Making the jump: Seattle University has left Division II to play with the big schools

Nov 28, 2008 (Anchorage Daily News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- DIS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Seattle University's debut in the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout marked the Redhawks' official goodbye to the UAA Seawolves, their former Division II conference rivals.

For the first time in 28 years, Seattle, as a D-I program, earned a victory over a D-I team with Thursday's 61-46 win over Louisiana Tech at Sullivan Arena. By winning, the Redhawks avoided a potential meeting with the Seawolves in the consolation bracket.

Seattle's win was just the start for a storied program that was a D-I powerhouse in the 1950s and '60s. In 1980 it dropped to the Division III level, but its elite status returned this decade when the Redhawks moved up to Division II while playing in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with the Seawolves, who were 14-6 all-time against the Redhawks.

But for the next few years, the Redhawks are in for some growing pains as they adjust to life at college basketball's highest level.

"We're learning a lot, transitioning into D-I," Seattle coach Joe Callero said.

Seattle's entire athletic department moved up to D-I this school year. Its men's basketball team said goodbye to the GNAC and hello to an independent status. From now on, the Redhawks will play big-time programs in the Big Sky, Big West, Pac-10 and Big Ten.

"Somebody asked me what conference we're in," Callero said. "I said about seven of them."

Though the Redhawks lost their rivalries and opportunities for conference titles, Callero looks at becoming an independent as a positive. Going D-I means more scholarship money to lure blue chip recruits, playing in a top-notch facility and going up against some of the nation's best programs.

"The opportunity at Seattle U has no ceiling," Callero said.

For instance, the Redhawks have moved into the 14,000-seat Key Arena in downtown Seattle thanks to the departure of the city's NBA team, the Oklahoma City Thunder -- formerly known as the Seattle Supersonics.

"Some people think going D-I puts a lot of pressure on us," Seattle senior Austen Powers said. "But we're a good team. Our coach has confidence in us."

If there's a downside to moving up, it's the fact the school will have to come up with a lot more money, said UAA athletic director Dr. Steve Cobb.

Let's say UAA -- which currently competes at the D-I level in hockey, gymnastics and skiing, but is D-II in every other sport -- pulled a Seattle U and moved its entire athletic department to D-I. Cobb said it would cost UAA $3.5-4 million more a year.

"That's serious money," Cobb said.

Why so much more?

It requires a serious facelift for an athletic department. A D-I school needs better facilities and more employees -- compliance officers, trainers, tutors and coaches -- than most D-II schools have. Seattle added more of everything, Cobb said, just to provide support to its athletic department.

Demographically, UAA's profile fits a D-I profile much more than a D-II one, Cobb said, because it's among the largest D-II institutions in the nation. The average D-II enrollment is 4,000 to 5,000 students. UAA's is 19,000.

So is Division I an option for UAA's entire athletic department?

"Not right now," Cobb said. "Due to our unbelievable lack of facilities we would be laughed out of the application process."

Besides, he doesn't think being an independent D-I team is much better than being a D-II team in a strong conference.

"Independence is nowhere to live anymore," he said. "It just doesn't work."

But Callero said the timing is perfect for the men's basketball program to move up a step. The Redhawks are coming off their third straight winning season.

"We needed some winning seasons," he said.

They also needed a university president willing to support such a bold move.

Father Stephen Sundborg, the school's president, is the reason this Jesuit college located in the heart of Seattle is returning men's basketball to the place where it once had a long and rich NCAA history.

The program is perhaps best known for producing NBA Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor, who led Seattle into the 1958 NCAA championship game.

Or perhaps for being the only team to beat Don Haskins' 1966 Texas Western University -- the team depicted in the 2005 Disney movie 'Glory Road" -- in its championship season.

Or maybe for beating the Harlem Globetrotters at a time when no one beat the Harlem Globetrotters.

But because of financial reasons, D-I basketball disappeared at Seattle in 1980. Not until the late 1990s did Sundborg restore the university's NCAA membership to D-III after it had played NAIA for nearly 20 years. The school moved to D-II in the fall of 2002.

"Father Sundborg is the catalyst for our move," Callero said. "It's his wisdom, knowledge and experience to know where Seattle is going."

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