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Northwestern AD Phillips says the time is right for a national conversation on the topic of a 'year of readiness' for student-athletes, believes it's not too late to regain control of the direction of college athletics, "At the heart of this thing is, we don't want to be the minor leagues of professional sports...it is time for a declaration of where individual schools stand, where conferences stand & where levels within Division I stand," more - link
Big Ten MBB HCs comment on the 'year of readiness' concept, Purdue HC Painter says the move could actually improve the culture of the sport, which is a major point of conversation, but rarely impacted, Illinois HC Groce skeptical proposal moves forward & thinks the Illini have a solid system already in place for freshmen, Penn State HC Chambers likes the current model, Nebraska's Miles, "That's why we have initial eligibility, I thought." - link
Eastern Kentucky has narrowed its AD search to four, all of whom will visit the Richmond campus for more interviews the first few weeks of March, group includes Miami (OH) Senior Assoc. AD for External Operations Killy, former Kentucky MBB student-athlete & proven business executive Lochmueller, Coppin State AD Ramsey who also has strong connections to the Bluegrass State & Washington State Assoc. AD for Development Walker - link
BYU AD Holmoe covers some key topics, says it's his intention to have the department in a 'Big 5' league in the near future as the model of being an independent is not sustainable long-term, likes the current peer relationship the Cougars have with the Pac 12, believes he & Utah AD Hill will figure out a way to continue their FB series, won't announce any of the disciplinary measures from the Miami Beach Bowl, more - link
Kentucky announces plans to build a second Center for Academic & Tutorial Services facility that will be housed within their new FB training center right next to Commonwealth Stadium, AD Barnhart says the south side of campus needed an expansion to make schedules more efficient for student-athletes, Maker's Mark & Keeneland will push to raise $2m for the project through the sale of commemorative of Maker's bourbon bottles - link
Tennessee AD Hart defends his track record on gender equity & says some of the debate surrounding a branding change for women's teams includes vindictiveness that he calls "one of the bad sides of human nature," points to allocation of funding to drive home that women's programs have never been supported as strongly as they are now, also notes the new Nike relationship will be good for all parties - link
President Obama used his veto power for the first time in five years yesterday to shut-down the hotly-debated Keystone XL pipeline though it looks like GOP lawmakers have enough votes to reverse the decision, high-profile Oklahoma State financier Pickens called the move a "dangerously short-sighted view on energy," important here with the continued focus on how the energy game impacts some key college athletics donors - link, link
San Diego State AD Sterk says full cost-of-attendance for Aztec student-athletes is $2,900 leading to an overall outlay of up to $1m for next year, plans to increase MBB season tickets to make up the gap, says the move is dauting, but necessary to compete on a national level, Viejas Arena is commonly sold-out weeks before the season starts, Mountain West schools are free to enact the enhancement as best they see fit - link
Kansas State AD Currie issues apology to Kansas brass regarding the court-storming in Manhattan on Monday night, says standard security plan was not executed, working with law enforcement to identify any students who were out of line, Big 12 continues to say they're reviewing the incident & that it's the responsibility of the home team to provide safety for game participants, officials & fans - link
Kansas AD Zenger doesn't "pile on" comments about the court-storming situation, satisfied that it won't be a concern next year, Assoc. AD for Public Affairs Marchiony disagrees with categorization that AC Townsend put a Kansas State student in a headlock, says he was simply protecting some of his student-athletes, MBB HC Self thankful no one was hurt, appreciated assistance from Wildcats HC Weber - link
More Southwest in the news as the air carrier cancelled 80 flights yesterday after discovering that a number of planes were overdue for inspection on their backup rudder system, FAA will allow the 128 planes to continue flying as long as they're checked-out in the next five days with a plan Southwest says it has already started to execute - link
Columnist Blaudschun writes on an interesting name that he says continues to pop-up on the UMass AD search, that of former Boston College AD DeFillipo, believes the school will at least reach-out to DeFillipo to gauge his interest, notes DeFillipo has the track record & contacts to push the Minutemen's FB program forward, a key responsibility for whomever becomes the next AD - link
Cincinnati is moving to a new structure for its UCATS fundraising arm that will now reward fans points for their FB priority seating, MBB priority seating & philanthropic gifts, new levels have been established for donors, AD Bohn says intention is to continue to recognize current supporters, but also attract new members in an effort to grow the base needed for long-term success - link
Toledo Women's Soccer HC Evans resigns after admitting to past inappropriate relationships with former co-workers, says he removed himself from the program on his own volition & that he was not forced into the move by the university, led the Rockets since 2001 & turned the program into an annual top-tier finisher in the MAC with four NCAA berths & three regular season titles - link
