Sources say University of Virginia provost Thomas C. Katsouleas is finalist for UConn president

[ThetaZoo]

Thank goodness, someone who is data driven. A physicist. The description of his research doesn't tell us much though. Doing that much life guarding though tells us he must be a sports guy. Like that a lot too.

Lifeguarding for more than a few years says you probably don't want a real job. That was me. That doesn't appear to be the case with him.

 

[uconnbill]

I don't believe that UConn ever came up for an ACC vote.

I am sure that there was discussion and Coach K liked UConn....but once Swofford put forward that football was driving force that would allow upgraded media contracts and the perceived weak point of the conference...all else became a moot point.

Yes...BC liked not having local competition...but I also believe it was ESPN's media estimates and advice, along with the ACC football schools agreeing, that knocked UConn out of the running.

You would be wrong, and I will leave it at that

 

[Jaybird65]

I have a close friend on the baseball staff @ UVA. I shot him an email earlier this mornng when I saw the piece in the Courant & ask him a little about the guy & if he was perceived there to be a “friend” of athletics. He responded by saying the guy was never really put in a position that make that clear. He did say the guy was big on maintaining high academic standards.

 

[Uconnalliance]

Not the stumbling , studdering bumbling idiot Malloy? up Stamford, up the state, let’s go for the trifecta, UCONN BABY!!!

 

[Stainmaster]

Not the stumbling , studdering bumbling idiot Malloy? up Stamford, up the state, let’s go for the trifecta, UCONN BABY!!!

Thank you for your contribution.

 

[Uconnalliance]

Thank you for your contribution.

Your welcome bro

 

[billybud]

This is BS revisionist history. At the time there would've been a vote, UConn was still an okay football option. I don't think Louisville was perceived as a slam dunk football program over UConn by most people. We hit a rough patch under PP, but we wouldn't have been excluded from a vote because of it.

There was one vote...unanimous.

Per ACC habit...straw votes are taken and not recorded before the concensus vote is taken for the record.

Unless you were one of the participants, all else is conjecture fueled by internet posts.

 

[huskyrob1]

This is BS revisionist history. At the time there would've been a vote, UConn was still an okay football option. I don't think Louisville was perceived as a slam dunk football program over UConn by most people. We hit a rough patch under PP, but we wouldn't have been excluded from a vote because of it.

There was a vote, as usual billybud or buddy doesn't know what he's talking about. BC, Cuse, FSU, and one other (can't remember who) were the dissenting votes.

 

[huskyrob1]

Not the stumbling , studdering bumbling idiot Malloy? up Stamford, up the state, let’s go for the trifecta, UCONN BABY!!!

If I could have I would have given you 10 "likes".

 

[Uconnalliance]

If I could have I would have given you 10 "likes".

Gotta make someone laugh !!! But it’s the TRUTH

 

[buddy]

There was a vote, as usual billybud or buddy doesn't know what he's talking about. BC, Cuse, FSU, and one other (can't remember who) were the dissenting votes.

Don't confuse me with Billybud. He is a FSU supporter. ESPN pulled all the strings. BC, Cuse Clemson, NC State, FSU and I believe GT were all against UConn. Cuse didn't have vote, but Cuse is ESPN, so six of one half dozen of the other. I don't see a physicist as someone who will promote athletics. Just my opinion. I don't the man. I am picturing a continuation of the current status.

 

[whaler11]

there was one vote and louisville was unanimous

christ weve been following this for a decade can we not let the fever dreams of the delusional become public record

nobody has votes without knowing that its going into the minutes as a clean sweep

 

[HuskyHawk]

There was one vote....and it is was unanimous. The straw votes, if any, are never made public and who voted how is internet conjecture.

The conference usually has one official vote...and it is a unanimous one

And a dumb one at that.

 

[Hoophound]

They don’t officially vote until they reach a unanimous result in straw polls. That’s the way it works.

 

[RSTuthill]

Particle physics is dead.

