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Ferrum officially left the nonscholarship world of Division III for the scholarship world of Division II on July 1, hoping it can eventually make more of a splash in its new neighborhood than it did in its old one.

Ferrum becomes one of only five Division II schools in the commonwealth, joining Emory & Henry, UVa-Wise, Virginia Union and Virginia State. By comparison, Ferrum was one of 19 Division III schools in Virginia in the 2024-25 school year, including 14 schools that belonged to Ferrum鈥檚 former conference 鈥� the ODAC.

鈥淲hat can make us relevant again from the athletics standpoint?鈥� Ferrum athletic director Cleive Adams said Wednesday in an interview in his office. 鈥淲e have two Division II programs in deep Southwest Virginia in Emory & Henry and UVa-Wise and the other two Division IIs in our state are the two HBCUs (historically black colleges) in the Greater Richmond area. And then there鈥檚 Ferrum.

鈥淚n the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, we were one of many. 鈥� Now we have positioned ourselves as one of the few in the state.鈥�

Ferrum, which joined the ODAC in 2018, was never a dynamo in that league. In the 2024-25 final standings for the ODAC Commissioner鈥檚 Cup, which measures members鈥� all-sports success for the school year, Ferrum ranked 11th in the men鈥檚 standings and 12th in both the women鈥檚 and overall standings. Points were awarded to schools based on regular-season standings or ODAC tournament results.

The Panthers last made the Division III men鈥檚 basketball tournament in 1992 and last made the Division III football playoffs in 2005. They last made the Division III baseball tournament in 2007 and last made the Division III women鈥檚 basketball tournament in 2014. They last made the Division III softball tournament in 2016.

The college hopes jumping up to Division II will lure more Virginia natives to its teams.

鈥淗ow many sport 鈥� additions have popped up in small, private colleges in Virginia and North Carolina? It really started to pull away from our ability to have a true, effective footprint in recruitment,鈥� Adams said.

鈥淕eographically, you start looking at trying to reclaim the commonwealth. 鈥� There鈥檚 a wealth of (Virginia) talent that we have not been able to attract here.鈥�

Adams said the move to Division II has already paid dividends with the incoming freshman class of athletes.

鈥淥ur recruiting popularity 鈥� has increased in our home state in this 鈥� cycle and I don鈥檛 see that changing because we have changed the product. We are marketing ourselves differently from an athletic standpoint,鈥� Adams said.

鈥淲e鈥檙e redefining ourselves as an institution. (In) the Division II space, we鈥檙e going to attract 鈥� a higher-quality student-athlete.鈥�

Ferrum is not expecting to be an instant winner in Division II. But the college does hope the jump will boost the college鈥檚 overall profile and enrollment.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of small colleges in the nation over the last few years that have struggled with identity. 鈥� A lot of small colleges are closing,鈥� Adams said. 鈥淲e know that there鈥檚 going to be challenges (with early athletic success in Division II), so we鈥檙e not basing everything on how fast we鈥檙e going to win. We鈥檙e basing everything on 鈥� redefining the institution and repositioning ourself in a very tough market for small colleges 鈥� in our nation.鈥�

Increased travel budget

Adams, a Ferrum graduate, served as the Panthers鈥� football coach for four seasons before becoming the college鈥檚 athletic director. He was named athletic director in October 2023 and assumed that role in January 2024.

Adams was not told Ferrum was looking into a move to Division II until he interviewed for the athletic director job. He spent his Christmas break in 2023 reviewing a consultant鈥檚 Division II feasibility study.

Once the Ferrum Board of Trustees was willing to make the jump, the school had to find a Division II conference to call home. Ferrum made inquiries with the South Atlantic Conference (which includes Emory & Henry and UVa-Wise), the Mountain East Conference (which includes nine West Virginia schools) and Conference Carolinas.

Conference Carolinas, which had already been planning to resurrect football as a league-sponsored sport in 2025, was interested in Ferrum because it wanted a seventh football member. League officials visited the Ferrum campus in March 2024 and liked what they saw.

Ferrum announced in April 2024 that it planned to join Division II and Conference Carolinas. But it still had to apply to the NCAA for Division II membership.

Ferrum hired Alexis Anderson, who had worked at two Division II schools, as deputy athletic director for compliance last July to help with the process.

Under an accelerated process, Ferrum submitted its application for Division II membership to the NCAA last October.

鈥淎 lot of work and a lot of man hours,鈥� Adams said. 鈥淲hen we pushed 鈥榮end鈥� on Oct. 1, that was probably one of the most rewarding days that I (have) had.

