The Alaska Anchorage forward, who prepped just outside of Portland, Ore., is finishing his career at UAA after spending the 2017-18 through 2019-20 seasons competing in the GNAC at previous conference member Concordia-Portland, which announced just ahead of the COVID outbreak that it would close as an institution in June 2020.
Through games of Nov. 27 this season, Sweet led the GNAC in points per game (18.5) and ranked among the league’s top 10 in 3-point field goals and offensive rebounds.
Conference play gets underway in both men's and women's basketball this Thursday. I highly recommend you get out to the games in person, but if not, your viewing backup is the all-free GNAC.tv.
GNAC’s Next NCAA DII Management Council Rep: In case you missed the announcement in early November, the GNAC’s next representative on the top decision-making group in Division II (outside the DII Presidents Council, of course) will be Theresa Hanson, the highly respected athletic director at Simon Fraser University.
Hanson, who took over her duties at SFU six years ago, will join the DII Management Council in January 2023. The 28-member Management Council is charged with recommending policies and regulations that govern the division.
Two things jump out with this choice: 1) it will give the only non-U.S. member of the NCAA a voice within perhaps the most important governance group in DII; and 2) she will be the fourth female (out of six individuals total) to represent the GNAC on the Council since the GNAC was formed in 2001.
Congratulations to Theresa, who will replace Seattle Pacific deputy AD Amy Foster, who has one year remaining on the Council.
Football Future Brightens: With only three Division II institutions (out of 32) sponsoring football in the West Region, the announcement Nov. 18 that Central Washington, Simon Fraser and Western Oregon would accept affiliate membership in the Lone Star Conference for their football programs made perfect sense on many fronts for both conferences.
First, affiliate membership was a logical move considering the GNAC and Lone Star had fashioned a four-year, 60-game agreement for non-conference games just three years ago (a pact which provided four non-conference games per season for GNAC members).
Second, it provides scheduling stability for all 10 institutions in the expanded LSC, which had fallen to seven football-playing members when Texas A&M-Commerce announced at the end of September it would move to the Division I Southland Conference this coming July.
Now, with 10 football-playing institutions in the LSC, the plan is for all members to play nine-game conference schedules, with two open weeks for non-conference or FCS matchups.
For the institutions moving from the GNAC, the opportunity to play full-time in the Lone Star also provides an opportunity to compete for the Lone Star’s “earned access” spot in the DII playoffs (a benefit not previously afforded to the GNAC since it lacked the requisite number of football-playing members to qualify).
SPU vs. WWU – In Dallas? The top two women’s soccer teams in the GNAC – Seattle Pacific and Western Washington – will face off for the West Region title on Thursday in Dallas, Texas.
The winner of the match will meet the champion of the South Central Region title matchup (either Dallas Baptist or UC Colorado Springs) on Saturday for a berth in the NCAA Final Four.
In alternating years, either the top remaining seed in the West or the South Central region hosts the regional final and DII quarterfinal matchup of the DII championships. Of course, hosting rights for these games this season belongs to the South Central Region, thus the reason SPU and WWU – separated by about a 90-minute drive on I-5 – will meet for the fourth time this season in Texas with a regional title on the line.
SPU has defeated Western Washington three times in 2021 – twice in the GNAC’s regular season and again in the finale of the GNAC Championships.
