Men's Basketball Enhancements Highlight Summer Meetings
BOSTON – Recommendations aimed at enhancing America East men’s basketball and a continued commitment to its core initiatives highlighted the conference’s summer meetings, which concluded with the Board of Presidents meeting last week.
The Board unanimously approved a series of recommendations put forward by the conference’s Men’s Basketball Working Group and endorsed by the league’s Athletic Directors to reinforce the conference’s commitment to excellence to men’s basketball.
The recommendations include:
- Requirement that all member institutions offer cost of attendance by the start of 2020-21 season.
- Implementation of a non-conference scheduling framework that offers a strategy and guidelines for scheduling ahead of the 2020-21 season.
- Creation of a Basketball Technology Committee to research and offer recommendations on emerging technologies in the game.
- Enhanced branding efforts specific for men’s basketball.
“We are well-positioned to build on the success the conference and its members have enjoyed in men’s basketball,” said America East Commissioner, Amy Huchthausen. “These recommendations will help everyone focus on elevating the strength of our individual programs while collectively raising the league’s profile. We had a series of candid discussions over the past year about our strengths, opportunities and potential, which yielded many ideas to ensure our programs optimize their resources to support the recruitment and development of student-athletes. These approved recommendations are only a handful of changes you’ll see across the league to enhance men’s basketball.”
"As a coaches group, we're excited for these enhancements that will provide more resources to our programs," said Vermont head coach, John Becker. "We have successful teams, talented coaches and impressive student-athletes in this conference and these measures will help us continue to improve and reach the next level, both individually and as a league."
America East teams have enjoyed considerable success in recent years with the conference champion earning a 13-seed for the NCAA tournament in three of the past four seasons, the best such stretch in 23 years. The lone year the league champion did not earn a 13-seed, UMBC became the first 16-seed to ever knock off a 1-seed with its upset of Virginia. In total, 17 America East teams have posted 20-win campaigns over the past five seasons and 15 earned postseason berths with three teams advancing to the semifinals of a national postseason tournament.
In addition to the recommendations, NCAA Senior Vice President of Basketball, Dan Gavitt met with the league’s coaches and athletic directors and discussed national issues such as the first year of the NET, rules changes, recruiting and the NCAA selection process.
OTHER KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Several other items of importance were discussed by the Board meeting and at the America East Summer Meeting, which was held June 5-7 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. and consisted of the league’s athletic directors, senior woman administrators, men’s and women’s basketball coaches, and invited guests. Key items discussed include:
- Sports wagering. Both the Board and Administration Group heard from Andy Cunningham of Sportradar, a leading sports data and technology company, about the current landscape around sports wagering topics such as a federal/state regulatory status update and integrity monitoring, while the Administration Group also heard from Joni Comstock from the NCAA on the ongoing work of the national office and Board of Governors Ad Hoc Committee on Sports Wagering.
- Health and safety. The Board adopted policies and procedures to apply in extreme hot and cold weather in another example of the conference prioritizing the health and safety of its student-athletes. The Board and Administration Group also supported efforts to further grow the conference’s mental health initiative, #BetterTogether.
- Diversity and inclusion. America East continues to emphasize diversity & inclusion and will look to build off a banner year during which a record number of #SpreadRespect events were held and a partnership with RISE (Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality) was formed. The first-ever #SpreadRespect Forum, to be held October 20-21 at the University of Vermont, will bring constituents from all nine institutions to engage in dialogue about diversity and inclusion.
About America East: The America East Conference provides its member schools and their athletic programs a platform upon which student-athletes can achieve both collegiate and life success through the promotion and nurturing of athletic excellence, academic achievement and leadership, on and off the field. One of the most comprehensive Division I conferences in the country and progressive in its approach to its more than 3,200 student-athletes. America East recognizes champions in each of its 18 sports and consists of members spanning from the Mid-Atlantic to Northeast regions of the United States including: University at Albany, Binghamton University, University of Hartford, University of Maine, UMBC, UMass Lowell, University of New Hampshire, Stony Brook University and University of Vermont.
– #3Pillars – Building the Complete Student-Athlete –