Jeremy Fugleberg

SDSU athletes could compete in NCAA Division I national championships in just five years under a plan approved by the NCAA Management Council April 19 and 20.

Currently SDSU has to wait 13 years in men’s basketball and seven years for all other sports, a major sticking point for opponents of SDSU’s jump to Division I.

“When we were out there talking to people about the Division I move, we knew it was on the horizon, that they were going to try to change it,” said SDSU Athletic Director Fred Oien. “This waiting period seemed long, and it seemed like an argument not to do it, but (now) it’ll be pretty short in the lifespan of the university.”

All SDSU sports, except football, will be Division I this fall. NDSU will play football with the new Division I-AA Great West Football Conference.

The proposal will now be forwarded to the NCAA Board of Directors for final approval.

“This means every freshman we recruit as a senior in high school-and we recruit them this year-if they were to take one redshirt year, they could compete for the national championship in their sport,” Oien said April 21. “We’re just glad that our student athletes in every sport, if we’re in a qualifying conference, could be in their national championships by 2008-2009.”