Herbst Speaks

[Adios]

You are kidding yourself if you don't think that this impacts us academically. You are judged by the company that you keep. We are now part of the also rans.

Tulane and SMU are academically very good. There's also Georgetown in the basketball only side. Memphis dominated C-USA in basketball. We can do the same here.

 

[CL82]

I didn't say that it wasn't going to affect academics, but it isn't going to sink the university. Far from it. UConn has a fantastic reputation among public institutions in the North East. It would take a lot more than staying in the Big East to rock that.

If you were going to say that football was canceled or whatever...then let's start talking about how much it would affect us academically.

You are running in a marathon. At about the two mile mark someone hands you a bag of cement and tells you that you have to carry it for the duration. Now you aren't "sunk" but your chances of having a respectable time or even finishing just went down dramatically.

The name on the bag of cement is "the Big East Conference."

 

[caw]

Villanova? Top ranked liberal arts college in the North region.

http://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/media/pressreleases/2012/0912.html

That is among regional universities, and while nice, it's not the same as Georgetown or even UConn's standing, IMO. If it was in the top 50 for national liberal arts, then we would be talking.

 

[8893]

I didn't say that it wasn't going to affect academics, but it isn't going to sink the university. Far from it. UConn has a fantastic reputation among public institutions in the North East. It would take a lot more than staying in the Big East to rock that.

If you were going to say that football was canceled or whatever...then let's start talking about how much it would affect us academically.

Athletic success provided the revenue and cachet to fuel the academic improvement. It's over.

The football upgrade was a failure. Its sole purpose was to get us a seat at the table in conference realignment. It didn't. Too little, too late.

Until today I thought we had a chance of squeaking in. We didn't. Our administration failed to close the deal. They snatched defeat from the jaws of victory getting beat out by Louisville. Even if we end up in the ACC after they are raided again, it will merely mean that we jump to another depleted conference on life support.

The best course of action for us now is to pull out of the hunt for a place in a major conference. It just looks silly now. Scale back football aspirations and hope for occasional basketball success as a high mid-major.

It was a nice run. I'm glad I was along for the ride. But it's over.

 

[UConn9604]

In early 1995, both UConn basketball teams were ranked No. 1 at the same time, which had never been done before. Women won the title, men had a good run before losing to UCLA. Pride in state U was at an all-time high.

Naturally, it took some great initiatives from other people outside of athletics for UConn 2000 to get drawn up (and then get it off the drawing board and into reality), but the political climate was ideal for it, largely due to the fact that UConn was so prominent on the minds of the whole state - nobody's constituents were going to complain about it.

This is correct. The $1 billion UConn 2000 program was approved just after the women's undefeated 1995 season, and the $1.3 billion 21st Century UConn (an addition to the original UConn 2000 program) was approved following their undefeated 2002 season. Plus, Jackson Labs and the new Health Center were approved shortly after the men won their third title and football went to the Fiesta Bowl.

Obviously, these programs have value that is completely independent of the Division of Athletics, but 1995 marked the last time that a legislator could vote against UConn and get away with it, and that they were approved during the basketball rise/football birth is far more than just a coincidence (in my opinion).

 

[HuskyHawk]

The reason we are not UMass right now academically is because of Calhoun and Auriemma. Athletics matter.

That's not the only reason. We were the best public U in New England long before they arrived. UConn 2000 was more important. But it contributed to making the school more attractive.

 

[NHUConnfan]

You are running in a marathon. At about the two mile mark someone hands you a bag of cement and tells you that you have to carry it for the duration. Now you aren't "sunk" but your chances of having a respectable time or even finishing just went down dramatically.

The name on the bag of cement is "the Big East Conference."

Very creative.

 

[businesslawyer]

politicians were able to invest in the University because the basketball success made it politically viable to do so

so yes, UConn is what it is today because of Jim and Geno.

That statement is inarguably true.

