DU has longed for West Coast Conference membership since rejoining Division I athletics in 1998, according to Athletic Director Josh Berlo during the joint WCC/DU virtual press conference announcing DU’s acceptance of the conference’s membership offer. The deal was finalized in lightning speed as it took less than two weeks to seal final acceptance.
WCC commissioner Stu Jackson cited informal social contact, especially over the past year, as the start of discussions. Then, after a series of meetings across both organizations, after less than two weeks of in-depth discussions, the WCC extended an offer to the Pioneers. DU’s administration, athletic department, and Board of Trustees showed rare combined agility, speed, and alignment in accepting the offer to join the West Coast Conference. DU is the conference’s 11th member, and Jackson confirmed that the search will continue for a 12th, noting that a dozen members matches the conference’s ideal membership vision.
With the WCC offer, DU had to commit to a greater focus on men’s and women’s basketball. Plans were shared in DU & WCC press releases to upgrade Hamilton Gym with individual seating and retrofit Magness Arena to make it more basketball-friendly. A recent proposal by DU to the City of Denver to add sky boxes on the west end of the Ritchie Center for lacrosse may be used as box seats for Hamilton Gym as well.
According to Athletic Director Josh Berlo, new basketball head coach Tim Bergstrasser is “fired up and ready for the challenge.” The newest future members of the WCC, Denver and Seattle University, face each other in Seattle on Monday, November 3rd, as an early basketball litmus test. While Berlo stated that success in men’s basketball “may not happen overnight,” the DU Athletic Department will “lean into the things that we have in other (successful) programs,” such as soccer, hockey, and lacrosse. “We embrace the challenge.”
Chancellor Jeremy Haefner, featured prominently during the press conference, laid out the non-athletics business case. After discussions with his peer presidents in the WCC, he concluded the fit will extend well beyond sport. Haefner cited academic alignment, media reach, values, collaboration, recruiting, philanthropy, and engagement – particularly with valuable West Coast stakeholders. Also, Haefner mentioned US News & World Report rankings and the elevated status of the peer schools in the WCC, which can bolster Denver’s visibility and standing going forward.
Speculation has swirled around the Summit League’s stability over the past year. North Dakota State University and South Dakota have been courted by other conferences for football and full membership, while the University of Nebraska-Omaha has sought consideration from the Missouri Valley Conference. Catholic school St. Thomas University in Minneapolis is clearly looking at the Summit League as a stepping stone to eventual consideration by the BIG EAST. Finally, Oral Roberts is not exactly a solid fit for the Summit League, either. DU is taking a solid step toward conference stability, faced with these possible uncertainties.
We will continue to cover this breaking story with DU’s own press conference this afternoon at the University of Denver at 2:15 pm MT.