Jeff Jacobs article on the new facility

[UcMiami]

In the news links there is one to Jeff's column on the champions center:
http://www.ctnow.com/sports/hc-jacobs-col-first-night-uconn-1018-20141017,0,4089585.column

I think he does a nice job of treading the line between gentle nudge and complaint regarding former players' donations to Uconn. At the risk of being 'political' I wanted to post some additional thoughts:

The difference between women's team players and men's team players are numerous and it starts with
1. professional prospects - the men who make it to the NBA earn in a single year what the women are likely to earn in their entire career. There are more professional stars coming out of the women's program, but just a couple of numbers: Ray Allen - career earnings $184M, Emeka Okafor $90M. Hard to find the numbers for players like DT or Sue but for the 10-12 yrs of their careers $10M is probably generous of which less than $1M comes from WNBA salaries and the rest is from playing the rest of the year overseas.

2. 4 years at Uconn for women vs. 2-4 yrs for men. The women stick around so they probably have a stronger connection to campus and the school - the two men listed above both played three years at Uconn (The men's program is certainly not known for the 1 and done players that other 'powerhouse' programs seem to pursue thankfully.)

The other difference that I see is gratitude. The women feel grateful for their opportunities to play in college, professionally, internationally, and for national teams. I can only remember one women's star who declined an invitation to train for the national team while fit - the men's national team history is littered with players declining those invitations.

And that gratitude shows up in the response to requests like the funding of facilities at Uconn - with infinitely more limited resources the women step up in a way the men don't.

 

[mauconnfan]

In the news links there is one to Jeff's column on the champions center:
http://www.ctnow.com/sports/hc-jacobs-col-first-night-uconn-1018-20141017,0,4089585.column

I think he does a nice job of treading the line between gentle nudge and complaint regarding former players' donations to Uconn. At the risk of being 'political' I wanted to post some additional thoughts:

The difference between women's team players and men's team players are numerous and it starts with
1. professional prospects - the men who make it to the NBA earn in a single year what the women are likely to earn in their entire career. There are more professional stars coming out of the women's program, but just a couple of numbers: Ray Allen - career earnings $184M, Emeka Okafor $90M. Hard to find the numbers for players like DT or Sue but for the 10-12 yrs of their careers $10M is probably generous of which less than $1M comes from WNBA salaries and the rest is from playing the rest of the year overseas.

2. 4 years at Uconn for women vs. 2-4 yrs for men. The women stick around so they probably have a stronger connection to campus and the school - the two men listed above both played three years at Uconn (The men's program is certainly not known for the 1 and done players that other 'powerhouse' programs seem to pursue thankfully.)

The other difference that I see is gratitude. The women feel grateful for their opportunities to play in college, professionally, internationally, and for national teams. I can only remember one women's star who declined an invitation to train for the national team while fit - the men's national team history is littered with players declining those invitations.

And that gratitude shows up in the response to requests like the funding of facilities at Uconn - with infinitely more limited resources the women step up in a way the men don't.

Have you looked up the numbers of which Ray and Emeka have given and raised for their charitable funds such as Juvenile Diabetes and such? I'm quite sure the donations from many of the mens players for many of the charities including the Jim and Pat Calhoun Foundation among others far outweigh what the women have made in their careers. This is by no means a shot to the women but instead to yours and Jeff Jacobs homework on our guys!!

The full story usually helps......

 

[UcMiami]

Have you looked up the numbers of which Ray and Emeka have given and raised for their charitable funds such as Juvenile Diabetes and such? I'm quite sure the donations from many of the mens players for many of the charities including the Jim and Pat Calhoun Foundation among others far outweigh what the women have made in their careers. This is by no means a shot to the women but instead to yours and Jeff Jacobs homework on our guys!!

The full story usually helps.

I absolutely agree that gifts to Uconn are only one avenue of charitable contribution out there for everyone and for athletes in particular - and I agree that on a fan message board we focus more particularly on 'our athletes' vs. everyone else's. I have no idea what charitable contributions any of the men's players have made, nor truly how much the women have contributed to charities as a whole or Uconn specifically. And also no idea of what percentages of their respective incomes have been donated to worthy causes.
But I do think it is fair to look at 'participation' in something like the Champions Center fundraising as a gauge of commitment to the program that helped launch athletic careers and identify a different level of participation between the men's and women's teams and ask why. I haven't seen the list of donators but Geno has and he noticed and commented on that discrepancy - I am sure a bunch of the women's donations were in the 100s of dollars and not 1000s based on financial means, but that isn't the point I am making - it is the desire to participate and the sense of gratitude that seems to permeate the women - a residual effect of the history of their exclusion from funding for athletic programs no doubt.

