We put our money into the only sport that really matters for the power five (well, the power five conferences that actually matter).
We utilized deficit spending to expand our stadium and improve our facilities, and the investment paid off with our membership in the Big Ten.
However, it also came at the expense of using every single shred of political capital our Athletic Department had and then some. The subsidy that we run is a huge target for all the forces going against Rutgers athletics, namely politicians, journalists, and academics.
Our only goal for our AD right now is to get the subsidy to $11 million, which would gives us a $20-35 million dollar surplus once the full Big Ten paychecks start rolling in.
So are we punting on basketball? For now yes, and we have every right to. We can't deficit spend because the outcry from our detractors would be too much, and we can't raise the money because our only large donors just want to give to football.
Of course, now we're seeing those same detractors of our subsidy turning around and saying we should deficit spend to improve our basketball facilities.
As a Rutgers fan, whenever politicians and journalists say we should do something..it just smells like a trap.