By Peter Atencio

THE choice for a new National Collegiate Athletic Association member has been narrowed down to three.

A source said the management committee of the NCAA has pared down the candidates from among Emilio Aguinaldo College, Lyceum of the Philippines and Arellano University.

The school, which will be picked, will immediately join the 85th season, replacing Philippine Christian University, which took an indefinite leave of absence.

Arellano U, Lyceum and EAC made it to the final list from five candidates.

A decision on which of the three will be accepted was supposed to have been made last month by the NCAA policy board, but the management committee deferred from making its recommendation until this month.

The mancom said it delayed making a recommendation, because it still needs to clarify some questions with regards to the high school programs of the three schools.

Those who did not make it to the Final Three were Centro Escolar University and Angeles University Foundation.

After one of the three schools will be chosen for the current season, the league will then conduct more screenings for two more new members for 2010.

The nominees were pared down to only three after an evaluation committee made the rounds of the five schools to determine if they have suitable venues to hold NCAA events.

The successful applicant still needs to comply with the three major requirements, which includes the payment of a P5-million entry fee, a three-year probationary period and participation in all events of the NCAA calendar in the senior, junior and women’s divisions.