Future Direction of UConn's Athletic Department?

[UConnSportsGuy]

Everyone keeps saying that we need to double down on our Athletic investment and try to go big right now. Is anyone else worried that we might do the opposite and de-emphasize Athletics at this point? On the same day that we found out about the ACC snub, we also found out that the UConn budget was cut by $15MM in Malloys budget released this week. That is a bet large cut to say the least. Herbst has said that the cut does not change her plan to increase the investment in faculty and academics that she released previously...she said all cuts will come from non-academic budgets.

This has me very worried...it is a perfect storm against our AThletic Department. At the same time we are screwed on the conference situation, our major sports programs are at a low, and we will have a big hit to our Athletic Revenue--we are going to have a huge cut to our non-academic budget as well. Does Herbst just de-emphasize athletics and just completely focus on growing UConn as an academic institution?! I sure hope not...but it doesn't seem unrealistic given the current state of affairs. Have we seen the best of UConn Atletics and our future is similar to Villanova/Georgetown/etc?!

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Typical New England. Cut off and irrelevant to the rest of the country. We just can't get it right. Just hard to imagine how backwards this region is becoming. Cloaked in arrogance to be sure, but falling rapidly behind the Sun Belts and Western States.

 

[CL82]

Prior comments lead me to believe that Herbst recognizes that benefits of a successful athletics department.

 

[tzznandrew]

Typical New England. Cut off and irrelevant to the rest of the country. We just can't get it right. Just hard to imagine how backwards this region is becoming. Cloaked in arrogance to be sure, but falling rapidly behind the Sun Belts and Western States.

I don't get this. I love NE, with it's high standard of living.

Hell, economically, in 2011, they had 5 of its 6 states in the top 20 economies:

4. Vermont
8. New Hampshire
17. Maine
19. Massachusetts
20. Connecticut
34. Rhode Island

That's not bad. Hardly "backwards" or "irrelevant."

 

[husky210]

Isn't the AD self sustaining?

 

[freescooter]

I have a different sense of Herbst and her team. I don't think they either care all that much about athletics. I said elsewhere I thought they might be interested in de-emphasizing it, but that is really a little bit strong. It is more like they're not doing anything extra to push it forward. If UConn lands in the ACC eventually, she'll be happy to be associated with Duke and Carolina and Virginia (assuming they remain) but if not, as long as the boys and girls have somewhere to play, keep out of trouble and stop pestering her with these messy problems like APR and conference affiliation she's happy. It just isn't that much of a priority and to some extent its more of a hassle.

 

[Excalibur]

Isn't the AD self sustaining?

No. Partially funded through student fees, etc.

 

[CL82]

I have a different sense of Herbst and her team. I don't think they either care all that much about athletics. I said elsewhere I thought they might be interested in de-emphasizing it, but that is really a little bit strong. It is more like they're not doing anything extra to push it forward. If UConn lands in the ACC eventually, she'll be happy to be associated with Duke and Carolina and Virginia (assuming they remain) but if not, as long as the boys and girls have somewhere to play, keep out of trouble and stop pestering her with these messy problems like APR and conference affiliation she's happy. It just isn't that much of a priority and to some extent its more of a hassle.

That would be incredibly short-sighted if it were accurate. Conference affiliation significantly impacts alumni happiness and intensity which impacts the endowment, and bulking that up is a prinicipal goal of hers. It also impacts admissions and can affect access to grant money (eg., the B1G's CIC.) She is a savy lady so I am sure she fully understands the stakes, her recent apparent ACC failure notwithstanding.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Herbst (academic) and Manuel (athletic) absolutely appear to be the type who want to leave legacies and each sees turning our athletic department into one of the stars in the NCAA (like a Michigan, Florida, Texas) would be clearly the best path to that end. I don't know if they will succeed (as outside forces, primarily on our case the willingness of the state and its citizens to take the financial risk involved in reaching that end) but i doubt that they will give up until they have exhausted every avenue.

