Boise State University athletic director Curt Apsey announced today the elimination of the baseball and swimming and diving teams. The move follows an in-depth review of the Athletic Department’s financial situation, exacerbated by challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The team cuts, combined with other cost-saving measures, are expected to reduce the overall departmental budget by $3 million.
“This is one of the hardest decisions athletic departments have to make, but it comes at a time when we are facing the most serious financial challenge we have ever seen,” Apsey said. “Times like these are difficult for many people and we appreciate everyone who has supported these programs over the years, including our coaches, current and former student-athletes, donors and fans. We take all these measures seriously, knowing that the long-term stability of our department must remain a high priority.”
Boise State fielded 26 women on the swimming and diving roster in 2019-20, including 6 freshmen, 5 sophomores, and 10 juniors. The Broncos finished 7th at the 2020 Mountain West Conference Championships, down 4 spots from their 3rd-place finish in 2019. The team had struggled to maintain its level after Jeremy Kipp moved to Northwestern after the 2017-18 season. As the Broncos’ head coach, Kipp had been named Mountain West Swimming Coach of the Year for 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18.
Boise State added women’s swimming and diving in the 2006-2007 season and under head coach Kristin Hill quickly rose to become one of the best mid-major programs in the country. That included scoring points at the 2011, 2013, and 2014 NCAA Championship meets.
Boise State will continue to support men’s basketball, cross country, football, golf, tennis, and track & field and women’s basketball, beach volleyball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field, and volleyball. Boise State had just brought back the men’s baseball team which had been discontinued after the 1990 season. The Broncos played only 14 games in 2020 before the season was called off due to COVID-19.
All student-athlete scholarships for the affected programs will be honored, including incoming 2020 signees Emma Willmer, Haley Benjamin, Jessica Davis, Katie Faris, Lauren Gryboski, Maddy Mickey, Maxine Catig, Samantha Nickell, Victoria Gutierrez. Support will be provided to student-athletes wishing to transfer, all of whom will be eligible immediately at their next institution, per NCAA rules.
Much like with UMass Dartmouth, which announced on Wednesday that it was cutting 8 sports, the late timing of the announcement will leave those student-athletes wishing to transfer prior to next season in a difficult position. That includes the team’s lone top 3 finishers at last year’s Mountain West Championship meet, rising junior Lucia Davis, who finished 3rd with a 4:49.04.
Other schools that have cut swimming & diving programs this summer are:
- UMass Dartmouth – men and women
- UConn – men
- East Carolina – men and women
- Tiffin – men and women
- Urbana – men and women (whole campus closed)
- Western Illinois – men and women (“suspended indefinitely”)
Sad but best thing for all. Some swimmers just have the worst luck
Today’s Basketball teams have at least 5 Coaches plus a Graduate Assistant. These school’s today, like Boise State could save a ton of money if they would return to a head coach and one assistant. Then the players not playing on court would have more room to sit. Why don’t the AD’s see this~This doesn’t make sense to me, but maybe many of the youger AD’s don’t remember those days when all Dl teams had only two coaches, Check oot Chris Beard at Texas Tech and all the Assistant’s he has. Unbelievable~Why so much help~They still have 5 players on the court, with as many coaches as there are players(Subs) that are on the beach. If they cut swimmming and… Read more »
You state following:
The team had struggled to maintain its level after Jeremy Kipp moved to Northwestern after the 2017-18 season. As the Broncos’ head coach, Kipp had been named Mountain West Swimming Coach of the Year for 2015. MY RESPONSE:
When Kipp took over in 2015, the team was loaded with Very talented swimmers in every event, most of Coach Kristin Hill’s Mountain West Championship team in 2014, were returning and more fast swimmers were coming in as freshmen. Kipp and and an excellent Young lady who had graduated after swimming for Kipp at the University of Southern California joined him as Assistant Coach. With all those talented swimmers, the team won two Mountain West Championships to… Read more »
While so many of the comments I have read in response to this article are focused on football, finances, poorly managed athletic departments, and the Coronavirus, as a parent of an incoming freshman to Boise State, I find the focus of those comments rather disingenuous. We are each entitled to our thoughts, no doubt, but I hope to bring the focus back to the heart of the article. Words matter, especially the word “cut.” When something is cut, it is changed, severed, and leaves an open wound. There are 30 Bronco young women who are reeling together to bandage each other’s wounds. This Boise team is an incredible group of young women with a rich tradition of performance and pride.… Read more »
pandemic was over 2 weeks after it started. the numbers don’t lie, but the media does…
100 college aged students dead, but like 500 died from alcohol poisoning in the same time. should we close for an alcohol pandemic? or a driving pandemic? or a bee pandemic? absolute madness with no thought or realization that life’s hard and people die.
Keep the grandmas inside and let us alpha Chad’s out.
And get fauci outta a position of power, he speaks like a beta male and refuses to acknowledge that death is inevitable.
L E T U S S P L A S H
This is just completely and brutally awful. My heart is aching
Alumni giving and other’s philanthropy to provide endowments for staff salaries and overhead, and that’s about it. Unfortunately, most of the people in a position to give lots of money were in the swimmer’s burn-out generation where yardage was king and people couldn’t wait to move on from the sport.
Our family friends’ daughter swim( swam) for BSU. She did not know until this morning when her mom read this article. No one from the school contacted, but learned from the social media is disturbing.
Friday (and pre-holiday) news dump. Oldest play in the book.
My daughter is an incoming freshman for BSU swim and that’s exactly how they found out. The coaches were in no discussions of the cuts to swim. They found out with a phone call that morning. So disheartening how Curt Apesy handled this situation.
And the swimmers and divers found out via email….an hour after they finished their 6am practice.