Fresno Pacific set to become NCAA D-II member Sept. 1

Fresno Pacific, which captured 13 national titles during a 47-season run as a member of the NAIA, can now turn its attention toward pursuing NCAA championships.

The Sunbirds have been granted Division II membership status by the NCAA, completing a four-year transition process that was extended one year because of a sanction.

Once the management council ratifies the membership committee’s recommendation later this month, Fresno Pacific will become eligible to compete in NCAA Division II postseason play and enjoy full NCAA membership privileges effective Sept. 1.

“The time has come,” said Fresno Pacific President Dr. Richard Kriegbaum, who is also the acting athletic director. “Everyone has been waiting breathlessly for this for four years. It was a huge (relief) all over our institution.

“This is the wonderful conclusion to a process that was both rigorous and very thoughtful, designed not only to strengthen our athletic program, but to have effects on the whole university — and it did all of that for us.”

Fresno Pacific’s three-year provisional membership was extended one year last summer after a self-initiated investigation into the men’s and women’s tennis programs uncovered NCAA violations involving extra benefits, financial aid and ethical conduct. Fresno Pacific suspended its tennis teams for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons as a result of the improprieties.

No other potential concerns arose during the additional provisional year, and the Sunbirds received high marks from the NCAA in numerous areas at each stage of the process, according to Assistant Athletics Director for Communications Jeremiah Wood.

“As hard as some of those lessons learned were, they were really valuable for us,” Kriegbaum said. “Division II really matches our values really well. They have a very explicit set of policies that ensure the balance between academics and athletics.

“There are limits on competition and time in practice. There are systems that ensure not only compliance but prevention of violations, and ensure academic success by the student-athletes.”

Kriegbaum said Fresno Pacific submitted a roughly 1,800-page report to the NCAA as part of the application process, which included the addition of a full-time compliance officer and training across the university up to the board of trustees.

“It was a massive effort, and it does take a lot of time,” said Kriegbaum, who previously in his first stint as university president helped lead the Sunbirds into the NAIA. “But it raised all kinds of issues we knew we needed to address. (The NCAA) gave us time and help in doing that. It was a first-rate process.”

The Sunbirds become the 12th NCAA Division II member of the Pacific West Conference, Fresno Pacific’s primary alliance since leaving the NAIA at the end of the 2011 athletic season.

Fresno Pacific competed in the postseason in the National Christian College Athletic Association while the NCAA application process ran its course.

Sunbirds coaches embraced the news of full D-II membership after three seasons in the obscure NCCAA.

“This is a big deal,” baseball coach Oscar Hirschkorn said. “It’s been a long journey, but very gratifying to be on the other side of this process now.

“I’m thankful for the athletes who saw us through this process. We wouldn’t be here without them and the sacrifice they made. We were in a little bit of postseason limbo there, and those athletes still came and competed and got us through to this place. That can’t be understated.”

Men’s soccer coach Jaime Ramirez said he’s looking forward to the higher level of postseason competition the Sunbirds will find as an NCAA D-II member.

“It’s an exciting challenge ahead of us,” Ramirez said. “We can finally tell our student-athletes we are preparing for the NCAA Division II playoffs. Although being in the NCCAA was wonderful and met a need because of our circumstances, this is what we wanted to do and the direction we want to go. Now we can compete for conference, regional and national titles in the same way we did when we were in the NAIA.”

Kriegbaum said the university should have a new athletic director in place around the start of the fall semester. Leslie Schuemann resigned in June after 11/2 years as Fresno Pacific’s athletic director to become commissioner of the Heartland Conference.

“Getting NCAA Division II approval didn’t hurt at all in attracting candidates,” Kriegbaum said.

This story was originally published July 17, 2015 at 1:37 PM with the headline "Fresno Pacific set to become NCAA D-II member Sept. 1."