 

[ctchamps]

That would be incredibly short-sighted if it were accurate. Conference affiliation significantly impacts alumni happiness and intensity which impacts the endowment, and bulking that up is a prinicipal goal of hers. It also impacts admissions and can affect access to grant money (eg., the B1G's CIC.) She is a savy lady so I am sure she fully understands the stakes, her recent apparent ACC failure notwithstanding.

I get the impression she fully understands the importance of athletics. She did a lot of fence mending with JC after she terminated JH. It was implied by her that the situation with JC should never have developed! This gal understands the importance of research and endowment. And she understands that athletics play a part in all of this.

 

[huskymedic]

Everyone keeps saying that we need to double down on our Athletic investment and try to go big right now. Is anyone else worried that we might do the opposite and de-emphasize Athletics at this point? On the same day that we found out about the ACC snub, we also found out that the UConn budget was cut by $15MM in Malloys budget released this week. That is a bet large cut to say the least. Herbst has said that the cut does not change her plan to increase the investment in faculty and academics that she released previously...she said all cuts will come from non-academic budgets.

This has me very worried...it is a perfect storm against our AThletic Department. At the same time we are screwed on the conference situation, our major sports programs are at a low, and we will have a big hit to our Athletic Revenue--we are going to have a huge cut to our non-academic budget as well. Does Herbst just de-emphasize athletics and just completely focus on growing UConn as an academic institution?! I sure hope not...but it doesn't seem unrealistic given the current state of affairs. Have we seen the best of UConn Atletics and our future is similar to Villanova/Georgetown/etc?!

 

[freescooter]

Herbst (academic) and Manuel (athletic) absolutely appear to be the type who want to leave legacies and each sees turning our athletic department into one of the stars in the NCAA (like a Michigan, Florida, Texas) would be clearly the best path to that end. I don't know if they will succeed (as outside forces, primarily on our case the willingness of the state and its citizens to take the financial risk involved in reaching that end) but i doubt that they will give up until they have exhausted every avenue.

If that's the goal, they certainly have a strange way of getting there. Or perhaps they are "monitoring the situation."

 

[TouchdownHusky]

I don't get this. I love NE, with it's high standard of living.

Hell, economically, in 2011, they had 5 of its 6 states in the top 20 economies:

4. Vermont
8. New Hampshire
17. Maine
19. Massachusetts
20. Connecticut
34. Rhode Island

That's not bad. Hardly "backwards" or "irrelevant."

You do realize that we are talking college sports in general and college football in particular. How does an Oregon have not one but two BCS programs in a top flight conference. Iowa? How'd that happen. Friggin Mississippi has not one but two big time programs. Alabama? Two. Arkansas? West Virginia?

New England-totally irrelevant in college sports save for UConn (up to this point). Maine, NH, Vermont and Rhode Island together don't have top notch big time program in a sport that really matters. Where else do you see this other than perhaps the Dakotas and Wyoming? So the focus in college football and New England is without a clue and irrelevant as hell.

 

[tzznandrew]

You do realize that we are talking college sports in general and college football in particular. How does an Oregon have not one but two BCS programs in a top flight conference. Iowa? How'd that happen. Friggin Mississippi has not one but two big time programs. Alabama? Two. Arkansas? West Virginia?

Totally irrelevant in college sports save for UConn (up to this point). Maine, NH, Vermont and Rhode Island together don't have top notch big time program in a sport that really matters. Where else do you see this other than perhaps the Dakotas and Wyoming? So the focus in college football and New England is without a clue and irrelevant as hell.

Ha! That makes way more sense. I thought you were just indiscriminately bashing NE.

 

[freescooter]

I get the impression she fully understands the importance of athletics. She did a lot of fence mending with JC after she terminated JH. It was implied by her that the situation with JC should never have developed! This gal understands the importance of research and endowment. And she understands that athletics play a part in all of this.

apparently that wasn't who she needed to mend fences with when you read that long time conference mate Syracuse lobbied for Louisville. And there is a suggestion that her alma mater's head coach wasn't too hot on UConn either nor did Boston College support us, nor Georgia Tech, where she was a former faculty member and administrator.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Ha! That makes way more sense. I thought you were just indiscriminately bashing NE.

Yeah, just college sports. That . . . and the cold weather. . . and the snow and the late arrival of spring weather.