 

[ctchamps]

Agreed. Athletic prominence and success plays a huge role in the success of a university (unless you're Yale, Harvard, MIT...) Just look at the application numbers UCONN gets now compared to prior to the success of the UCONN men's and women's hoops teams. It's astounding. Also, the academic standards are so much higher than before. Just look at the average SAT scores and the lower percentage of applicants admitted.

When I was in high school, you never saw one of the top ten graduating seniors going to UCONN, now about half do. Sad to say but although I was accepted to UCONN 20+ years ago, I doubt I'd get in today.....

I could have guessed that! emoticon means just razzing you.

There is a certain credibility to the argument academics supports athletics and vice versa. UConn has, imo, benefitted from the athletic success of both the men's and women's bb programs. But there were factors outside of athletics that contributed to the academic success and I'm not certain athletic success should be given so much weight. Otherwise the SEC would be the poster child for academic achievement in the U.S.

One of the biggest fears our forum members (people who are invested in college sports) have is that the monies won't be there for coaches if the universities are on the outside looking in. And that is true to some extent. But I'm not so sure this matters as much as people are thinking. A lot of big time programs are paying big time monies for coaches without positive results. In fact the over whelming majority are. So all the monies gained by joining big time media deals is being pushed into facilities, coaching staffs, and ADs, without it translating into success. Its just another form of irrational exuberance.

And no one predicted that JC or GA would put UConn on the map at the time of their respective hires. They certainly didn't start out with the types of monies that people are conditioned to believe are necessary for athletic success.

Whatever net positives that are gained $$ wise from these contracts it can be argued that many, if not most universities, are mismanaging their handling of these $$. The BOT at a lot of universities have a lot of agendas that don't necessarily put academic success at the forefront of their decision making. I would love to observe an investigation of PSU that followed the money trail of the politicos and BOT's surrounding the University during all the Sandusky events. Won't happen. Curley, Schultz, Spanier and the deceased Paterno will take all the hits. They were guilty but probably there were just as many members of the BOT's and outside business interests/politicians who insisted on covering things up to protect their ability to make profits off of state tax $$$.

Continued athletic success can be beneficial to UConn's academic success. But that is not etched in stone.

 

[UConn76]

Jeff Jacobs ‏@jacobscourant
Susan Herbst: "The joy we've had for past couple decades has been in Big East. I think everybody should try to keep that in mind."


Anyone hoping for that B1G invite can forget that idea with this quote.

Every team that we enjoyed being part of the Big East football with is now gone. Hard to figure out that comment.

 

[The Funster]

Jeff Jacobs ‏@jacobscourant
Susan Herbst: "The joy we've had for past couple decades has been in Big East. I think everybody should try to keep that in mind."

I just crapped my pants.

 

[FrostyNuggets]

Jeff Jacobs ‏@jacobscourant
Susan Herbst: "The joy we've had for past couple decades has been in Big East. I think everybody should try to keep that in mind."

Susan should try to keep in mind the State of Connecticut invested to not be left behind.

 

[RMoore1999]

Far a

The reason we are not UMass right now academically is because of Calhoun and Auriemma. Athletics matter.

Perfectly stated.

 

[4UConn]

Every team that we enjoyed being part of the Big East football with is now gone. Hard to figure out that comment.

As I stated earlier, that is a mind boggling clueless comment suggestive of complete cluelessness. She didn't even try to prepare some appropriate remarks. Nada.... But if I can read body language, that photo of her with her arms crossed suggests Warde is not long for UConn, because fair or not, at least in her mind, he is to blame for this fiasco.

 

[HuskyHawk]

That is among regional universities, and while nice, it's not the same as Georgetown or even UConn's standing, IMO. If it was in the top 50 for national liberal arts, then we would be talking.

Agreed, but Nova is certainly not an embarressment like Memphis, Boise or Houston. It is perfectly acceptable, so is PC.

 

[caw]

Agreed, but Nova is certainly not an embarressment like Memphis, Boise or Houston. It is perfectly acceptable, so is PC.

That is true.