Quantum entanglement.

 

[huskyrob1]

Quantum entanglement.

particle physics holds the keys to the universe, from Cooper pairs to Josephson Junctions to quantum coherence to flux qbits to machines that were only theories a few years ago.

 

[Adios]

And a dumb one at that.

Not necessarily. May have helped Clemson out in getting where they wanted to go.

If Clemson wins the next 3 championships, the ACC can easily make us the next addition. Again, no end game in conference realignment has ever been mentioned. We're going to end up in a "P5" type conference one day. We've paid our dues and contributed plenty.

 

[blue93]

There was one vote...unanimous.

Per ACC habit...straw votes are taken and not recorded before the concensus vote is taken for the record.

Unless you were one of the participants, all else is conjecture fueled by internet posts.

If you want to go into technicalities, there was probably one official vote. I’ll grant you that. But my point was that you’re making it sound like UConn wasn’t considered because of football, which I strongly disagree with.

 

[billybud]

Well...we all conjecture...But I posit, still, that football was a driver...based on the context of the times. It was musical chairs time and the ACC was desperate to grab one of those five chaits.

Back then we had:

Swofford

"Swofford estimated that football drives 70-80 percent of rights fees and acknowledged that more national success in that sport would have meant additional​

revenue."​

​

Swofford

“The world is a much different place now in that regard,” Swofford said. “For decades, as a conference, we made more headlines in basketball and more money in basketball, and there was nothing inherently wrong with that. Obviously, basketball remains a huge part of our success and identity today.

“But for various reasons, that picture has changed significantly. We’ve been through realignment and expansion multiple times, with football a major factor in that. We have an ACC football championship game now. We have a College Football Playoff. I think it’s fair to say that, without significant upgrades in football over the years, the ACC would not be where it is today.”

The Clemson AD:

"For example, in this latest contract with ESPN, 80% of it is generated by football. As good as basketball has been in the ACC, it is very evident just through this contract that football has to be very, very relevant."​

​

AND De Filippo​

​

"We always keep our television partners close to us,’’ he said. "You don’t get extra money for basketball. It’s 85 percent football money. TV - ESPN - is the one who told us what to do. This was football; it had nothing to do with basketball.’’​

​

I rest my case.​

​

​

​

 

[Palatine]

Solid academic background.

How is he as a fund raiser? That is UConn's #1 priority right now.

 

[Palatine]

If you want to go into technicalities, there was probably one official vote. I’ll grant you that. But my point was that you’re making it sound like UConn wasn’t considered because of football, which I strongly disagree with.

That is absolutely the case. FSU and Clemson had big problems with us for football.

 

[billybud]

Coach K, and Duke, had the most difficulty in coming to grips with the conference abandoning the "basketball first" mentality.

Coach K had been a shot caller and an advocate of strengthening basketball.....but now the media partner and circumstances were all screaming..."If you want one of those remaining chairs, build up football."

Swofford said back 15 years ago...

"Even with national championship teams and terrific individual players and coaches over the years in football, our history has been defined by basketball, where we have had phenomenal success," said ACC Commissioner John Swofford, a former North Carolina quarterback. "Now what I think we have for the first time in our history is the opportunity for ACC football to be just as competitive and just as respected as ACC basketball. To me, that's the beauty of this expansion."

 

[CTGoonie]

Solid academic background.

How is he as a fund raiser? That is UConn's #1 priority right now.

According to this editorial " If Lamont has one demand for whoever takes over, it should be this: “Get us out of the AAC.”

 

[LoyalFanCT]

CTGoonie: Great that you posted the comment from the Connecticut Post. Just hope leaving the AAC means a step up (to ACC or B10) and not a step down (to MAC or new Big East).

 

[BlueandOG]

particle physics holds the keys to the universe, from Cooper pairs to Josephson Junctions to quantum coherence to flux qbits to machines that were only theories a few years ago.

Glad to know I am not the only science nerd on here!