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Big Ten leaders are looking for more feedback from their membership on the possibility of freshmen ineligibility, Maryland student newspaper reported the league is circulating a document titled 'A Year of Readiness' that covers the issue from FB & MBB standpoints, Iowa FB HC Ferentz a strong proponent, calls recruiting "a runaway train," Ohio State AD Smith doesn't support the change for one-and-done MBB student-athletes, but will keep an open mind - link
Appalachian State FAR Hauser, who is serving on the Mountaineers AD search committee, says a decision on a new athletics leader should come within the next two weeks, "We have proceeded down the line to where we're getting near the final stage of things...I don't think it will be much longer...it could be as long as two weeks," does not provide any insight on which of the finalists have moved to the front - link
Bradley Board of Trustees Chair Stewart comments on the Braves AD search, "We're moving as quickly as we can...we're looking at maybe a four to eight week period," university has retained Parker Executive Search to assist with process, candidates will be interviewed by outgoing Prez Glasser & members of the board, new AD will make decision on MBB HC Ford - link
Houston Board of Regents Chair Ferttita wants legislature to put pressure on the Presidents of Big 12 schools in the state to get the Cougars in the league, calls it "an embarrassment" that UH can't find its way into a 'Big 5' conference with the fourth largest media market at its back, "Be a big boy, step up, & put this school that has almost 50,000 students & is so high profile...we belong in the Big 12," Prez Khator, "I don't want to go there on that issue" - link
Female New Mexico student involved in an alleged rape last year that included two Lobos FB student-athletes files a lawsuit against the school, her attorney claims criminal charges were dropped because of pressure from the athletic department, also questions the line of communication on the incident, interestingly the two players involved also say they're planning a lawsuit against the school - link
Oregon State AD De Carolis reflects on a mid-1990s visit to Corvallis when he left thinking he could never work for the Beavers, now believes his department is on the cusp of major success across the board, points to support by Prez Ray & considerable campus construction that includes key athletic upgrades, says recent successful hires of WBB HC Rueck & MBB HC Tinkle weren't executed any differently than prior efforts, "It has been luck" - link
Idaho plans to launch a fundraising initiative for a new $30m multi-use arena that would include new basketball digs with a capacity of 4k to 6k, facility will be built on the north field of the Kibbie Dome, AD Spear says goal is to fully fund project with private dollars, $15m portion from major donors & sponsors expected to last nine months & be followed by a public push - link (scroll down)
Utah State AD Barnes & the university are asking the State Legislature to help fund full cost-of-attendance coverage, total number cited at $2.5m & the Aggies are asking for $1.5m from the state with the rest covered by private monies, Senator Hillyard sits on the Executive Appropriations Committee & says he may not be able to get the funding approved, even though he notes the progress made by FB & MBB - link
Forbes contributor Belzer with a piece on the modern-day challenges of being an AD, reviews some of the most important skills needed to excel at different subdivisions within the industry, for 'Big 5' negotiating large rights deals, managing powerful HCs & financial planning are key, FBS non-'Big 5' notes include strategic hiring & allocation of funds, FCS leaders need to be able to deftly navigate their department within a changing legislative environment, lots more - link
Adidas has officially launched a search for a new CEO to replace longtime leader Hainer who has been in the top spot since 2001, Hainer has been under fire from investors since losing market share to Nike & Under Armour, no indication if he'll serve through his contract that expires in 2017, says in letter to staff that 2015 is off to a "fantastic start," new five-year strategy to be presented late next month - link
Nuggets from Southwest's recently released 2014 annual report, 73% of passengers flew non-stop, company flew 1,255,502 legs, which was down 4.4% from 2013, fuel bill of $5.3b represented 32.3% of operating expenses, the lowest figure for the category since 2009, only five AirTran planes still need to be converted to the Southwest look, added 33 new Boeing 737s to the fleet - link
Southland Commish Burnett talks about new autonomy legislation & a number of other topics, emphasizes that league members are free to apply the autonomy changes as they see fit, but Presidents around the conference never expressed any collective interest in the move on the grounds of increased expenses for athletics, doesn't detect much movement for full cost-of-attendance coverage at his schools, no plans for further league expansion, lots more - link
NJIT AD Kaplan announces plans for a new $100m multipurpose facility for the Highlanders that will include a 3,500-seat Basketball arena, MBB HC Engles hopes the addition raises the profile of the athletic department enough to get them in an area conference, Northeast, America East, MAAC & MEAC all mentioned, MEAC Commish Thomas comments positively, completion expected in September of 2017 - link
