Don Owen: Seeking a new home, Thomas More finds possible fit in NAIA’s Mid-South Conference

Searching for a new home is always an invigorating experience. It’s simultaneously fun and stressful, not to mention an exercise filled with risk and plenty of questions.

Is the location right? Are the neighbors a good fit? Is the house itself structurally sound?

Thomas More College is currently seeking a new home, having announced last May its intention to withdraw from the Presidents’ Athletic Conference following the 2017-18 academic year. It now appears the Saints have indeed found the right location, a friendly group of neighbors and a solid history as its foundation. But not in the NCAA, the organization Thomas More has competed in at the Division III level since 1990.

Instead, Thomas More appears headed to the NAIA.

Before you giggle or make the obligatory jokes once associated with NAIA members, consider the present realities of college athletics. The NCAA is in complete shambles, its membership ripped apart at the seams by greed, corruption and incompetence. Division I is more comedy than competition these days, including the assortment of scandals recently exposed by the FBI. And if you really need a good chuckle, toss in the never-ending hypocrisy that promotes student-athletes as its primary mission when money is the obvious motivation for everything in Division I.

NCAA Division II has always been a collection of nomads, institutions that lack the finances to join the big-timers but nevertheless want to win championships while giving out athletic scholarships. For many years, Division II developed an NCAA outlaw-type image, with several elite programs winning national championships — only to later be placed on probation for major violations of the rules. It also incorporated the most ham-handed slogan of all-time years ago, the infamous “I Chose Division II” campaign. I worked for a Division II institution at the time, and that slogan provided plenty of laughs for many of my colleagues.

While NCAA Division III is more aligned with the actual student-athlete concept, Thomas More has outgrown that level in some respects. The Saints women’s basketball team won back-to-back Division III national championships in 2015 and ’16, though the NCAA later forced Thomas More to vacate the ’15 title for using an ineligible player.

Dating back to 2012, the Thomas More women posted 135 consecutive victories against PAC opponents on the court. This season, the Saints won conference games by an average score of 90-47. Preparing for the NCAA Division III Tournament, you’d have to believe Thomas More would have preferred more competition than the PAC could offer.

Thomas More has also dominated the Presidents’ Athletic Conference in several other sports, winning both men’s and women’s soccer titles as well as the volleyball championship during the fall. Since joining the PAC in 2005, the Saints have become the preeminent athletics program and a split was inevitable.

Last June, Thomas More president David A. Armstrong said the school’s athletic programs were withdrawing from the PAC because “we feel it is the best time for TMC to seek new partnerships which will enhance our strategic goals.”

That new partnership appears to be in the NAIA’s Mid-South Conference — and it’s a good fit for many reasons. Just ask Terry Connor, now in his 18th year as Thomas More’s athletic director.

“The NAIA and the Mid-South have member schools that share the same size, mission and values with Thomas More,” Connor pointed out Wednesday. “Thomas More also has a long history with the NAIA as well as a number of the schools in the Mid-South, as we were members of the NAIA up until 1990.”

Just to clear up any confusion, Thomas More has only been invited to join the NAIA and the Mid-South Conference. Connor noted his school has not accepted the invitations as of yet, even though a release sent out by the NAIA office on Tuesday stated “Thomas More’s membership becomes effective at the beginning of the 2019-20 academic year.”

Said Connor: “We are already committed to compete as an NCAA Division III independent for the 2018-19 academic year. We just want to make sure that the NAIA is not just for today, but for the future of [Thomas More].”

That logic is totally understandable, according to Mid-South Conference commissioner Eric Ward. “Thomas More is going through the proper steps to clear everything up with the NCAA, making sure they don’t do anything to jeopardize their postseason opportunities as a Division III independent next season,” Ward said. “They have submitted all the necessary paperwork, and they received approval from the NAIA. We’re just waiting to hear from them.”

The Mid-South Conference features five schools from Kentucky — Georgetown, Campbellsville, University of the Cumberlands, Pikeville and Lindsey Wilson — along with Life (Ga.), Cumberland (Tenn.) and Shawnee State as full members. Instead of long trips to Pennsylvania for conference games, Thomas More would have natural rivals and easier travel in the Mid-South.

“The Mid-South is a good geographical fit,” Connor said. “Fans are going to be able to travel a lot more to support the teams, as travel is shorter in the Mid-South compared to our current conference. They are going to be able to see high-level contests every night. The student-athletes are going to be competing against individuals they played with or against in high school, which takes competition to another level.”

If you’re a Thomas More fan, the prospect of meeting Georgetown for meaningful conference games has to be more exciting than playing Chatham, Geneva or Grove City. Competing against Pikeville, Campbellsville, the Cumberlands and Lindsey Wilson would also reap benefits for Thomas More. Familiarity in this case could produce big rivalries, something teams in the PAC could never do. Plus, you can also drive to away games in the Mid-South Conference and return home late that evening. Not so in the PAC, where travel dictated overnight stays and hotel expenses.

As far as input from Thomas More faculty, staff and students regarding the potential move to the NAIA, Connor said there has “been ongoing dialogue with these groups while we have been reviewing our options the past eight to 10 months.” He also emphasized Thomas More administrators have “never told anyone (including student-athletes) the course we are taking as we have not made a final decision.”

A flurry of activity within the NAIA commenced this week, with the organization announcing it would merge its two existing basketball divisions into one beginning in 2020-21. The NAIA currently is split into Division I and Division II levels. In addition to combining the two divisions, the NAIA announced basketball programs would have an eight-scholarship limit as of 2020-21.

At the moment, NAIA Division I members give out 11 scholarships in basketball, while NAIA Division II programs currently have six scholarships.

Competing in NCAA Division III, Thomas More did not award athletic scholarships. With reduced travel costs, as it would no doubt enjoy as a member of the Mid-South Conference, moving to the NAIA could be a financially prudent move by Thomas More’s administration. It will take some creative thinking and smart bookkeeping, but it’s a better option than trying to put together a basketball schedule as an NCAA Division III independent. Do you think there are a lot of league-affiliated basketball coaches looking for non-conference games in February? Or even January?

Ward said the presidents from the other Mid-South Conference schools “voted Thomas More in unanimously” beginning in the 2019-20 academic year. “There’s a great deal of interest in them,” he said. “We’re prepared for them to join and will assist them as they go through the process.”

It certainly sounds like Thomas More has found a new home, and the neighbors are set to welcome the Saints with open arms. Now it’s just a matter of closing the deal and formally accepting the invitation.

Contact Don Owen at don@nkytrib.com and follow him on Twitter at @dontribunesport