunity to qualify for post-season play, and will make playoff participation more economically feasible.
The switch to Division II will not result in any additional institutional expenditures for the athletic program. Private contributions to the Mid-South Community College Foundation Inc. will cover the cost of the scholarships. Thomas B. Goldsby Jr. (Terry McFarland Athletic Scholarship) and Tabetha Bramucci (Harold Patterson Memorial Athletic Scholarship) have recently established awards designed to assist student-athletes.
“We’re excited about competing in Division II,” said Jason Carmichael, MSCC Athletic Director and Dean of Students. “We feel good about what we have already been doing and what we’ll be able to do going forward. We have a great staff and a great support system in place.”
“The ability to offer scholarships is going to improve our relationships with our student-athletes because they will understand even more how much we are committed to them and their futures. What we’re saying is, ‘we are investing in you; we believe in you; we want to see you grow.’ That speaks to a lot of students today. There’s just something magical about that word ‘scholarship’ for many young people."
MSCC President Dr. Glen Fenter said remaining in Division III would have kept the Greyhounds at a competitive and scheduling disadvantage. The move, unanimously approved by the College’s Board of Trustees, will boost the fledgling program in multiple ways.
“Participating in Division III is very difficult because we can’t find enough Division III teams to play in our region,” Dr. Fenter said. “Our original intent was to play like-minded institutions and folks we thought we had the possibility of seeing down the line, but those schools are not very close to us. We ended up traveling a long way in hopes of qualifying the playoffs.”
Division II tournament play is more geographically convenient for the Greyhounds, and the post-season qualification process is more streamlined as well. Dr. Fenter said the college would not have considered the change from Division III to Division II if not for interest and financial support from the community.
“If we did not have any money to fund scholarships, this move would not make any sense,” he said. “We have enjoyed moderate success in our fund-raising effort, and we think we can sustain the athletic scholarships.”
“We can certainly be more competitive this way. We can stay closer to home, and we can possibly keep some of the local young people who think they are doing the right thing by going to Little Rock, Conway, or Mississippi.”
The scholarship focus will be on Arkansas athletes.
“We want to make certain we were taking care of the young people who live here,” Dr. Fenter added. “One of the things we’ve discovered in the last two years is that we are doing a pretty good job, but there are still a number of kids who really should stay who are leaving, primarily because somebody else can offer them a small athletic scholarship. We are now on even playing field with those folks.”
Carmichael said scheduling for the next two years will not look much different from a fan’s perspective. “We’ll probably continue to play many of the same schools.”
Coaches Chris Parker and Kimberly Turner are excited about the opportunity to level the playing field.
“Playing in Division II will be more cost effective and will give us the opportunity to be competitive year in and year out,” said Parker, who leads the men’s team. “It doesn’t get much better than that.”
“We’ll have a more realistic opportunity to keep some of our better high school players closer to home, and that’s exciting,” Turner said. “We’ll also have the potential to be more competitive with all of the Division I teams we play, so it will be a win-win situation for us.”
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