Back in business
And then there were two.
After dropping its women’s basketball program 15 years ago, Utah State University will reinstate the sport for the 2003-2004 academic year, leaving Virginia Military Institute and The Citadel as the only two Division I schools who sponsor men’s but not women’s basketball.
What has been an expected move by the university the last year or so became a reality Tuesday when USU President Kermit L. Hall and Athletics director Rance Pugmire officially announced the inclusion of the sport to the athletics program.
“We are thrilled and excited for not only our athletics program, but more importantly what it does for our entire university,” Pugmire said.
With the addition of women’s basketball, USU will be able to satisfy new Division I institutional requirements the NCAA announced last year. Among the stipulations are having 16 Division I sports.
While having 16 intercollegiate teams will aid the Aggies in their quest to join a conference that supports all 16 of their teams, Pugmire said the decision to add the sport stems from the fact that adding women’s basketball is “the right thing to do.”
“We’re adding women’s basketball simply because it is the right thing to do,” he said. “It’s one of the four premiere sports on every Division I institution in America, and if we’re going to be a Division I institution, than we want to have those four premiere sports.”
Perhaps more importantly, the decision to reinstate women’s basketball is a step toward the advancement of female students in general at USU, President Hall said.
“Women’s basketball needs to be understood as part of a larger commitment to creating an environment for success and competition [for women at USU],” he said.
Among those present at the press conference was Associated Students of USU President Steve Palmer, whom President Hall and Pugmire credited for helping make this announcement a reality.
“This will do more for the national reputation of Utah State right now than possibly anything else we can do,” Palmer said.
Women’s basketball – which was discontinued along with the men’s cross country team, following the 1986-1987 season because of statewide budget cuts – will begin competition in the Big West Conference in the 2003-2004 season.
Although the schedule has yet to be made, the Aggies will play 18 conference games and nine non-conference games, Pugmire said. The Aggies will be eligible for both the Big West and national tournaments their first year of competition.
In order to be competitive with other teams in the conference, Pugmire said the university will need a women’s basketball budget in the $450,000 to $500,000 range – the average expense for the other schools in the conference.
“That’s where we want to be,” he said. “We want to be competitive right away.”
When asked about the hiring of a head coach for the program, Pugmire said he and Mary Ellen Cloninger, senior associate athletic director for Internal Operations, plan on attending the women’s NCAA basketball Tournament to speak with some prospective candidates. Both he and Cloninger will attend the Final Four, held in San Antonio the beginning of April, he said.
“We hope to have a coach in place some time in May,” he said. “That is a very important recruiting period for the following year.”
The addition of women’s basketball will also be beneficial when it comes to building positive relations with the city of Logan, President Hall said.
“When viewed from the prospective that women will provide more entertainment and more sporting opportunities in the city, that’s a good thing for the relationship we are creating [with the city],” he said.
Chalyce Stevens, head coach of the women’s club team, was practically speechless when she found out about the decision.
“I have butterflies right now thinking about this,” she said.