Uconn recruiting and the AAC impact

[Geno-ista]

Don't agree with the overnight part.

When Barmore retired LaTech had two really good years before the impact was felt because of returning players.

LaTech hired Kurt Budke(May he rest in peace). A good, but not great coach. I doubt Uconn would hire at that level. And I doubt Geno would leave Uconn in a bad way. I'd use Calhoun pushing Ollie as HC for the men as an example. I think they are actually recruiting better.

That being said, I don't think Geno is retiring after this latest contract. I think he will be only 64. I've been told 60's is the new 50's. He loves what he does too much to leave.

And as you said, as long as Geno is there , Uconn will be top dog.

Well again, like I said last time this was brought up, most of us who don't view the AAC in a good light are not thinking of immediate impact. (at least for the women) We are (and have always been) looking down the road when Geno retires. This again is kind of a strawman. No, the 2014 recruiting class, the 2015 recruiting class are not going to prove anything one way or another. Come back with this when Geno has retired and if UCONN is still in the AAC. At that point, then this can be addressed.

On the other hand, I don't think being in the AAC helps any in recruiting. It may not (probably doesn't) hurt any right now, but it doesn't help UCONN. Which is ok, because UCONN doesn't really need any help right now.

In the end, it may not even be a problem with the name/brand of the conference, or even who UCONN plays, it may come down to , or the lack of allocated because of being in a mid-major.

great summary of the situation! Meyers7- You are smarter than TonyC looks!

 

[HuskyNan]

How is UConn going to pay these coaches? The women's team no longer makes a profit, it lost $1.2 million last year, and even the men's team is unprofitable, losing $1.1 million. The other athletic programs lost a combine $16 million. It's football that brings in the money and the AAC can't negotiate the mega-millions the P5 conferences do. Is ESPN going to pay a lot of money to televise Tulane vs Temple?

The AAC is decent in men's basketball, bad in women's bball after UConn & USF, and bad in football after Central Florida and Cincinnati. Yes, Central Florida is the best team in the league. there is no money to be had in this league - UConn needs out or it won't be able to give a decent salary to Geno's replacement or the guy that replaces KO after he heads to the NBA.

 

[UcMiami]

The one advantage I see in the AAC as far as recruiting is that it has a huge footprint. It is no longer that important to schedule Baylor or UT because Uconn plays two other games in Texas. FL/Miami/FL State - not that important because we are playing down there in conference, etc. That exposure and the chance for family and friends and recruits to get to games is a definite plus.
On the rest - the NCAA itself and the conferences are still so much in flux right now that looking down the road is a little meaningless.

 

[doggydaddy]

How is UConn going to pay these coaches? The women's team no longer makes a profit, it lost $1.2 million last year, and even the men's team is unprofitable, losing $1.1 million. The other athletic programs lost a combine $16 million. It's football that brings in the money and the AAC can't negotiate the mega-millions the P5 conferences do. Is ESPN going to pay a lot of money to televise Tulane vs Temple?

The AAC is decent in men's basketball, bad in women's bball after UConn & USF, and bad in football after Central Florida and Cincinnati. Yes, Central Florida is the best team in the league. there is no money to be had in this league - UConn needs out or it won't be able to give a decent salary to Geno's replacement or the guy that replaces KO after he heads to the NBA.

Is is how they were paid in 2012.

The Division of Athletics at the University of Connecticut is an Auxiliary Service Fund entity and the sources of revenue include: gate receipts, private fundraising, corporate partnerships, television/radio rights, BIG EAST Conference revenues and NCAA revenues.

They will always have all of the above. Not as much as in the past, but you can't convince me that they won't be able to pay Geno's contract in full and if he wants another 4-5 years, pay that one in full too.

We are talking 4 years out. We will know if Uconn is still in the AAC by then and how the NCAA is shaking out as well.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Since some here seem to believe it's a foregone conclusion that being in a non-P5 conference will hurt a program, then should not the opposite be true: Being in a P5 conference HELPS.
If that is in fact true, then please explain (you fill in the blank).

I would argue that conference affiliation has an almost immeasurable effect on the success of any particular program. Why were/are some mid-majors routinely able to make fairly good runs through the tournament and other P5 teams unable even to get there?

It was and is and shall be all about coaching and not about conference.

