Mercyhurst to d1

More to the point, Forbes gives them a financial grade of C-.  Are they expecting to make any money from this?

Point of comparison:  Birmingham Southern also had a grade of C-, recently closed :

https://community.hsbaseballwe...ge-closing-its-doors

If they had a jv baseball team, presumably they relied on that to bring in paying students.

Good point @anotherparent.  Where is the funding/money coming from to go fully into D1?  More scholarships for baseball?   As I read through some info about Mercyhurst, they apparently already have two sports in D1 and others in D2.  D1 Hockey is probably their revenue sport if at all.   

Their baseball team isn't exactly tearing it up at the D2 level, so you'd expect them to have challenges at the D1 level.  Fortunately, they appear to be joining the D1 NEC conference which has the 29th strongest RPI out of 30 in all of D1.  https://www.warrennolan.com/ba.../2024/rpi-conference    So, this might not be a significant level change.   

"The University's intercollegiate athletics program is comprised of 25 varsity sports, with the Lakers fielding teams in 14 women's sports and 13 men's sports. Two of the programs compete at the Division I level (men's and women's ice hockey) while 22 participate on the Division II stage. Men's rowing is the only varsity sport not recognized by the NCAA as a championship sport, while Stunt has been recognized by the NCAA as an Emerging Sport."

Mercyhurst is obviously using a JV to help fund their program. In today’s world that is the purpose of a JV - full paying players that help fund the program for a long shot opportunity of actually getting to play. On top of that I’m sure that they do other things to raise funds for the program. Because they are joining the NEC they probably won’t incur any increase in travel expenses and they aren’t required to offer 11.7 scholarships - that’s just the maximum number they are allowed to offer. They may not even be fully funded under D2 guidelines (which I believe is a 9 scholarship maximum). A move to D1 doesn’t translate into more scholarships to offer. My guess is that Mercyhurst believes a move from D2 to D1 will increase interest in their program and will generate even more tuition revenue from student athletes that want to say they are part of a D1 program. Even if it’s a lousy D1 program. And unfortunately they are probably right. IMO it’s a move to capitalize on the ridiculous “D1 or bust” mindset of so many HS baseball players.

Really good info.  I knew that about the baseball team, which is why I was wondering what will happen to those players that aren't quite at that level.  Will be interesting to see.

@Dadof3 posted:

Really good info.  I knew that about the baseball team, which is why I was wondering what will happen to those players that aren't quite at that level.  Will be interesting to see.

If they’re serious about competing, even just moving to the NEC there will be a lot of transfers on the roster next year. Right now they’re a below average D2 program. Moving up and getting annihilated every game won’t help recruiting.

It appears their entire current roster is from the PA-OH-NY triangle. Erie is almost equidistant to Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

I get it, makes sense. Those kids better start reaching out to find a new home possibly.

my son played at  Mercyhurst , graduated 8 years ago. I have never known them to have a JV team.

The long time head coach became the new AD prior to this season, they are operating under an interim HC this season. It will be interesting to see if the move to D1 will create more interest in the position.

Mercyhurst has had a lot of success at the D2 level, having had 3 D2 World Series appearances in the last 8-9 years, along with numerous draft picks. I would expect them to field a competitive team in the new conference. The roster should have an entirely different look to it next season. It will also be interesting to see what kind of non conference schedule they will build, that is where they may take some brutal beatings.

One thing that will never change is the springtime weather in Erie, PA. Whoever goes to play there better enjoy winter conditions.

MercyHurst's 2022 baseball financials are similar to Le Moyne, who went D1 this year.   Le Moyne 2023 budget might provide a hint as to the MercyHurst approach.

Note, the EADA Cutting tool shows the 2023 operating expense, but not the Total Expense/Revenue for baseball

2023 information should be available this month

Ah...nothing like an update to a homewtown team. They did have success at D2 level. There longtime coach (Joe Jordano) then moved to to becoming the HC at Pitt.

There's always the Gardner-Webb approach of running a "developmental" team for whoever wants to pay to (not) play.

Auderbon, interesting!