Final hurdle cleared for Oklahoma Christian to sprint to NCAA finish line

Oklahoma Christian Eagles

Oklahoma Christian was informed by the NCAA this week that the Membership Committee has recommended the school’s movement to Active Status.

This means the Eagles have passed the evaluations from the NCAA for the third and final year of the transition process and will receive full membership in Division II, pending the final announcement by the Management Council.ncaa_enhanced_m

Athletic Director Curtis Janz reflected on the effort put forward and is already looking ahead.

“I think it’s a big hurdle, this last one, with the Membership Committee,” Janz said. “And what it means for us – we’ve been in this process for four years – and being able to now cross the finish line and see all the work we’ve done is good.

“We’re really proud of all the work we’ve put in. But the big test now is getting down to competing against the other Division II schools and we’re just really looking forward to it.”

Oklahoma Christian is a member of the Heartland Conference and commissioner Tony Stigliano commended everyone involved.

“I think that’s a great reward for the university, their president, their athletic director and department,” Stigliano said. “They will be a full NCAA member in ’15-’16 school year, which means they will be able to participate in all conference championships for the NCAA in dealing with the automatic qualifiers. It gives them the opportunity to move forward.

“We’re very excited about having Oklahoma Christian being a full member in our conference and with Rogers (State) coming on next year, we’re very excited about our conference totally.”rp_primary_heartland

Stigliano also added that it was a “clean sweep” for the conference with good news from the Membership Committee as Lubbock Christian University also was recommended for full active membership in Division II.

The opportunity to compete in the NCAA postseason is among the most visible things this move to full membership means for OC, and Janz said it is great to now be eligible to do that.

“The hardest part about this has been that we’ve been playing Heartland Conference and a D-II schedule in every sport, but there’s been no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. You just finish your season.

“And even though we’ve had the NCCAA postseason, that’s not a day in and day out thing to shoot for. When you’re playing in a conference and you’re competing against those people every game, those are who you want to measure yourself against. And we haven’t had that.

“Now that’s one of the most exciting things for our student athletes – that postseason conference tournament “carrot” that’s out there now. It’s a really big deal!”

The Management Council will meet July 27-28 to put together the final and official word.

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