 

[Beemer]

I absolutely agree that gifts to Uconn are only one avenue of charitable contribution out there for everyone and for athletes in particular - and I agree that on a fan message board we focus more particularly on 'our athletes' vs. everyone else's. I have no idea what charitable contributions any of the men's players have made, nor truly how much the women have contributed to charities as a whole or Uconn specifically. And also no idea of what percentages of their respective incomes have been donated to worthy causes.
But I do think it is fair to look at 'participation' in something like the Champions Center fundraising as a gauge of commitment to the program that helped launch athletic careers and identify a different level of participation between the men's and women's teams and ask why. I haven't seen the list of donators but Geno has and he noticed and commented on that discrepancy - I am sure a bunch of the women's donations were in the 100s of dollars and not 1000s based on financial means, but that isn't the point I am making - it is the desire to participate and the sense of gratitude that seems to permeate the women - a residual effect of the history of their exclusion from funding for athletic programs no doubt.

I think the women are much more aware of the history- how difficult it was [before Title IX] to get colleges to fund women's teams, the lack of pro opportunities, etc in a way the men are not. And I think that has to do with older women reminding the younger generation that what exists now- the four year scholarships to major colleges, opportunities to play professionally, the chance to make endorsement money- simply did not exist or existed in very limited quantities and not all that long ago either.

 

[EricLA]

Couldn't agree more UCM. I posted on the men's board that aside from Steve Pikell, not a single former player donated anything to the new facility (unless you want to count HC Kevin Ollie as he donated as well), and I said I was surprised and disappointed. It's great that the men give to their own charities, but so do the women. Swin Cash has a pretty big commitment to one, and I think Tina Charles does too (so does Charde Houston). I wouldn't be surprised if Maya and Diana (and other UCONN alum) are involved in charities as well. To use that as an "excuse" for the men not to donate is (IMHO) absolving them far too much for the lack of effort.

Carmelo Anthony donated $3 million to Syracuse's practice facility, and i'm betting he has charities he donates to also. Oh, and he only spent 1 year at Syracuse. So frankly, any of the "excuses" folks can use for the men don't hold water. If Carmelo can find it within himself to donate $3 million, I'm sure the former UCONN stars can find something affordable for them to donate.

 

[UcMiami]

I'll also add one other 'complaint' completely unrelated to the current situation or Uconn. We don't see it mentioned much today as the number of pre-pro-union players is dwindling, but it was in the news more often in the 70s, 80s, and 90s as pro salaries climbed into the stratosphere. Men's professional athletes in the 60s and before were generally not making 'drop dead' money and worked during the off seasons at second jobs that they hoped would become the careers that would support them after they stopped playing - and some of them were crippled for life playing in what were more violent games than the more sanitized versions around today. The unionized and free agent players started making serious money and for the most part ignored those retired players in the collective bargaining agreements they negotiated - forgetting the needs of players that had by their play popularized their sports and put the modern athletes in the position to reap the benefits of the influx of money.

 

[UConnCat]

Lots of former women players have donated

 

[Beemer]

I recognize one other name on that list- I went to high school with Cathy Bochain. We played on the softball team together for two seasons. Really nice person.

 

[EricLA]

So the list of women who have donated looks like this:

1. Maria Conlon
2. Diana Taurasi
3. Tamika Williams (Raymond)
   
4. Sue Bird
5. Jamelle Elliot
6. Wendy Davis
7. Meghan Pattyson (Culmo)
   
8. Kalana Greene
9. Mel Thomas
   
10. Debbie Baer (Fiske)
    
11. Kara Wolters
12. Carla Berube
13. Kerry Bascomb (Poliquin)
    
14. Rebecca Lobo
15. Sarah Darras (on the current coaching staff - director of basketball)

Did I miss any based on their married names? And the list of the men who donated is

1. Steve Pikiell
2. Kevin Ollie

 

[UConnCat]

Other former women players

Kathleen Bantley
Peggy Walsh Myers
Jenn Rizzotti Sullivan
Stacey (Wetzel) Bayley
Kathy (Ferrier) Gibson
Jill (Gelfenbien) Laufer

Former team manager (now asst DBO)

Kevin Demille

 

[UcMiami]

Eric and Cat - thanks for posting the lists - that is pretty impressive for the women.

 

[UConnCat]

Nice.


THE UCONN CLUB ‏@UConnClub
Members of the @UConnMBB & @UConnWBB team thank the Werth Family for their generosity at halftime of 1st Night!

 

[pap49cba]

Ray Allen? No Maya?

