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Message: [QUOTE="UConnNick, post: 3075496, member: 1526"] It's true that Toner deserved criticism for his absentee administration of the athletic program while he was traveling all over the country on NCAA business. He neglected things to a point where there was serious discussion among the boosters and BOT about leaving the Big East for a conference we might have a better chance of being competitive in. A lot of the blame lies with the school administration at that time, though. They were trying to run the admissions dept. like we were in the Ivy League, and our Big East brethren were all cheating their asses off in recruiting. We couldn't compete unless we could recruit marginal qualifiers, and the school wouldn't allow it. The fact that Toner may not have fought that is on him, but going back to the Homer Babbidge years, and his desire to make UConn a "public ivy", Toner was on board with all of that due to his own background at Columbia. Toner turned things around in a big way by hiring Auriemma and Calhoun. Auriemma was a complete flyer. Who knew he would transform the women's program into the biggest national power in the game? Toner had the foresight to even go to the team and ask them if they'd have any problem with a male coach. They indicated they just wanted to win...didn't care about gender. He met Calhoun somewhere in Sturbridge to seal the deal with him. A committee was actively involved in both hires, but Toner was the one who finalized the deals. The culture needed to change and the school was aware of that, so they instituted the academic assistance program for athletes after they lost Gamble and Robinson due to the school's academic rules, not the NCAA's, and they finally committed to upgrading the facilities after Calhoun badgered everybody he possibly could. He had to fight for everything, including ditching the shitbox Dodge car from the state motor pool. Personally, Toner was always very cordial and engaging when you talked with him in person. He invented Division I-AA and served as President of the NCAA. In my view the ADs should still be in charge of the NCAA. Letting the school presidents run it has been an unmitigated disaster. Toner deserves the credit for turning around the athletic program and saving it from being permanently relegated to A10 or lower status, whether he was on his way out or not. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach