The Slow Demise of the NAIA

If you look at the list of NAIA men’s basketball champions, there is a good chance that many of the schools will be familiar to you. San Diego State, Southern Illinois, Indiana State, Southwest Missouri State, McNeese State, Grambling, Coppin State…all former NAIA champions, all of them now member schools in the NCAA.  At one time, the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) was a premier college sports organization. At its peak, it had over 550 member schools and rivaled the NCAA in number, if not also in power and prestige. But the once-relevant NAIA, steeped in an oft-forgotten tradition, has slowly given way to the locomotive that the NCAA has become over the last fifty years. The last couple decades have been particularly unforgiving, as, year after year, the NAIA has lost member schools to the NCAA and its ever-tightening grip on college athletics.

Despite the decline, the NAIA has plodded on, often marching to the beat of its own drum while seemingly oblivious to the NCAA circus that has swallowed up the world around it. With just under 300 member schools spread across 23 conferences, it is, if not thriving, far from dead, despite the lack of relevance and recognition enjoyed by its big brother, the NCAA. Furthermore, it has continued to place a strong emphasis on the positive role athletics can and should play in the character development of its athletes. In 2000, it launched Champions of Character, a training program which was intended to build upon the NAIA’s reputation for competitive athletics, superior academics and the promotion of sportsmanship and integrity in the character of its athletes. What is perhaps most impressive about the NAIA is the many ways in which it has pioneered college athletics through major social barriers. It was the first organization to allow black student athletes to participate in a post-season tournament. It was the first organization to welcome historically black colleges and universities as member institutions. And it was the first organization to sponsor intercollegiate championships for women. It was even the first organization to go international, welcoming Canadian schools into its membership in the last decade, and, at one point, even had a Jamaican university among its membership ranks.

All of these things have earned the NAIA a reputation for being a trendsetter and a leader in the world of college athletics, perhaps even more so than the NCAA. Yet, over the past thirty years, the NCAA has exploded while the NAIA has, in many ways, become obsolete. The reasons for this are many and few all at the same time. There are the organizational differences between the two. While the NCAA steadily established strict membership guidelines, strong organizational oversight and exceptional support for its schools, the NAIA provided its schools with far less oversight. There are the promotional differences between the two. While the NCAA branded and marketed the hell out of itself, creating a nationally-recognized image and strong public perception, the NAIA did the opposite, existing, in large part, as an un-promoted, unrecognizable organization for the better part of thirty years. And then there are the financial differences. The NCAA has TV revenue, merchandising revenue, advertising revenue and sponsorship revenue. When comparing the two, it is easy to see how the NAIA’s irrelevancy came to be.

And still, the NAIA has yet to die. In fact, in many ways, it is showing signs that it is embracing change and wants to evolve. In recent years, it has cast off its this is how we’ve always done things way of operating and looked for real ways to grow as an organization. There is the new logo, remade to create a stronger brand. There are the new corporate offices in Kansas City, a move that was in part driven by a desire to establish greater recognition and a more visible presence. And there is the continued effort to strengthen its governance and support of its member schools through stricter rules and better oversight.

All of this has been done while continuing to sponsor 12 sports and 23 championships. Perhaps the crown jewel of all of these championships is its men’s basketball tournament. Referred to by some as the toughest tournament in college basketball, the entire competition is held over six days – 32 teams gathered in one city (Kansas City), with the champion winning five games over a six-day period. It is a grueling tournament, which is why some consider it to be the toughest basketball tournament there is. Plus, in true NAIA pioneering fashion, it also boasts the honor of being the oldest continuously-run national basketball tournament at any level in the country. The NAIA held its first championship game in 1937, making this year the 75^th anniversary of the tournament.

As part of this year’s tournament, and to commemorate 75 years of basketball history, the NAIA recently named 75 players and coaches to its 75^th Anniversary All-Star team. Among the 75 selected were a number of individuals with Minnesota connections, including NBA Hall of Famer Vern Mikkelsen, who played at Hamline from 1947-49; Mikkelsen’s teammate, Hal Haskins, who played at Hamline from 1947-50; legendary coach Joe Hutton, who won a number of national championships while coaching Hamline from 1931-64; and Don Meyer, who, having begun his coaching career at Hamline, went on to become the winningest coach in college history. Also making the list were two players with connections to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Former Timberwolves guard Terry Porter made the list, having played at Wisconsin-Stevens Point before it became an NCAA school. And current Wolves coach Jack Sikma was also on the list, having played at Illinois-Wesleyan before starring in the NBA.

In all, the list was a fitting tribute to the great basketball tradition that the NAIA has enjoyed. Things certainly aren’t what they once were for the organization. But the NAIA and its basketball tournament have continued to survive despite the difficult challenges they have faced. Whether the NAIA has another 75 years in it remains to be seen. Given the ever-dwindling number of its membership schools, and the ever-increasing dominance of the NCAA’s corporate machine, it probably faces long odds that it can make it another 75 years. If that’s the case, making a trip to Kansas City in the near future for the Toughest Tournament in College Basketball would be wise. The tournament might not be around for too much longer.

Joe Buri is a former high school athletic director who currently works as an attorney in corporate America. In addition to writing for TC Huddle, he also volunteers as an assistant varsity basketball coach at a local Twin Cities high school. Once dubbed “The Human Stump,” he considers holding former NBA forward Devean George to 39 points a highlight of his collegiate basketball experience.

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