Notables

Hope led Division III in men’s and women’s basketball attendance according to statistics provided by the NCAA. The Flying Dutchmen drew 43,319 spectators over 16 games for an average attendance of 2,696. Hope has taken the men’s attendance crown every year since 2002 when it finished second to Calvin.

On the women’s side the Flying Dutch had 21,581 spectators over 17 games for an average attendance of 1,269. The Hope men went 14-2 and the women 17-0 at the DeVos Fieldhouse, which seats 3,400 and hosted the 2008 and 2009 women’s national semifinal and championship games.

Hope’s archrival Calvin also drew plenty of people to check out the new VanNoord Arena, which opened in midseason. The Knights finished second in men’s average attendance with 2,553 and third in women’s average attendance behind UW-Eau Claire (1,055) with 1,053. In the first regular season home game played at VanNoord, the Calvin set a new single game women’s attendance record with 4,395 watching the Knights’ 71-65 double overtime victory over Trine. The previous high (4,356) was set by Howard Payne in an NCAA tournament second-round victory over Chapman in 2007.

Wooster, Wheaton (Ill.), UW-Stevens Point, Puget Sound, Illinois Wesleyan, Maryville (Tenn.), Carthage and Christopher Newport rounded out the men's top ten, while the MIAA took the conference title with an average attendance of 1,059. The NCAA tournament drew a total attendance of 50,563 and the average regular season home game attendance was 802. Men's attendance figures

Bowdoin, Illinois Wesleyan, George Fox, NYU, McMurry, UW-Stout and Mount Union rounded out the top 10 for women’s attendance. The WIAC took the conference title with an average attendance of 501. The NCAA tournament drew a total attendance of 40,614 and the average home game attendance including the tournament was 239. Women's attendance release

Finlandia and Maine-Presque Isle were not included in the men’s attendance figures. UC Santa Cruz, Crown, Elmira, Finlandia, Ithaca, La Roche, Maine Maritime, Maine-Presque Isle, Pitt.-Bradford, Sewanee, Spelman and Waynesburg were not included in the women’s figures because they did not provide complete information. Pomona-Pitzer credited itself with an average of more than 2,200 men's fans this past season, but a study of the individual games figures by D3sports.com suggests the number was excessively inflated.

Frostburg State has accepted an invitation to become a member of the Capital Athletic Conference, it was announced by FSU president Jonathan Gibralter and Capital Athletic Conference commissioner Tom Byrnes. Frostburg will become an official member of the league on July 1, 2010, and start athletic competition that fall.

The school, which is 150 miles from Washington in the Maryland panhandle, has been talked about as a potential CAC member since the mid-1990s. The Bobcats currently compete as the southernmost member of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.

“The Capital Athletic Conference Board of Directors is thrilled to offer CAC membership to Frostburg State University, an institution that not only fits our philosophical makeup but also offers a highly competitive array of intercollegiate athletic teams,” Sullivan said.

Frostburg returns the league's membership to nine schools, following the departure of Gallaudet, which D3sports.com announced last week
"Entry into the CAC represents a new era for Frostburg State athletics that will improve our competitiveness and expand our range of sports," Gibralter said. "In addition, the schools that represent the CAC are in our recruitment area, making it easier for FSU to attract student-athletes and for their families to watch their sons and daughters participate in intercollegiate athletics. We will miss the AMCC. It is an outstanding, competitive conference, but this is best for our students.”

The change will give the CAC four state schools (Frostburg State, Salisbury, St. Mary's, Md. and Mary Washington) and five private schools (Hood, Marymount, Stevenson, Wesley and York, Pa.).