Why Bellarmine isn't eligible for the NCAA Tournament, and why that rule could be changing

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The rule is what it is, and if anything is drilled into the heads of Bellarmine men's players from the day they get to campus, it's this:

You play by the rules.

But the rule that a reclassifying program must wait four years to become eligible for the NCAA Tournament is a particularly tough one to accept, even for a program that doesn't allow players to practice with their shirt-tails out because you're not allowed to have them out during games.

The rules for reclassifying from NCAA Division II to Division I state that a school must complete a four-year process to complete reclassification. And during that time, it is ineligible to compete for NCAA championships at either the D-II or D-I level.

The rationale behind the rule is to allow programs to get up to speed, to build the necessary compliance, facilities, scholarship requirements and other standards to satisfy D-1 membership. Originally, the NCAA instituted a two-year process for reclassification, but that was doubled when teams began to make the jump and were unable to sustain Division I membership because they made the move too soon and could not keep up financially.

It's meant to protect universities from taking on more expense than they can handle. The four-year process is designed to weed out less serious programs and to keep a flood of programs from rushing into Division I before they are ready.

The four-year waiting period, however, is a relic. It no longer is the only measure to make schools think twice. Today, to make the leap, you must have a Division I conference committed to accepting you for membership and you must meet a buy-in total that exceeds $1.6 million, depending on the conference. The waiting period, on top of that, is viewed by many as excessive because it can exclude some athletes from NCAA Tournament competition for the duration of their careers, depending on the timing of a school's move.

As a result, the whole process could be overhauled this April, when the NCAA will consider a rule change that would cut that waiting period to two years.

The proposed legislation reads, in part, "With conference oversight of compliance and eligibility, the need to exclude a class of student-athletes from the opportunity to earn a postseason bid for eligibility reasons no longer exists. Being ineligible for two years is a reasonable period for individuals and institutions that fully comply with NCAA and Conference membership requirements. "

Some make those more smoothly than others. In 2020, the Merrimack basketball program won the regular-season championship in the Northeast Conference in the first year of its Division I classification. Like many conferences, the Northeast doesn't allow reclassifying teams to take part in its conference tournament, so that was the end of the line for Merrimack.

The ASUN is more progressive. It allows reclassifying members to compete in its conference tourney to help those programs with their recruiting and to allow them more marketing opportunities. ASUN Commissioner Ted Gumbart is among those who backs the two-year eligibility process for reclassifying programs and has been fighting for it for years, going back to the days when Northern Kentucky had to sit out for four years after reclassifying and joining the ASUN.

Bellarmine's players have known the rule. That doesn't make it any easier to accept.

"We've made it a point to control what we can control," Bellarmine senior Juston Betz said. "And that's it. And as exciting as Selection Sunday is and as exciting as it would be to see our names up on the screen — which we deserve — we're going control whatever comes next, whether that'd be practice later this week or film or anything like that. We're going to do it together. And we're going have the right attitude about how we approach things. That's the reason that we're here today is just being in the moment. Never taking for granted where we are. And as badly as we would love to be able to have the chance to play the NCAA Tournament. We're just going to enjoy and take in the last moments that we have together as a team."

Still, they say, it would be nice to see what they could do against some of the big boys in a tournament setting, get to take the podium and talk about their season and school and team. Bellarmine has played some of the better teams in the nation. It opened the season with games against Purdue, Gonzaga, UCLA, Murray State and Saint Mary's, among others.

"We deserve to hear our name on Selection Sunday," Bellarmine senior CJ Fleming said. "To be a 16-seed, whatever, we don't care. Not only that, but we put in the work that all the other teams have, maybe even more. We had that grueling stretch to start the season. ... We deserve to hear our name. But unfortunately, that's not the case."

Bellarmine is the first automatic qualifier to be ineligible for the tournament in 25 years. The proposed legislation up for a vote this August would affect primarily five teams in the reclassification process: Bellarmine, North Alabama, Merrimack, Dixie State and California Baptist.

As it stands, Knights teams still have two years to wait. That could change soon, though.

Despite the NCAA situation, Bellarmine does expect to play more basketball.

"We have contracts for the College Basketball Invitational, which will be exclusively in Daytona Beach," Bellarmine head coach Scott Davenport said. "We have a contract for a new tournament, the Basketball Insiders, which will be played on college campuses, regionally. The NIT is totally out of any control, because it's an NCAA-run tournament. I know this: We'll be open."

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