Barely a week after Saint Francis University, in a heart-stopper of a game, missed its chance to advance in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the tiny Catholic school in western Pennsylvania announced it would be seeking reclassification from Division I to Division III level.
The decision, announced Tuesday by the board of trustees, directs the administration to begin the process for the change to take place when the 2026-27 school year begins.
“This was not an easy nor a quick decision for the Board of Trustees,” said board chairman, the Very Rev. Joseph Lehman. “The governance associated with intercollegiate athletics has always been complicated and is only growing in complexity based on realities like the transfer portal, pay-for-play, and other shifts that move athletics away from love of the game.”
University President, the Very Rev. Malachi Van Tassell, said he has been concerned about the student-athlete experience for a number of years and described the change as being about “creating and maintaining community.“
The school’s 600-acre campus, sits in the remote borough of Loretto, in Cambria County, 150 miles northwest of Harrisburg.
“The geography of our conference is huge. Our students travel either to Chicago or to Boston or to points in between,” said Van Tassell. “That’s a lot of time not spent on campus, developing friendships or in the classroom.”
Saint Francis, which has just over 1,900 students and was the first Franciscan college in the country, qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1991 by winning the Northeast Conference.
The team was ousted by Alabama State, 70-68, in the First Four, 16-seed play-in game on March 18.
Saint Francis’ Josh Cohen shoots during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Butler, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)AP
The university said it will file the necessary paperwork with the NCAA and has accepted an invitation from the Division III Presidents’ Athletic Conference, which includes Allegheny, Case Western Reserve, Grove City, and Waynesburg, among other schools.
Saint Francis has a rich basketball legacy, dating to the early 1950s when future NBA all-star Maurice Stokes led the team to the NIT in 1955.
Stokes, who suffered a brain injury during a game while playing for the Cincinnati Royals in 1958, died 12 years later at 36. He was buried on the Saint Francis campus.
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