Listen Here
By Anthony Johnson
Recently, the news broke that Notre Dame College is shutting down by the end of the 2024 spring semester. Notre Dame athletes are now scrambling to find new colleges, while continuing with their athletics.
Notre Dame College has been operating for over 100 years. Although it was expected, it wasn’t what many of the students wanted to hear.
“It had been rumored for months that the school was shutting down,” Robbie Cass, Notre Dame College men’s basketball player, said. “We were just waiting for confirmation and when they announced the news, it was sad day at NDC.”
The school has been dealing with decreased enrollment, increased number of older students, higher costs and debt, according to the Christian Post.
“Me, personally, I was just wondering where I’ll be next,” Cass said.
There were 912 student athletes at Notre Dame College, which is about 70 percent of the student population, according to College Factor. Many of those athletes are searching for a place to continue their athletic and academic career.
The NCAA is granting the athletes a transfer without the need for a waiver to the student-athletes, due to the transfer being forced. There is a large amount of Notre Dame College student athletes still looking for a place to play.
“I plan on finding a new home in the fall continuing my academic and basketball career,” Cass said. “Just looking for a great program that believes in me and wants to win.”
These college athletes must go through the recruiting process again and go through the steps of choosing a school. However, not all athletes will choose to continue playing sports. Some will choose to just further on with their academic careers.
“My plan now that it’s shutting down is moving home and going to school in my home area or online and working at Target,” Mallory Hullinger, NDC women’s basketball player, said.
Those deciding against continuing their athletic careers may transfer to a Notre Dame College partner school. Some partner schools include Cleveland State University, Walsh University, Mercyhurst University and six other schools.
“I’m planning on going on going to either Wright State, Walsh or another online school,” Hullinger said. “I’m not planning on continuing to play basketball.”
These athletes have many memories of being a part of the Notre Dame College athletic programs.
“I will miss my teammates the most. This is the closest I’ve been with a whole team and it’s just sad that we all must go our separate ways,” Cass said. “I will miss the caring people and just the everyday life at NDC. I’m forever thankful for all the memories NDC brought me.”
