Section Will Add Another Division for Basketball

In an effort to alleviate inequities in the number of boys’ and girls’ basketball teams competing for division titles, the Southern Section Council on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a proposal that will create a third subdivision in Division I.

Under the proposal, which takes effect this year, the section will add a Division I-AAA to reduce the number of teams competing for titles in Divisions I-AA and I-A. Last year, 72 teams competed in Division I-AA and 73 in Division I-A, far more than the number of teams that competed in several other divisions. In Division IV-AA, for example, only 26 teams competed.

The proposal stipulates that no more than 60 teams can compete for any division title.

Division I will be used as a pilot for a policy that could extend to Division V, which last season had 154 teams playing in two subdivisions. Division I teams will find out which subdivision they reside in after final enrollment figures are released in November.

“This makes it a little more realistic to compete for a championship,” said Baseline League coordinator Steve Hebert, who addressed the council in support of the proposal. “There’s no perfect solution, but this is a way to get the ball rolling.”

The creation of a third subdivision may be accompanied by a little controversy. The section can send four teams from each division to compete in the state playoffs. In the past, these were the champion and runner-up from the two title games in each division. But the addition of a third subdivision will make it impossible to maintain that format.

Instead, the section will send its three champions and only one of three runners-up, as selected by a set of specific criteria to be determined. “We want to make [the criteria] concrete and objective and put it in writing,” said Paul Castillo, the section’s assistant commissioner who oversees basketball.

“It’s got to be smart criteria,” said Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight, whose teams won the last two Division I-A titles. “You can’t go wins and losses. You have to look at who the teams played, if they’re playing national powers or some local yahoos.”

The council also recommended that its representatives at next week’s state council meeting vote to approve measures that would:

* Require three-person crews to officiate boys’ and girls’ basketball playoff games in the state playoffs.

* Expand the entries in the state wrestling tournament from 32 to 33 per weight class.

The council also asked its representatives to vote against a proposal that would create a visible basketball coaches’ box outlined or taped to the floor because of concerns over enforcement.