NIC ATHLETICS: A move for the Cards in the near future ... After seven years in NWAC, NIC teams returning to NJCAA
Noel
By JASON ELLIOTT
Sports writer
There’s a lot of things that are unknown at North Idaho College right now.
One thing that isn’t anymore is that the school’s athletic days in the regionally-based Northwest Athletic Conference are numbered.
On Wednesday, NIC announced that it had mutually agreed with the Northwest Athletic Conference to leave the NWAC and return to the National Junior College Athletic Association.
Effective July 1, NIC’s men’s basketball and women’s basketball programs will compete as NJCAA independent programs in the 2023-24 season, and will be eligible for the NJCAA tournament next spring, NIC athletic director Shawn Noel said.
NIC’s fall and spring sports – men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s golf, volleyball and softball — will transition to the NJCAA starting with the 2024-25 season.
“Those details we’re working on right now,” said Noel, who became NIC’s athletic director in December of 2021. “We’re still trying to come up with a plan moving forward.”
NIC played in the Scenic West Athletic Conference for 47 years (1969-2016) before moving to the less-expensive NWAC starting with the 2016-17 season due to financial difficulties.
“We’re still figuring out the details and costs,” Noel said. “It’s still really early in the process and planning stages.”
Noel added that the SWAC could be an ideal landing spot for the Cardinal programs, but nothing is confirmed yet.
“I think that’s the hope,” Noel said. “The NJCAA is a big umbrella with 24 different regions and the Scenic West is in Region 18, which we’d be a part of. But the league has got to admit you in, and we’re still waiting for that.”
Since NIC’s departure in 2016, the Scenic West has added Truckee Meadows Community College of Reno in men’s and women’s soccer and Community Christian College of Redlands, Calif., in baseball, basketball and soccer.
NIC’s men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s golf, volleyball and softball programs will compete in the NWAC during the 2023-24 season and will be eligible to compete in the NWAC tournament. For the 2024-25 season, NIC will transition all of its programs to the NJCAA.
The Cardinal wrestling program has remained in NJCAA as NWAC programs compete nationally in wrestling.
Earlier this year, the NJCAA rejected proposals from NIC seeking to move some of the college’s sports into the SWAC, citing concerns about the show-cause sanction issued by NIC’s accreditor.
“I think it’s an exciting time for us,” Noel said. “The NWAC gave us an outlet and it was positive for us. It’s going to be a tough year this year, and maybe next year. But I think if we plan it right, it could be an exciting time and we could see some good talent come through here. I think we’ll be competitive. And it will also be an exciting time for our community.”
NIC is still waiting to hear from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities about whether the junior college will retain its accreditation.
“We’re hoping for a positive outcome,” Noel said. “If there isn’t, it’s going to affect the entire college. But we’re hoping for a positive response.”
“NIC’s programs brought highly competitive teams night in and night out,” NWAC executive director Marco Azurdia said. “Good competition benefits all.”
In the NJCAA, full scholarships for athletes cover tuition and fees, as well as room and board. In the NWAC, only 65% is covered.
Both Cardinal men’s and women’s basketball programs will be eligible for the NJCAA tournament immediately, Noel said, but details on a road to those tournaments are also to be determined.
In 2019, NWAC officials placed the NIC men’s basketball program on a three-year ban from postseason play, which ended after the 2021-22 season. Included in the ban was the vacating the league championships from the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, the loss of four scholarships for the length of the ban and a $30,000 fine for the athletic department.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NWAC tournament was canceled in 2020, and again in 2021 when the conference opted not to hold conference championship tournaments.
NIC’s men won the NWAC tournament two straight years (2018 and 2019). In the Cardinals’ first year eligible following the sanctions, NIC lost in the first round of the conference tourney.
In June, NIC’s school board proposed the move back to the NJCAA, with the motion passing with a 5-0 vote.
NIC’s softball team won NWAC tournament championships in 2018 and 2019.
“We appreciate the time we’ve had with the NWAC and relationships we’ve built,” Noel said. “It’s going to be a challenge to find that schedule, and I know (men’s basketball coach) Corey (Symons) and (women’s basketball coach) Nate (Covill) will be trying to find some teams.”
Noel added that the program’s basketball schedule — at least for conference play — was nearly set.
“Basically, we’ll have to hit the reset button,” Noel said. “Those will be some games we’ll have to find to replace those.”
“As NIC transitions out of the NWAC over the next two years, there are some great people who were there and are still there,” Azurida said. “People like Ken Thompson, Chris Carlson, Shay (Fuson), Kelsey Stanley, Bobby Lee, Graydon Stanley and Shawn Noel were great to work with and for.”