Eric Knopsnyder
eknopsnyder@tribdem.com
JOHNSTOWN —
During his long tenure as athletic director, Ed Sherlock saw how it became increasingly difficult for Pitt-Johnstown to compete independently in NCAA Division II.
The Mountain Cats just couldn’t find opponents to play as more and more schools were locked into conference schedules.
Sherlock, who led the school’s athletic department from 1970 to 2001, initially discussed the possibility of the Mountain Cats joining other western Pennsylvania schools to form their own conference. When that didn’t work, he considered the now-defunct Mason Dixon Conference. Later, there was talk of UPJ joining the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
But none of those schools were the right fit.
By the time Sherlock was ready to retire around the turn of the century, it had become apparent that competing as an independent was no longer a viable option. The Mountain Cats eventually found a home in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 2006.
“The West Virginia conference was really great,” Sherlock said. “Any conference affiliation was good, but the West Virginia conference was great for a lot of our sports.”
Monday’s announcement that the nine football-playing members of the WVIAC were leaving UPJ and five other schools without the sport to form a new conference changed all of that.
Now, the Mountain Cats will begin the search for a new home again, just six years after they joined the WVIAC.
“It’s been a great fit for us,” current A.D. Pat Pecora said of the WVIAC. “We’ve been a proud member of the WVIAC.”
WVIAC Commissioner Barry Blizzard, who like Pecora had no idea that Charleston, Concord, Fairmont State, Glenville State, Seton Hill, Shepherd, West Liberty, West Virginia State and West Virginia Wesleyan were plotting to leave the conference, said UPJ has been a “great member.
“No complaints at all with UPJ,” Blizzard said. “Very professional staff. Very much involved with everything that we do. (UPJ President) Dr. (Jem) Spectar is a great guy. Pat Pecora is a great guy. They’re just great members.”
UPJ now faces a number of options moving forward. The school can try to pick up the pieces with the remaining non-football members of the WVIAC: Alderson-Broaddus, Bluefield State, Davis & Elkins, Ohio Valley and Wheeling Jesuit.
There are some obstacles to that scenario. First off, there is the requirement that NCAA Division II conferences must have at least eight members. Blizzard said that standard is set to increase to 10, meaning that even if the conference is granted a temporary waiver by the NCAA to increase membership, it would need to find at least four more members. With so few independent schools remaining in NCAA Division II, that would be difficult to do without raiding another conference.
Compounding the problem is the fact that Alderson-Broaddus is moving forward with plans to start a football program. That would make the Battlers a poor fit with the other remaining schools.
The second scenario could have UPJ joining the PSAC nearly three decades after the move was last contemplated. The conference would seem to be a better geographic fit for UPJ.
“Right off the bat, it would be less travel,” Pecora said.
The PSAC includes 16 full-time members in IUP, Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Gannon, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Mercyhurst, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester. Each of those has a Division II football program except for Mansfield, but the associate membership of New York’s C.W. Post makes up for that, as the New York school competes in the PSAC in football and field hockey only.
The biggest drawback for admission to the PSAC in past years was that UPJ was not a member of the state system, but the conference admitted private schools Mercyhurst and Gannon in 2008, and PSAC Commissioner Steve Murray said those additions have made the league stronger.
And while the decision of whether or not UPJ could join the PSAC would ultimately be up to the schools’ presidents, Murray doesn’t see it as a bad fit.
“I think the geographic footprint is probably one of the most important things,” Murray said. “Obviously, (UPJ does) that pretty well. I think that not having football would be a conversation piece, but we have a school that doesn’t. Six years ago it would have been “no,” but now I see that door being more open than closed.”
In addition to the travel benefits of joining the PSAC, Pitt-Johnstown also could gain an edge in recruiting. Most of the school’s student-athletes are from Pennsylvania, and the chance to play against a number of local schools rather than facing a West Virginia-based schedule could appeal to recruits.
The other potential drawback in any plan for UPJ to join the PSAC is the fact that the conference would not want an odd number of teams, so the Mountain Cats would have to find a partner in joining the league.
“It depends on who is coming with them,” Murray said of the hypothetical scenario of a UPJ application to the PSAC. “One school isn’t going to join our league. If we were to expand, it would not just be one school. That would throw off too many (schedules). It would need to be the right combination.”
That’s what UPJ has been seeking for the majority of the past four decades.