Interim UAB AD Ealy presses on Blazer fans to buy more tickets for the Conference USA MBB Tourney that will be held in Birmingham in a couple of weeks, UAB has moved only moved 500 tickets to date compared to 2,500 by previous hosts UTEP & Tulsa, tourney will cost the school $1.1 & their MBB squad will be one of the favorites, but the recent FB decision is likely impacting this situation - link
Search firm Witt/Kieffer (@WittKieffer) tweets link to piece on five traits that make truly authentic leaders, first key is surrounding yourself with advisors who challenge you, followed by acknowledging your biases, admitting weakness & expressing vulnerabilities, making others better & using difficult situations to find new purpose & strength - link
Minnesota-Duluth Chancellor Black now says the decision to remove Women's Hockey HC Miller was also a result of declining competitive results, in letter to state lawmakers Black expanded her thoughts on the situation, believes the coaching change has been portrayed as very one-dimensional, when leadership really considered a number of factors, noted struggles against rivals Minnesota, Wisconsin & North Dakota, more - link
Louisiana-Monroe gets full approval on the ULM End Zone Facility & will hold a ground-breaking ceremony next Monday, will be the first new athletic facility to be built on campus since 1979, $4.1m in private dollars have been raised to fund project with 58 major gift donors & 18 commitments of $100k or more, FB HC Berry says he can't express how important the addition is for his program, notes that facilities are the key for recruits - link
ESPN personality Olbermann suspended by the network for his Twitter exchanges with Penn State students on the topic of their annual THON fundraiser that supports pediatric cancer, one notable tweet, "PSU students are pitiful because they are PSU students - period." Issued an apology calling his behavior "stupid & childish" - link
North Carolina reaches a tentative settlement with former academic adviser Willingham who has been at the center of the academic saga for the Tar Heels, no financial figures were released, but Willingham will not return to the school, adds, "I wanted to show other potential whistle-blowers out there that it's possible to survive a fight with a big-money machine," settlement will resolve all legal issues in the case - link
TCU leaders push-back a bit on the Big 12's new concussion policy, Senior Assoc. AD for Compliance & Student Services Bouton says the Horned Frogs really wanted to table the topic for re-evaluation, but didn't want to look like they were against concussion management, team physician Kirk with much stronger comments, "It's a huge PR stunt in our opinion & doesn't give a lot of teeth to anything, because nobody's going to be using the same equipment," more - link
UConn Prez Herbst warns of significant negative impact to her Storrs campus if the school receives $40m less than it requested in funding from the state as part of Governor Malloy's two-year, $40b budget, layoffs, furlough days, cuts in academic departments & financial aid would all be very much on the table, more tuition increases would also have to be considered, says reduced faculty leads to "a whole chain of bad things for students" - link
New Jersey state Senator Lesniak continues social media debate with notion that Governor Christie & Rutgers Prez Barchi aren't doing enough to support the Scarlet Knights MBB program, says there's been no definitive planning on getting MBB ready for Big Ten competition, state of facilities for HC Jordan's program at the center of concerns, AD Hermann continues to say a training center for Basketball is one of her top priorities - link
LG Electronics extends sponsorship relationship with the NCAA that will now run through August of 2018, will continue to have exclusivity in categories of consumer electronics, mobile phones & home appliances, plans to leverage promotional activities, retailer tie-ins special events & other marketing initiatives, has launched www.LGGameDayHub.com as a center piece of activation that includes an opportunity to win a trip to the 2016 MBB Final Four - link
New Columbia AD Pilling excited about his hire of new FB HC Bagnoli, says the Lions will upgrade financial support for the program that had a budget of $3.23m for FY14, impressed with support for FB despite years of struggle, part of the reason he took the Columbia job was to help write the story of FB's resurgence, Bagnoli says his first objective is to "make football fun again" - link
Executive moves: As was initially covered here weeks ago, Temple has officially added Cautilli as Senior Assoc. AD for Development, joins the Owls department after a stint as AD at Laramie County Community College, after tenures at Louisville, St. Louis & Colorado State; JMI Sports hires Archey to oversee their key Kentucky property who has been a part of MLB's growth since 1989; Fanatics tabbed Eshkenazi as Chief Information Officer last week, has a strong background in omni-channel customer solutions across the web - link, link, link
Miami Dolphins release strong video on the coming renovations to Sun Life Stadium that, of course, also serves as home for Miami Hurricanes FB, shows seating changes for 2015, followed by the addition of an impressive awning for 2016, also includes renderings of premium options like the 72 Club, North Sideline Club, Field Club, 'The Nine', Corner Terraces & more - link
Ticker Inside a Ticker: Lowe's (LOW) closed at $74.65 (+0.92/+1.25%) • Daily high/low ($75.80/$73.98) • 3-month high/low ($75.80/$62.86) • 6-month high/low ($75.80/$51.21) • 1-year high/low ($75.80/$44.63) • 5-year high/low ($75.80$18.94) • Market cap ($72.63b)- link
