New commit for UConn?

[pj]

It’s an interesting choice isn’t it? Do you maintain the same number of sports at a lower level or do you reduce the total number of sports and compete only on those which are, if not revenue producing, at least somewhat subsidized by the gate?

Yes, that's the choice. But if schools choose to reduce the number of sports and only focus on revenue producers, then they are becoming minor pro sports leagues or entertainment divisions attached to colleges, not college athletics. I would probably start to lose interest in college sports. I loved watching upstart UConn rise from obscurity to the top of college athletics. If that becomes impossible, I'd probably have no more interest in college sports than I now have in pro sports, which is not much.

 

[ctchamps]

Thirty-Four More Student-Athletes Commit to Play in College on Signing Day - Montverde Academy Athletics

Montverde, Fla.— Montverde Academy is excited to announce that thirty-four more senior student-athletes have committed to play their sport at the collegiate level

mvasports.com

Here is an article from May 4th announcing this. Is it really possible that we all missed this? I'm so confused.

Now I understand why he was so excited. He’s the only one on that list that will be on a blue blood team. Staff definitely going after shooters.

 

[CL82]

Yes, that's the choice. But if schools choose to reduce the number of sports and only focus on revenue producers, then they are becoming minor pro sports leagues or entertainment divisions attached to colleges, not college athletics. I would probably start to lose interest in college sports. I loved watching upstart UConn rise from obscurity to the top of college athletics. If that becomes impossible, I'd probably have no more interest in college sports than I now have in pro sports, which is not much.

I agree with your larger point that college sports and more pro sports it loses it appeal.

I’m a little less cynical about the choices small schools will be forced into. If you can only offer limited number of sports given your budget, why not offer the ones that people actually come to see? That seems like a sensible decision to me.

 

[Jbirdp5]

Gonna happen next year in baseball with Norwalk’s own Korey Morton

Morton not on scholarship? I thought he was on a partial

 

[pj]

I agree with your larger point that college sports and more pro sports it loses it appeal.

I’m a little less cynical about the choices small schools will be forced into. If you can only offer limited number of sports given your budget, why not offer the ones that people actually come to see? That seems like a sensible decision to me.

Are college sports there to serve the student-athletes or the spectators?

I agree that popular sports are more worthy of a place -- there will be more athletes as well as more spectators -- so they should be funded first. But if the choice is between offering more sports and giving more money to the athletes in the popular sports, I'd like to give more students a chance to play college sports, and develop excellence in more sports.

There are similar issues on the academic side. Should a university support unpopular fields like philosophy or classics, or expand popular majors like economics or engineering or pre-med? Does the 40th professor in business add more value than the 2nd in philosophy? It depends on your vision of a university. I would favor breadth. It has a value all its own, allowing students to explore.

 

[CL82]

I agree that popular sports are more worthy of a place -- there will be more athletes as well as more spectators -- so they should be funded first. But if the choice is between offering more sports and giving more money to the athletes in the popular sports, I'd like to give more students a chance to play college sports, and develop excellence in more sports

That’s not the choice at all. Athletes on “popular sports” like football or basketball are already on full scholarship. This isn’t a question of taking away a scholarship from some to deserving track athlete so that a basketball player gets a double scholarship, rather it’s a case of a limited pie. If you raise the total number of scholarships that need to be offered for sports which are currently on partial scholarships, it’ll price people out of the market. There’s nothing nefarious in that, it’s just economics. If sports are made to be more expensive, then schools with limited budgets will have to offer less of them.

 

[pj]

That’s not the choice at all. Athletes on “popular sports” like football or basketball are already on full scholarship. This isn’t a question of taking away a scholarship from some to deserving track athlete so that a basketball player gets a double scholarship, rather it’s a case of a limited pie. If you raise the total number of scholarships that need to be offered for sports which are currently on partial scholarships, it’ll price people out of the market. There’s nothing nefarious in that, it’s just economics. If sports are made to be more expensive, then schools with limited budgets will have to offer less of them.

We'll see how things work in this new world. Personally, I would expect that a significant part of the booster/sponsor money that will go to NIL athletes in future might otherwise have gone to the athletic department, and will cannibalize some university revenue. The additional revenue to athletes with this "pro" shift will come in part out of athletic department revenues.

On the expenditure side of the athletic budget, we already see a bifurcation among schools. SEC schools have much larger budgets for coaching staffs than UConn. I phrased my post badly, speaking of giving money to the athletes rather than sports. It should have read "giving more money to the popular sports."

 

[CL82]

Personally, I would expect that a significant part of the booster/sponsor money that will go to NIL athletes in future might otherwise have gone to the athletic department, and will cannibalize some university revenue.

I hadn’t thought about this, but it makes sense to me.

 

[bigknight3]

Assisted access link


-> But when the NCAA transfer portal hit full steam a couple of years ago, coupled with the extra year of eligibility for all student-athletes, the phone calls pretty much stopped. In fact, Johnson never did get a DI offer.

So the 6-foot-4 guard from South Kent Prep decided to change his focus.

“When I told schools he was thinking of being a walk-on instead of going down a level,” South Kent coach Raphael Chillious recalled, “a lot of teams were like, ‘Shoot, we’ll take him as a walk-on anytime.’”

One of those teams was UConn. Dan Hurley liked what he saw from Johnson at an open gym and the UConn staff stayed in touch with him. Next season, Johnson will be a preferred walk-on for the Huskies.

“It just felt right,” Johnson told Hearst Connecticut Media. “I liked it there. I feel like it’s the place for me.” <-

"Johnson Jr. could soon be joined at UConn by another preferred walk-on, Emmett Hendry, a 6-5 guard from Monteverde Academy."