No scrimmages before their opening game. I don’t know if you should blame the NCAA or them for this one. Actually, I would likely blame the Big South Conference for allowing their schools to schedule so many Division II games.
[QUOTE][COLOR=Indigo][B]High Point Basketballs Cancel Exhibitions
[I]By Brian Morgan, HighPointPanthers.com
October 25, 2007[/I][/B]
The High Point University men’s and women’s basketball teams in conjunction with the HPU Athletic Department announced the cancellation of all scheduled preseason basketball exhibition games for the upcoming 2007-08 season.
The games affected include the men’s basketball game versus Ferrum on Nov. 2 along with the women’s basketball contests set for Nov. 4 (Emory & Henry) and Nov. 7 (Belmont Abbey). The cancellation came about after High Point received word from the Big South Conference and the NCAA that their schedules may not have been in compliance with regards to the number of games allowed versus non-Division I opponents.
The situation is centered around a pair of NCAA bylaws. Bylaw 17.5.5.3 allows Division I teams to play non-Division I four-year teams for exhibition games while bylaws 20.9.6.1 and 20.9.6.3 set the number of non-Division I opponents at four per season for both men’s and women’s basketball. The misinterpretation issue deals with how exhibition games are to count towards the total number of non-Division I opponents for that season. A little-known NCAA rules interpretation written in 1985 concluded that preseason games were to be counted against the number of non-Division I games scheduled in a season.
“After speaking with the NCAA, reviewing the bylaws and discovering the interpretation,” said Dr. Woody Gibson, High Point University Director of Athletics. “The coaches and I determined that we were scheduled to exceed the allowable number of non-Division I games. In order to be in compliance, we decided our best option was to cancel our preseason exhibition games as opposed to any of our regular season competitions. I apologize to all our HPU fans for any inconvenience these cancellations may cause and also thank them for understanding and respecting our need to keep our schedules in compliance with NCAA rules.”
The Panthers were not the only program affected by this situation as several other Big South Conference men’s and women’s teams also cancelled exhibition games this year. In addition, multiple other mid-major conferences and teams were also contacted by the NCAA in regards to this same issue.
The High Point men’s basketball team will open the regular season on the road on Nov. 9 against in-state rival Charlotte. The women’s squad hosts King College at 7 p.m. on Nov. 10 in the Millis Center for their season debut.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][B][COLOR=Indigo]NCAA rule forces HPU to cancel exhibitions
[I]By Tom Berry, Enterprise Sports Writer
Friday, October 26, 2007[/I][/B]
HIGH POINT – A misunderstanding about NCAA rules has led the High Point University men’s and women’s basketball teams to cancel their exhibition games.
The Panther men will not play Ferrum on Nov. 2, the team’s only scheduled exhibition. They instead will play a closed scrimmage against Campbell on Saturday at HPU. The Panther women have cancelled both exhibitions: Nov. 4 against Emory & Henry and Nov. 7 against Belmont Abbey.
“We got some bad information,” said High Point women’s coach Tooey Loy.
The cancellations came after High Point received word from the Big South Conference and NCAA that their schedules may not be in compliance with the maximum number of games allowed against non-NCAA Division I opponents.
High Point, which became an NCAA D-I school in 1999, cannot play more than four non-Division I opponents per season. Both the men and women scheduled four non-DI opponents during the regular season, believing any exhibitions against non-Division I schools would be allowed.
That is not the case. According to an HPU press release Wednesday, “a little-known NCAA rules interpretation written in 1985 concluded that preseason games were to be counted against the number of non-Division I games scheduled in a season.”
Woody Gibson, High Point’s director of athletics, released the following statement: “After speaking with the NCAA, reviewing the bylaws and discovering the interpretation, the coaches and I determined that we were scheduled to exceed the allowable number of non-Division I games. In or*der to be in compliance, we decided our best option was to cancel our preseason exhibition games as opposed to any of our regular-season competitions. I apologize to all our HPU fans for any inconvenience these cancellations may cause and also thank them for understanding and respecting our need to keep our schedules in compliance with NCAA rules.”
Other schools in the Big South have cancelled exhibitions for the same reason.
High Point’s men open the regular season at Charlotte on Nov. 9. The women play host to King College on Nov. 10, then go to Virginia Tech the next night.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]