College Sports: BHSU's transitional year taking shape

Finding a new home after departing the NAIA didn’t end up being all too difficult for Black Hills State University’s sports programs.

Filling out some of their schedules deep into the winter has apparently proven a relatively inconspicuous bump in the road as well.

The BHSU men’s basketball team will play 11 home games during the 2011-2012 season, according to the team’s schedule, which the team officially released on Wednesday.

The Yellow Jackets will open the campaign on the road against future Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opponents Colorado School of Mines and Metro State on Nov. 18 and Nov. 19 in Golden Colo., and Denver, respectively.  The Yellow Jackets will hold their home opener on Nov. 22 against Chadron State.

Black Hills State will host the Perkins Classic on Dec. 29-30 in Spearfish. The teams participating in this year’s tournament will be Dakota Wesleyan, Montana Tech and South Dakota School of Mines. A number of former Dakota Athletic Conference opponents also appear on the schedule, including Mines, Dickinson State, Dakota State and Minot State.

The Yellow Jackets are not eligible for any postseason play this season, as the university continues its transition from the NAIA to NCAA Division II.

BHSU has been approved to move into Year 2 of its candidacy for Division II membership, effective Sept. 1.

“This is another big step in our transition to NCAA Division II,” Yellow Jacket athletic director Jhett Albers said in a news release. “We began this process to better serve our student-athletes. We strongly believe that this transition to NCAA Division II will offer our student-athletes a great experience both athletically and academically.”

The Yellow Jackets are one of eight schools that moved into Year 2 of candidacy, with South Dakota Mines included on that list. The official announcement came at the summer meeting of the Division II Membership Committee.

Black Hills State will become a full member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) beginning in the 2012-13 season.  This season, the Yellow Jackets will play an independent schedule and will be an associate member of the RMAC in softball.

The RMAC is an NCAA Division II conference with 14 member institutions in Colorado, Nebraska, and New Mexico. Nebraska-Kearney, which is moving to the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA), will end their last year as an RMAC member be 2011-12.