ROCKLIN, Calif. — The NCAA approved William Jessup University to move to Division II athletics, ensuring the university will start NCAA competitions in Fall 2024.
The university will finish the 2023-2024 season as part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC). William Jessup will join PacWest once it starts in the NCAA.
"The NCAA is the gold standard of collegiate athletics. For us to join and be a member of not only the NCAA but the esteemed PacWest Conference speaks volumes to what our university and our department have been able to accomplish over the past decade," Jessup's Vice President of Athletics, Lance Von Vogt, said in a statement
The three-year transition period beings this fall and lasts until fall 2026, which is when the university will be able to compete for a national championship. The university will be ineligible to compete for national championships during its first two NCAA seasons.
So, the university plans to compete in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) so student-athletes can compete on a national level.
"This may or may not be our final space. You look at Cal Baptist and what they did in short order, moving from the GSAC to the PacWest and from the PacWest to NCAA Division I," Von Vogt said in a statement. "I believe that if things continue to go the way they are, there's nothing saying we couldn't become a University that makes the double jump from the NAIA into Division II. And then, if and when the time is right, up to Division I."
William Jessup University has Rocklin and San Jose campuses.
Find more information about the move to the NCAA HERE.
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