tiggerhawk
Well-Known Member
along with the PSU AD & the SEC Commissioner, rebroadcast on BTN after the McCaffery press conference.
Primary subject was the changing status and challenges to using public funds appropriated to public universities in economic hard times for non-academic/research purposes, particularly extra-curricular activities like inter-collegiate sports.
Some very interesting comments by Mason: she isn't bothered by grumbling about Ferentz' salary: his success is a major reason why Iowa athletics can be self-supporting. Her praise and enthusiasm about Kirk AND Mary Ferentz (and their commitment and contributions to the university and the community extending beyond sports) made me wonder if she was about to propose them for sainthood.
I was aware that Iowa was one of the very few public universities that require the athletic department to generate all the funds necessary to support its budget---but put in percentage terms the Hawkeye's unique status stands out in sharp relief: of the nearly 1200 NCAA Division 1,2,3 programs, ONLY ONE PERCENT compare to the U of Iowa in operating without tax-payer money.
Mason also bluntly confessed that the BT Network was a major positive factor in helping to sustain self-sufficiency.
(But the U of Iowa has yet to announce a target date for its avowed intention to phase out the long-time mandatory student fee to support the athletic program. It appears that the current fee will be replaced by an eventual fee for use of the splendid new recreation center scheduled to open for the Fall semester, whether mandatory or as some kind of semester pass charge.)
While the CHA renovations & upscaling gets frequent mention as s trump card that Hawkeye coaches can use in recruiting, etc, there seems to be a strange failure to stress the positive impact that the new recreation center is going to have: in his first years it already is scheduled to host the BT championship competitions in Swimming & Diving, Gymnastics--both genders. A long way from the Fieldhouse (since Herbert Hoover), and athletes, coaches, media from all over the MidWest are going to discover that Iowa has facilities second to no other BT rival.
The other potential positive of the McCaffery hire down the line is if the BT presidents decide to expand membership. Far & away the most likely university to get invited to join the BT consortium is Rutgers, with Pitt the next most likely candidate--meaning the BT will be expanding eastward, into his native region & the sites where McCaffery played hoops and later developed his coaching career. It is a development that will greatly benefit all the BT programs, but McCaffery's experience & familiarity with NY-NJ-PA-MD HS coaches, counselors, administrators will give the Hawkeyes entry & access that we have never had in the East (at least not since Ralph Miller's time to the best of my memory).
Primary subject was the changing status and challenges to using public funds appropriated to public universities in economic hard times for non-academic/research purposes, particularly extra-curricular activities like inter-collegiate sports.
Some very interesting comments by Mason: she isn't bothered by grumbling about Ferentz' salary: his success is a major reason why Iowa athletics can be self-supporting. Her praise and enthusiasm about Kirk AND Mary Ferentz (and their commitment and contributions to the university and the community extending beyond sports) made me wonder if she was about to propose them for sainthood.
I was aware that Iowa was one of the very few public universities that require the athletic department to generate all the funds necessary to support its budget---but put in percentage terms the Hawkeye's unique status stands out in sharp relief: of the nearly 1200 NCAA Division 1,2,3 programs, ONLY ONE PERCENT compare to the U of Iowa in operating without tax-payer money.
Mason also bluntly confessed that the BT Network was a major positive factor in helping to sustain self-sufficiency.
(But the U of Iowa has yet to announce a target date for its avowed intention to phase out the long-time mandatory student fee to support the athletic program. It appears that the current fee will be replaced by an eventual fee for use of the splendid new recreation center scheduled to open for the Fall semester, whether mandatory or as some kind of semester pass charge.)
While the CHA renovations & upscaling gets frequent mention as s trump card that Hawkeye coaches can use in recruiting, etc, there seems to be a strange failure to stress the positive impact that the new recreation center is going to have: in his first years it already is scheduled to host the BT championship competitions in Swimming & Diving, Gymnastics--both genders. A long way from the Fieldhouse (since Herbert Hoover), and athletes, coaches, media from all over the MidWest are going to discover that Iowa has facilities second to no other BT rival.
The other potential positive of the McCaffery hire down the line is if the BT presidents decide to expand membership. Far & away the most likely university to get invited to join the BT consortium is Rutgers, with Pitt the next most likely candidate--meaning the BT will be expanding eastward, into his native region & the sites where McCaffery played hoops and later developed his coaching career. It is a development that will greatly benefit all the BT programs, but McCaffery's experience & familiarity with NY-NJ-PA-MD HS coaches, counselors, administrators will give the Hawkeyes entry & access that we have never had in the East (at least not since Ralph Miller's time to the best of my memory).