Watch: ESPN MBB commentator & longtime Indiana HC Knight yells at SMU fans during game action while broadcasting last night's match-up with Temple, tells "boys" to sit down so he can see, says toward the end of the 27-second clip, "Either take my seat & let me sit there or sit down!" - link
Clemson FB's Director of Recruiting & External Affairs Turnipseed talks about how the Tigers recruiting game works, since it's illegal for him to evaluate talent, Turnipseed's job is to evaluate fit, which is high priority for HC Swinney, as well as execute quality graphics & videos to effectively tell the program's story, compares situation to his last stop at Alabama, notes major difference of "recruiting to a culture" - link
Former Boston U. FB HC Taylor completes his review of Columbia's FB program, was given complete access to the situation in November & recommended a couple of key changes that he believes would help the Lions move forward, wants to see annual season-opener against Fordham dropped or moved, an increased financial commitment for the coaching staff, calls-out blog run by alum Novak as "toxic" & warns that the program's long losing streak may not end next season - link
Antitrust lawsuit in the talent representation business could impact William Morris Endeavor-IMG, though not named in the suit, main competitors United Talent Agency & International Creative Management Partners are accused of recruiting talent away from smaller agency Lenhoff & Lenhoff by waiving the normal 10% commission in what could effectively be a form of predatory pricing, in 2014-15 WME led the pack with 116 TV market deals, more - link
Presidential search updates: Reports out of Texas have three candidates as likely successors to outgoing Prez Powers, group includes UT EVP & Provost Fenves, Vice Chancellor of Oxford (England) Hamilton & UT-Dallas Prez Daniel, trio will interview in early March; Winthrop's search is also down to three, College of Charleston School of Business Dean Shao, UT-Chattanooga College of Arts & Sciences Dean Elwell & Kent State College of Education Dean Mahony - link, link
Kansas State's spring FB game at Sporting Park in Kansas City will include beer sales, but Wildcats AD Curries says he's not ready to have the conversation on such an addition at Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium or at Bramlage Coliseum, comments on FB venue, "It is named Family Stadium & we do want to protect that family atmosphere." - link
UTSA AD Hickey says her Roadrunners plan to fully fund cost-of-attendance upgrades that could cost the department up to $800k annually, gap per student-athlete is $3,551, doesn't have all the answers yet on how the measure will be funded, but knows it's a needed move to remain competitive in the marketplace, also says it's "fair" for student-atheltes - link
Illinois State Prez Dietz says he's shocked that Illinois Governor Rauner's first budget address includes a 31% funding cut to higher education & that if such a measure moves forward nothing will be off the table on his campus to adjust appropriately, cut would mean Illinois State would only receive $51m, a loss of $23m, from state coffers, Board of Higher Education was projecting cuts only in the 10% to 20% range - link
Watch: Oakland AD Konya talks through the details of MBB scheduling, annually looking for 11 non-conference games, process starts with an honest analysis of the team's expected quality for the upcoming year, notes challenge that every school wants to play as many home games as possible, covers dynamics of agreeing to guarantee games, HC Kampe's belief that playing a strong non-conference slate prepares his team well for the rest of the season, lots more - link
Indiana AD Glass continues to press the Big Ten on MBB scheduling strategy as the Hoosiers will only face rival Purdue one time next year, league currently employs a system were each member plays five opponents twice per year on a rotating format, but does not cement certain match-ups every year, Glass says conference admins have been receptive to his thoughts, but there are a number of issues on the table - link
Boise State FB student-athlete Smith was involved in a locker room incident that has found him in the hospital with possible brain injuries, was struck in the back of the head while slap-boxing with a teammate & collapsed to the ground, his family drove him back to doctors in Southern California & his mother says he's been ordered eight months of no sports, Smith's family apparently plans to file charges against the other involved party - link
HC moves: Eastern Michigan AD Lyke hires Olson to lead the Eagles Volleyball program, heads to Ypsilanti after five years as an AC at College of Charleston, that was preceded by two at Albany; Portland State parts ways with WBB HC Murrell who went 121-119 in eight-plus seasons including a 8-21 mark last season & a 3-21 tally thus far this year, first big HC change for new AD Rountree - link, link
Ticker Inside a Ticker: Capitol One Financial Corporation (COF) closed at $79.42 (+0.08/0.10%) • Daily high/low ($79.46/$79.39) • 3-month high/low ($83.30/$73.21) • 6-month high/low ($84.07/$73.21) • 1-year high/low ($84.95/$70.84) • 5-year high/low ($84.95/$36.86) • Market cap ($44.02b)- link