There are no true mid-majors in the women's game that routinely make fairly good runs through the tournament. The division in talent that meyers presents is very real between mid-majors and P5's. Not helped by the extremely low seeding that most mid-majors can count on in the tourney, making even a first round victory less likely. The few true mid-majors that have been very successful in the NCAA have had exceptional coaches (Gonzaga, Marist, even Dayton) or have had exceptional and special talent (even Gonzaga and Marist in their best years had a "star" plus think of Jackie Stiles).

In his summary of this year's tourney, note that he is including UConn and Louisville, as well as the old / new BE teams like DePaul, where, as discussed above, the conference switch has had little affect.

That coaching will carry UConn is unquestioned, but only as long as the money holds out, as Husky Nan points out so eloquently.

 

[60'sfan]

How is UConn going to pay these coaches? The women's team no longer makes a profit, it lost $1.2 million last year, and even the men's team is unprofitable, losing $1.1 million. The other athletic programs lost a combine $16 million. It's football that brings in the money and the AAC can't negotiate the mega-millions the P5 conferences do. Is ESPN going to pay a lot of money to televise Tulane vs Temple?

The AAC is decent in men's basketball, bad in women's bball after UConn & USF, and bad in football after Central Florida and Cincinnati. Yes, Central Florida is the best team in the league. there is no money to be had in this league - UConn needs out or it won't be able to give a decent salary to Geno's replacement or the guy that replaces KO after he heads to the NBA.

They will just raise tuition. People in the state of Connecticut are used to that. The governor raises taxes all the time and will be re-elected easily.

 

[JoePgh]

How is UConn going to pay these coaches? The women's team no longer makes a profit, it lost $1.2 million last year, and even the men's team is unprofitable, losing $1.1 million. The other athletic programs lost a combine $16 million. It's football that brings in the money and the AAC can't negotiate the mega-millions the P5 conferences do. Is ESPN going to pay a lot of money to televise Tulane vs Temple?

The AAC is decent in men's basketball, bad in women's bball after UConn & USF, and bad in football after Central Florida and Cincinnati. Yes, Central Florida is the best team in the league. there is no money to be had in this league - UConn needs out or it won't be able to give a decent salary to Geno's replacement or the guy that replaces KO after he heads to the NBA.

It is noteworthy that the same source for revenue and expense data indicates that UConn football lost $2.6 million last year. So already, the taxpayers are subsidizing EVERY UConn sport, including football. Unless the economy tanks again, it's reasonable to assume that this level of taxpayer support will continue. It is probably true that membership in a major conference would swing the football program into profitability, but probably not to the point where football could cover the losses in basketball, not to mention other sports that produce no significant revenue.

I suspect that even at places like Alabama and Ohio State (not sure about Texas), while football in itself may be profitable, its profits are probably not sufficient to cover the losses on other sports, so taxpayers or private funding sources cover the deficits from athletic programs as a whole. This has been the case for a long time, and there is no reason to expect that people's appetite for subsidizing college sports will suddenly evaporate (unless, of course, there is an economic cataclysm).

 

[HoopsFan21]

It is noteworthy that the same source for revenue and expense data indicates that UConn football lost $2.6 million last year. So already, the taxpayers are subsidizing EVERY UConn sport, including football. Unless the economy tanks again, it's reasonable to assume that this level of taxpayer support will continue. It is probably true that membership in a major conference would swing the football program into profitability, but probably not to the point where football could cover the losses in basketball, not to mention other sports that produce no significant revenue.

I suspect that even at places like Alabama and Ohio State (not sure about Texas), while football in itself may be profitable, its profits are probably not sufficient to cover the losses on other sports, so taxpayers or private funding sources cover the deficits from athletic programs as a whole. This has been the case for a long time, and there is no reason to expect that people's appetite for subsidizing college sports will suddenly evaporate (unless, of course, there is an economic cataclysm).

I don't think your last paragraph is true. When it comes to funding sports those big P5 schools aren't broke. Some of the big schools' athletic departments make enough money to return a profit back to the University. Granted not many are in this fortunate situation, but it does happen. If those schools need to shell out huge bucks for a coach or new facilities they can easily get the money from alumni and then some. Penn State recently needed a new hockey arena, so one guy, the owner of the Sabres for those that follow NHL, dropped over $100 million of his own coin to cover it. UConn just doesn't have that kind of alumni base to bring in enough money to pay for athletic endeavors without state assistance. You can find similar examples to the Penn State hockey arena at other schools: Oregon's ridiculous facilities all paid for by Phil Nike, Oklahoma State's facilities and Stadium expansion paid for by T. Boone Pickens, and so on. Like I said a lot of these big P5 schools really are in a league of their own financially. Outside of UConn the big schools are making money and lots of it on athletics, more specifically football. That's what all this conference realignment and NCAA upheaval is about - money and who gets how much of it.

