Wright State Basketball: Raiders D1 status threatened by cuts
Wright State recently announced they would be cutting men’s and women’s tennis as well as softball bringing their number of sponsored sports below the threshold, could Wright State basketball lose their division one eligibility?
With the most recent cuts made by the Wright State athletic department, the Raiders now only sponsor 11 division one sports, the NCAA requires that a school sponsor 14 total sports, seven men’s and seven women’s. With the cuts made this week Wright State will now only sponsor six women’s sports and five men’s.
In an effort to remain a division one institute, Wright State said they have “been in contact with the NCAA and will pursue a waiver to remain in compliance”. If Wright State is unable to get the waiver necessary to be a division one program it would cause even more devastation to a school that has been struggling financially.
Wright State basketball has had five straight 20 plus win seasons in the Horizon League and most recently had an NCAA tournament appearance in 2018. They are back to back Horizon League regular-season champions and are consistently one of the best teams in the conference.
If Wright State were to lose their division one status, head coach Scott Nagy would probably be leaving the program if for no other reason than his salary. Nagy has been a fresh breath of air to the Raiders program and has really put his program in a position to win the Horizon League tournament year in and year out. Scott would be highly sot after if he were to move on.
It’s hard to imagine a world where Wright State would lose their eligibility and one would hope that athletic director Bob Grant has a plan in place for the school to maintain their division one eligibility.
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It would be a real shame to see Wright State demoted and lose their spot in the Horizon League. This is a developing situation and something to keep your eye on as Wright State works to pursue the waiver necessary to stay in compliance with division one rules.