Ethan Lecker & Jacob Slinkman
UW-Green Bay was put on probation in August 2023 after dropping men’s and women’s tennis after the 2020-21 season, while also defunding Nordic Ski scholarships.
After dropping Tennis as a sport, UW-Green Bay fell below the required 14 sports, down to 12, that a Division I team must have per NCAA guidelines. A letter was sent out in November 2022 informing Green Bay that they “did not satisfy the NCAA Division I sports-sponsorship requirements set forth by the NCAA Bylaw 20.16.6 for the 2021-22 academic year.” Green Bay is only allowed one probationary period in 10 years, and if it were to happen again, they would be at risk of being expelled from the NCAA.
According to UW-Green Bay senior associate athletic director for compliance & student-athlete excellence, Kassie Wagner, there was no direct impact on student athletes, and their scholarships were reinstated after they were taken away in 2023. Additional funding was given to the Nordic Ski team, including several other sports. The violation had no direct impact on student-athlete eligibility or experience, as this was an administrative error from previous athletic department administrators. The athletic department has ensured compliance with the NCAA regulations related to Bylaw 20.16.6. Head coach of the Nordic Ski team, Sam Myers, has been with Green Bay since 2021, and they have recently hired a graduate assistant, Declan Rodefeld, before the 2025-26 academic year. Tuition waivers were reinstated to the Nordic Ski teams, including a $150,000 grant to fund the teams.
Another administrator mentioned that adding more tuition waivers to various sports ensured there was enough athletic aid to meet NCAA guidelines. The economic impact within the department surrounds the reinstatement of scholarships for the Nordic ski program and increasing tuition waivers to several other sports to ensure the athletics department is beyond the minimum finances per NCAA legislation.
Overall, Green Bay Athletics must meet the provisions set by the NCAA sport-sponsorship and financial aid minimum bylaws. On paper, the probation the athletics department was put under may have been a large scare to the administration, but it has been taken care of, and there is no fear that they will fail to meet NCAA guidelines again. The NCAA would threaten UW-Green Bay’s expulsion from the organization if it were to have another mishap within the next 10 years. Outside of the athletics department, there was no other record of Nordic ski scholarships being reinstated; the local media did not report on this. If the local media had done more digging on whether the probation was going to have future effects on the athletics department, the need to do an investigative report on this topic would not have been needed. The only other report done on the probation besides FOX 11 was done by UW-Green Bay itself.
In May 2025, Purdue Fort Wayne announced that it was discontinuing its baseball and softball programs effective immediately after the 2024-25 school year. Purdue Fort Wayne athletic director Kelley Hartley Hutson talked about the dropping of two of its sports, “This is one of the saddest days in my 25 years as a Mastodon. We know this news will upset our student-athletes, alumni, and fans. It was not made lightly, and we are committed to supporting those affected through this transition.” Condolences were made towards both softball head coach Amber Bowman and baseball head coach Doug Schreiber. Budget challenges were the reason for the disbanding of both programs. “We must align the university’s expenses with its revenue to ensure the long-term sustainability of the institution and to provide a first-rate education and experience for our students”, said Purdue Fort Wayne Chancellor Ron Elsenbaumer.
For students at UW-Green Bay, the news of the athletic department’s probation came as both a surprise to some and a scare when they learned about the potential consequences. Zach Bridges, a senior at UW-Green Bay who has been a fan of the basketball teams since arriving here as a freshman, was not aware of the fact that UW-Green Bay had been put on probation before his sophomore year.
“I didn’t even know that was possible,” Bridges said. “I had no idea it happened, and that it could be worse if we break the rules again.” When Bridges was made aware of the issue, his first concern was whether sports would be able to continue at UW-Green Bay. “I just want to be able to keep going to basketball games,” he continued. “I like going to school here, but I feel like life would be so boring around here without sports to look forward to.”
Another senior, Jace Bletsch, was aware that UW-Green Bay was on probation, but was not aware of the consequences if the athletic department broke NCAA rules again. “I knew athletics had some problems,” Bletsch said, “I heard about it and knew it was an issue, but I had no idea that we could lose our NCAA affiliation if we broke any more rules. That’s scary to think about.”
Despite not knowing the severity of the situation, both Bridges and Bletsch expressed their relief that the issue of probation had been taken care of by the athletic department. “I’m glad everything is good,” Bletsch said. “I enjoy going to basketball games during the season, and I wouldn’t want to lose our sports teams to something like this.” Bridges echoed that sentiment, saying, “I’m just happy we aren’t going to lose our sports. Even the ones I don’t go to I still like hearing about if they’re going well.”