 

[meyers7]

I find this so premature that it's ludicrous to talk about it.

You're the one who started the thread.

 

[UcMiami]

I don't think your last paragraph is true. When it comes to funding sports those big P5 schools aren't broke. Some of the big schools' athletic departments make enough money to return a profit back to the University. Granted not many are in this fortunate situation, but it does happen. If those schools need to shell out huge bucks for a coach or new facilities they can easily get the money from alumni and then some. Penn State recently needed a new hockey arena, so one guy, the owner of the Sabres for those that follow NHL, dropped over $100 million of his own coin to cover it. UConn just doesn't have that kind of alumni base to bring in enough money to pay for athletic endeavors without state assistance. You can find similar examples to the Penn State hockey arena at other schools: Oregon's ridiculous facilities all paid for by Phil Nike, Oklahoma State's facilities and Stadium expansion paid for by T. Boone Pickens, and so on. Like I said a lot of these big P5 schools really are in a league of their own financially. Outside of UConn the big schools are making money and lots of it on athletics, more specifically football. That's what all this conference realignment and NCAA upheaval is about - money and who gets how much of it.

There are very few athletic departments that make a profit in any given year and even fewer that make a profit when you look at a 5 year period. Most of them are subsidized by tax payers or by the school's 'general fund'. Uconn has actually done pretty well on getting major private donations for facilities expansion. And there are not a lot of schools that see those $100M gifts and they are generally sort of random events.

 

[HoopsFan21]

There are very few athletic departments that make a profit in any given year and even fewer that make a profit when you look at a 5 year period. Most of them are subsidized by tax payers or by the school's 'general fund'. Uconn has actually done pretty well on getting major private donations for facilities expansion. And there are not a lot of schools that see those $100M gifts and they are generally sort of random events.

Is that anything like the way many wealthy individuals and corporations "don't make a profit?" I'm not an accountant and can't claim to know how the big athletic departments are structured legally, but if they were all so broke you have to imagine like any enterprise the schools that were persistent losers would eventually ditch that financial albatross, especially when said albatross doesn't further the mission while adding quite a bit of risk. Someone said the MCBB team loses over a million per year, and all I can remember is Calhoun chewing out that student reporter for all the money his program brings in to justify his salary.

 

[60'sfan]

There are very few athletic departments that make a profit in any given year and even fewer that make a profit when you look at a 5 year period. Most of them are subsidized by tax payers or by the school's 'general fund'. Uconn has actually done pretty well on getting major private donations for facilities expansion. And there are not a lot of schools that see those $100M gifts and they are generally sort of random events.

Totally agree with you. When we decided to go division one A football, I was thinking this is going to cost us a lot. Are we ready for this kind of commitment. Will we ever be able to compete with Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State, Texas etc.? Football is very expensive and very few teams make money. Some of the bigger schools mentioned above only survive because of alumni donations. It takes a lot of time to reach the place where alumni are able and willing to make those kinds of contributions. Unfortunately, alumni commitment at that level brings a whole new set of problems.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Totally agree with you. When we decided to go division one A football, I was thinking this is going to cost us a lot. Are we ready for this kind of commitment. Will we ever be able to compete with Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State, Texas etc.? Football is very expensive and very few teams make money. Some of the bigger schools mentioned above only survive because of alumni donations. It takes a lot of time to reach the place where alumni are able and willing to make those kinds of contributions. Unfortunately, alumni commitment at that level brings a whole new set of problems.

Your last sentence is quite true. I'm almost to the point of wondering if college athletics in general are worth it. Think of the massive donations being made in the name of sports, and now think of what impact that kind of money might have on the academic side.

 

[oneresult]

One thing it's still there for a while [Big East Money]

 

[baggerbob]

When Geno retires UConn loses not just the best coach, but the 2 best coaches, because CD will probably retire with Geno. Until then conference affiliation will not bother the women's program.