 

[UcMiami]

Ray Allen? No Maya?

probably already in China

 

[Icebear]

So the list of women who have donated looks like this:

1. Maria Conlon
2. Diana Taurasi
3. Tamika Williams (Raymond)
   
4. Sue Bird
5. Jamelle Elliot
6. Wendy Davis
7. Meghan Pattyson (Culmo)
   
8. Kalana Greene
9. Mel Thomas
   
10. Debbie Baer (Fiske)
    
11. Kara Wolters
12. Carla Berube
13. Kerry Bascomb (Poliquin)
    
14. Rebecca Lobo
15. Sarah Darras (on the current coaching staff - director of basketball)

Did I miss any based on their married names? And the list of the men who donated is

1. Steve Pikiell
2. Kevin Ollie

You missed Margaret "Peggy" Myers class of 85.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Couldn't agree more UCM. I posted on the men's board that aside from Steve Pikell, not a single former player donated anything to the new facility (unless you want to count HC Kevin Ollie as he donated as well), and I said I was surprised and disappointed. It's great that the men give to their own charities, but so do the women. Swin Cash has a pretty big commitment to one, and I think Tina Charles does too (so does Charde Houston). I wouldn't be surprised if Maya and Diana (and other UCONN alum) are involved in charities as well. To use that as an "excuse" for the men not to donate is (IMHO) absolving them far too much for the lack of effort.

Carmelo Anthony donated $3 million to Syracuse's practice facility, and i'm betting he has charities he donates to also. Oh, and he only spent 1 year at Syracuse. So frankly, any of the "excuses" folks can use for the men don't hold water. If Carmelo can find it within himself to donate $3 million, I'm sure the former UCONN stars can find something affordable for them to donate.

I find it surprising considering the success UConn has had over the years. Out here we have the Richard Jefferson practice facility and Steve Kerr just gave 1 million towards the on-going renovation of the McKale Center. In fact there is an area of the men's new locker-room which has dedicated lockers for former Wildcats who are now pros.

 

[bramos]

Other former women players

Kathleen Bantley
Peggy Walsh Myers
Jenn Rizzotti Sullivan
Stacey (Wetzel) Bayley
Kathy (Ferrier) Gibson
Jill (Gelfenbien) Laufer

Former team manager (now asst DBO)

Kevin Demille

William Sullivan..Jen's husband..wasn't he a former wbb practice player?

 

[hjoerring]

Gifts/Givings are some of the most difficult things to talk publicly about, because you are always doing a dangerous balancing act. I think many years ago I was contacted by the Alumni Foundation about fees, membership, etc(?) And I paid. Never followed up and as far as I know my name is not listed anywhere- not ative anything. Yet, I consume everything, from afar, about Uconn and have often thought about giving to something. As I type this I'm wondering how many in my class have donated to the Univ. We don't usually do so at public univ., do we? How many non-athletes have send checks? I know of one or two who could send in a sizable amount (perhaps they have- I too would not ask that my name be listed). Not to be too personal, but how many of my fellow Boneyarders have dugged into their deep or even shallow pockets? How about all of us making a contrib. in the name of the Boneyard?

 

[warbler13]

So the list of women who have donated looks like this:

1. Maria Conlon
2. Diana Taurasi
3. Tamika Williams (Raymond)
   
4. Sue Bird
5. Jamelle Elliot
6. Wendy Davis
7. Meghan Pattyson (Culmo)
   
8. Kalana Greene
9. Mel Thomas
   
10. Debbie Baer (Fiske)
    
11. Kara Wolters
12. Carla Berube
13. Kerry Bascomb (Poliquin)
    
14. Rebecca Lobo
15. Sarah Darras (on the current coaching staff - director of basketball)

Did I miss any based on their married names? And the list of the men who donated is

1. Steve Pikiell
2. Kevin Ollie

Did I miss something here, no Maya More and Ray Allen whose pictures adorned the new Werth Center?

 

[DaddyChoc]

Didn't Calhoun tell them not to donate anything? (the Men)

 

[UcMiami]

I know that I listed a couple of NBA players above because they were two of the biggest stars on the men's side and their career earnings were easy to obtain, but I really didn't mean to call out anyone specifically - it was for comparison purposes to two of the biggest women's stars - also not being called out specifically.

I don't think whether Maya, or Ray, or any other individual player from either team has donated to this specific fund (or any other) is relevant - my point in the OP, the point made by Jeff in his article, and the point made by Geno is that of the 300+ players from each team that have passed through Uconn in the Jim/Geno era there is a noticeable difference in the number who participated from each team - the women at somewhere around 7-8% , the men more like 2-3%.
There is a contrast between the genders for whatever reason. It is interesting.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

This is a beautiful facility; congratulations. It will definitely help keep you guys at the top.

 

[j66kicker]

Didn't Calhoun tell them not to donate anything? (the Men)

Maybe that's why he didn't attend the dedication

 

[Beemer]

Didn't Calhoun tell them not to donate anything? (the Men)

Jerky thing for him to do if true. But then Calhoun has never been mistaken for having class....

 

[DaddyChoc]

He wanted the AD and all the Funding people to do their job (just me assuming, yup I know... He said let them enjoy their earned money)