鈥淭hat was probably one of the most difficult 鈥� things I鈥檝e ever done in my career because of how intense the expectations are from the NCAA in terms of documentation.鈥�

The NCAA gave Ferrum its approval in February. Ferrum will be a provisional Division II member for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years. It will play in Conference Carolinas postseason tournaments during that time but won鈥檛 be eligible for NCAA Division II tournaments until it becomes a full Division II member in the 2027-28 school year.

Ferrum is the only Virginia school in Conference Carolinas. The league has 16 members, including schools in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia.

By comparison, the ODAC has only one full member outside the commonwealth. So the Ferrum athletic department鈥檚 travel budget will increase. But Adams said the new amount will be similar to what Ferrum spent on travel when it belonged to the USA South.

Gradually adding scholarships

Ferrum hopes to fund about 100 full athletic scholarships in the 2028-29 school year. Some Ferrum athletes will still be without scholarships in 2028-29 and beyond.

Those 100 full grants will be divided up into partial scholarships for numerous athletes; Division II schools don鈥檛 give out many full grants. But coaches will be free to use as much scholarship money as they want to lure a particularly good athlete.

That goal of 100 grants is not the NCAA Division II maximum for a school, but it is a number that will put Ferrum on equal footing in Conference Carolinas, said Adams. He said Ferrum can be competitive and still be fiscally responsible as a member of that league.

Ferrum will gradually add scholarships each school year to get to that goal of 100. Ferrum will fund only 35 full scholarships in the upcoming school year. Even football will have less than 10 full grants to divvy up this year. Every Ferrum team will have some scholarship money in this school year.

Even when it gets to 100 grants, Ferrum does not plan to devote most of its scholarship budget to just a few sports.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to do what鈥檚 right,鈥� Adams said. 鈥淭here could be some different tiers and situations, but it鈥檚 not going to be lopsided to the point where we have three sports that feel like they don鈥檛 even exist.鈥�

The college moved some money around to pay for athletic scholarships for this school year.

鈥淚n the Division III space, 鈥� (we were) scholarshipping kids whether they鈥檙e an athlete or a general student with Ferrum assistance grants, merit scholarships, Presidential scholarships,鈥� Adams said. 鈥淲e have so many avenues to help discount a student to come to Ferrum. 鈥� We said, 鈥極K, we have an opportunity to shift and reallocate (funds) to create the athletic (scholarship) model.鈥� We did not have to reinvent the wheel.鈥�

But as the athletic scholarship totals rise, Ferrum will be turning to donors to pay for those grants.

鈥淭he sole purpose of my job moving forward is to start to fundraise on a different level,鈥� Adams said.

鈥楨xtremely difficult鈥�

Ferrum鈥檚 first few school years in Conference Carolinas will be 鈥渆xtremely difficult鈥� from a competitive standpoint, said Adams.

After all, while Ferrum will be footing the bill for just 35 full scholarships this school year, its league rivals have already belonged to Division II for years and will presumably already be funding at least 100 full scholarships.

鈥淒o I think we鈥檙e going to be in the top one-third of the conference (standings) right out of the gate? Absolutely not,鈥� Adams said.

Ferrum鈥檚 league rivals this year will have rosters full of Division II-caliber talent. Ferrum, on the other hand, will still have rosters mostly comprised of Division III-caliber athletes who had already been suiting up for Ferrum in recent years.

鈥淲e weren鈥檛 going to scrap all of our student-athletes (and replace them),鈥� Adams said. 鈥淲e have a commitment to our student-athletes (who were already) on campus.鈥�

Ferrum鈥檚 rivals this year will have more Division II-caliber depth and size than the Panthers, said Adams.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to tell the difference (by) that 1 1/2 inches in height, that half a tenth or a tenth in overall team speed, because they are attracting a better athlete,鈥� Adams said.

But Adams is hopeful it won鈥檛 take four years for all Ferrum teams to impress.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a little bit easier 鈥� to get seasoned talent because of the transfer portal,鈥� Adams said. 鈥淚n several sports, there are opportunities for us to compete a little sooner than people think. 鈥� We have some quality rosters (already because) 鈥� the ODAC鈥檚 as tough as it comes in Division III.

鈥淒ivision II is a sweet spot because of the (new) roster limitations in Division I. 鈥� It鈥檚 like a funnel effect coming down.

鈥淎nd if you鈥檙e strategic enough in your packaging, 鈥� you may be able to get a point guard that played (in Division I) because you have enough budget to make that work.鈥