USD has a long road to go before it’s an “official” Division I school, but at least the first year was deemed a success by USD athletic director Joel Nielsen.
“I thought it was a great year on all fronts,” Nielsen said. “The challenges that we knew we would see, we saw, and we kept the unforeseen problems at a minimum this year.”
Competitively, the Coyotes were able to keep up with the tougher talent this year. The football, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball and softball teams all beat at least one D-I team.
“To get the first wins over a D-I opponent, was, in my opinion, extremely important,” Nielsen. “It says a lot about the quality of the programs, the student-athletes that we have and the coaches, but it also builds confidence for the future of all the programs.”
Maybe one of the biggest moments of the year was during the track and field’s indoor season.
USD hosted the Great West Conference Track and Field Indoor Championships, which by itself was a huge accomplishment because it was the first D-I championship ever held in South Dakota.
However, USD took it even one step more and swept both the men’s and women’s GWC indoor titles.
“To host and win the championship was really the highlight of the year,” Nielsen said.
USD will host the GWC Indoor Championships again next year as well as the GWC Outdoor Championships. Since USD doesn’t have its own outdoor track, the GWC Outdoor Championships will be held at Williams Field in Yankton, S.D.
This year, USD was considered a non-counter, which means games against USD didn’t count on the opponents records, and was unable to compete for a conference championship in many of its sports.
With the first year in the D-I transition over, USD will be able to drop the pesky non-counter status and will be able to play for a GWC championship in all of the sports.
“To have all the sports to play for a conference championship will be huge for the student-athletes and the coaches,” Nielsen said. “Getting over the hurdle of the non-counter status opens even more doors for all of our programs.”
USD did achieve one of its main goals during the D-I transition. On April 15, The Summit League voted USD into its conference. The Coyotes will become an official member of The Summit League starting July 1, 2011.
USD will continue to compete in the GWC for the next two years, but Nielsen said its important to start the planning process now.
“Having the certainity to know where we are going and the competition will allow our coaches to plan more appropriately for the level of competition they will face,” Nielsen said. “It will put the program in a different spot then what we’ve been in for the last two years.”
The Summit League offers every sport USD has except for football. USD’s football team will remain in the Great West Conference.
USD’s acceptance into The Summit League will allow the Coyotes to renew the rivalries with both South Dakota State University and North Dakota State University since both schools are members of The Summit League.
USD women’s head coach Ryun Williams used to play in the USD-SDSU basketball games and said the renewed rivalry will great for the state.
“Those games were my greatest memories and I think my teammates would say the same thing,” Williams said. “The fact that the rivalry will be renewed is great for South Dakota basketball in general.”
Reach reporter Justin Rust at Justin.Rust@usd.edu.
The Volante > News > Freshman Issue 2009
USD completes its first year in the Division I transition
Published: Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Updated: Tuesday, May 5, 2009
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