Renck: DU to West Coast Conference is ideal fit, represents huge win for Pioneers

Every road trip will feel like a vacation Saint Mary s hoops at Hamilton Gymnasium Sign me up Soccer matches involving players who could represent the U S National Association Yes please Golf tournaments with future pros on every tee box Are you serious The move by the University of Denver to the West Coast Conference which was reported Friday is more brilliant than the glistening gold on the Carl M Williams tower on campus Let s be honest DU did not make sense in the Summit League It was an oxymoron the conference dragging the Pioneers closer to base camp the last place a college wants to be with a national decline in enrollment There was no upside DU was not going to take the next step by recruiting athletes from a league footprint of South Dakota North Dakota Iowa Illinois Minnesota Missouri and Oklahoma Nothing against those places enjoyed time in all of them but DU draws the bulk of its out-of-state students from California followed by a large chunk from the Northwest The Pioneers boast national championships in hockey lacrosse and skiing This however might be the school s biggest win When petitioned to sign the contract vice chancellor for athletics Josh Berlo perhaps pulled his hamstrings racing to find a pen This is the next step in our journey Berlo commented And we expect to be here for multiple various decades DU s dream perpetually came with a vision of where it belonged where it needed to plant its flag Related Articles Renck File Dre Greenlaw s body let him down Then he let down Broncos Time to change that Sunday Renck Avs deal with Martin Necas is easy to evaluate The payoff must come in playoffs Renck Thank you DeMeco Ryans for going to Houston Broncos would not be contender again without Sean Payton Renck vs Keeler Can Broncos extend win streak at Houston without Pat Surtain II Renck With this version of Bo Nix the extraordinary seems viable for Broncos When the Pioneers transitioned to Division I athletics in the - season it represented a substantial step But there was also another goal one Dan Ritchie the cowboy chancellor whose name adorns a building on campus tried to speak into existence The WCC with nine private institutions offered an ideal alignment athletically academically and geographically DU will join the WCC in July completing a three-decade pursuit sometimes covert sometimes not that came together over the last two weeks This day gives me a chance to reflect on Dan and what he did He was a role model and mentor And he talked about being in this conference for years reported gymnastic coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart Joining the WCC as chancellor Jeremy Haefner explained groups DU with schools that look like us and that we aspire to be like Nine of the WCC institutions rank in the top of US News World Assessment Haefner continued with DU at In the Summit League DU was akin to a Sesame Street skit One of these things is not like the others DU did this for recruiting Students and athletes The WCC provides fertile ground on a bigger platform for higher visibility The games will air on CBS and ESPN and online on ESPN The conference switch does not directly impact DU s premier sports Hockey National Collegiate Hockey Conference gymnastics Big and lacrosse Big East will all stay put But it does affect them in ancillary techniques Exposure for a few is exposure for all in the big picture You see the Big Ten go national and you ve got a lot of our sports Obviously we don t have football but I don t think tennis players or soccer players sign up to play in California want to go to Rutgers to play hockey coach David Carle declared in his matter-of-fact style This is a great opportunity for us to recruit California It is more centrally located It makes the West Coast Conference stronger and I think the value we bring is exceptional You can see how this could go A Southern California soccer performer deciding between Pepperdine and DU might tilt toward the Pios knowing multiple trips home are on the schedule Same for a volleyball star choosing between Loyola Marymount and the glistening campus off Asbury Avenue that featured University of Denver is heading to the WCC placards planted in the grass Friday Being able to compete against premier schools is big and we are already in that territory Now we can tap more into the West Coast soccer coach Julianne Sitch explained It is only going to elevate our opportunities Yes that is what leaving the Summit League ironically does for the Pios It lifts them up Of syllabus there are lingering questions kinks in the plan Namely basketball And no more excuses The women s band owns one winning season in the Summit League The Pios men s band last posted a winning record in - Gonzaga is leaving the conference but St Mary s Santa Clara and San Francisco remain formidable March Madness cannot remain March Sadness This move must be accompanied by a essential improvement in hoops It is definitely going to expand our net for sure Part of the recruiting pitch is selling the league and we can sell that we are going to be playing high-level basketball It is going to help and be big for us to find our kind of people first-year men s hoops coach Tim Bergstraser explained I talked to my staff about focusing on this year but let s be real We need to look ahead and be as prepared as achievable I am a firm believer in the vision I see it and I am right there with them DU wasn t going anywhere in the Summit Where the roads can lead in the WCC seem endless Friday the puzzle discovered its final piece Want more sports news Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver s teams