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As you know, the SEC has found their next Commish & it comes from in-house as Executive Assoc. Commish & COO Sankey will take over for retiring Commish Slive this summer, Sankey via Twitter, "Read this quote a long time ago in John Wooden's book 'They Call Me Coach': I will prepare myself & then, perhaps, my chance will come." Article includes Sankey's only interview yesterday which was from the league's MBB Tourney in Nashville - link
Oklahoma FB student-athletes continue to position their program appropriately around the video that showed SAE fraternity members singing a song that included racist language, released statement via social media yesterday, "Allowing this culture to thrive goes against everything it means to be a Sooner...we are defined by more than the numbers on our jerseys & that we are human beings that desire to get to know our classmates," players are pushing to promote meaningful change locally & around the nation - link
Duke MBB HC Krzyzewski on the potential of freshmen ineligibility for MBB student-athletes on his weekly satellite radio show, "It's so discriminatory. Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? Don't even bring this up...To say that a kid in other sports are ready as freshmen, but basketball players...shame on you for even...shame on you. This should never have been brought up. Never, ever, ever. It's not a good thing." - link
UT-Rio Grande Valley (formerly known as UT-Pan American) AD King has reportedly interviewed for Hawaii's open AD spot as a source on the island says he is "on the short list," Hawaii Chancellor Bley-Vroman previously stated he would like to have a new AD in place by the middle of the year, King declined comment on the development "due to the integrity of the search" - link
San Jose Mercury News reporter Wilner concludes his series on the Pac-12's financial situation that is basically a wrap-up from his multi-part effort, notes that the per school distribution difference between the Pac-12 & Big Ten equates to $500m+ over a five year span, key take aways are the impact of a potential deal with DirecTV, the value of Pac-12 Networks ownership & the fact that the league's long-term approach may not in the best interests of the individual athletic departments - link
Professors Staurowsky from Drexel & Southall from South Carolina lead group of nineteen other faculty members to create the College Athletes Rights & Empowerment Faculty Coalition (CARE-FC) with the aim of working with FB & basketball players "who seek relief from the fraudulent business practices used by college sport organizations," plans to form relationships with the NCPA & CAPA run by unionization leader Huma, more - link
Boston College & Under Armour agree on new 10-year pact that originally began in 2010, no financial details released, UA Senior Director of College Sports Carparelli notes BC's rich athletic & academic tradition, as well as the overall external platform for the Eagles, AD Bates calls the agreement "unprecedented," appreciative to CEO Plank for his commitment to BC student-athletes - link
Utah State will benefit from a bill that got through the state legislature dubbed the 'Utah Wellness Program' & will provide the Aggies with $1.5m annually to help cover the full cost-of-attendance upgrades, Senator Hillyard sponsored the bill & says he was surprised at the level of support from his peers, believes that USU has been at a disadvantage in comparison to other Mountain West schools - link
IMG partners with soccer mega-club FC Barlcelona to grow its brand in China, agreement includes marketing & branding strategy, sponsorships, friendlies & travel, club already has an office in Hong Kong & counts Chinese electronics retailer Suning as a corporate partner, Barcelona CEO Mestre impressed with work IMG has already done in the country to promote the game - link
UAB's FB task force continues to push forward, starts collecting $25 deposits for 2016 season tickets that are refundable if the program is not brought back, HC Clark commits to 100 tix & continues to visit with high school coaches around the state & nation as recruiting never ends, when asked about the future of his program, "I have no clue," but does note the progress being made - link
Good read on the growth of Hockey at Penn State & how the Nittany Lions situation could serve as a solid road map for others, like Arizona State, who are adding or thinking about adding the sport, College Hockey Inc. Executive Director Snee says the most exciting part about the Sun Devils move is the number of calls he's received from others on how to make it a reality at their institution, more - link
Toledo selects Arkansas Provost Gaber as the school's 17th President, becomes the first female leader of the university in a selection that came down to Gaber & West Virginia Provost Wheatly, faculty senate supported both candidates, but Gaber got the nod from the Board of Trustees, as well as higher marks from an online questionaire completed by faculty, students, staff & administrators - link
This is an excellent tweet from former Nordstrom VP Hillstrom (@minethatdata): If you are killing it with brand awareness, but you haven't increased sales & you haven't increased profit, what has been accomplished?" Hillstrom's blog is also full of pretty interesting thoughts on e-commerce & generational buying habits that impact every industry including college athletics - link, link
American Gaming Association CEO Freeman, "Sports betting has played a major role in making March Madness the big-time event it is today," as the AGA estimates that 40m Americans will fill-out a NCAA Tourney bracket & wager $9b on the event, compare that number to the $3.9b bet on the Super Bowl, $7b of the $9b will be wagered illegally with only $240m put across at Vegas books - link
BYU AD Holmoe comments on his first year as a member of the NCAA MBB Tournament selection committee, has enjoyed some on-job training with the 'hoopologists' of the group, says he's watched way more basketball this season than the previous ten years, "I'm going to have my votes. It's important to me. I'm not just going to tag along." Adds that he can contribute knowledge on the development of coaches & players throughout a season - link
Fanatics is on the hunt for a Director of Business Development to drive & support continued B2B sales for the company that already works with over 125 DI properties & nearly 70% of 'Big 5' institutions, position reports to SVP Swallow, "We've built an incredible college business over the years by significantly enhancing the online shopping experiences for our partners' official athletic sites. I'm excited to not only extend this business, but to add additional retail services to each relationship." - link
Big 12 Commish Bowlsby & TCU AD Del Conte indicate league leadership is moving in the right direction to define how to crown a conference champion in FB in the event of a tie, Del Conte believes the issue has been handled correctly after a lot of angst at the end of last FB season, article also notes that Bowlsby says the conference is not ready to fine schools for court-storming in basketball - link
Minnesota releases new renderings of facilities that are a part of their $190m 'Nothing Short of Greatness' campaign, includes an all-glass exterior for the Center for Excellence, as well as an interior dining area, lots of glass also a design feature of the Football Development Center, indoor FB practice space flanked by massive strength & conditioning area, more - link
Worth a couple of minutes: While accepting the American's MBB COY award, Temple MBB HC Dunphy tells story of a prep coach who had cancer who started coming to some Owls practices as he spent every other weekend in Philly for treatment, Dunphy offered to get him setup in a facility affiliated with the university to decrease his expenses, but he declined for fear of taking a spot from someone who couldn't afford it, passed away late this season, a true example of a COY - link (starts around the 2:40 mark)
Sioux Falls & the Premier Center are solid homes for the Summit League's post-season hoops tournaments as the league saw another year of positive attendance & atmosphere for the events that wrapped-up earlier in the week, South Dakota State AD Sell, "It has the feel of a NCAA tournament experience," South Dakota WBB HC Williams recalls playing in front of conference tourney crowds that were maybe a third of what the event draws now - link
The Boston Red Sox are actively working to attract more youth & students to Fenway Park this season as data continues to show a declining interest in the game by young people, instead of charging their normal $30 for membership in Kid Nation, the first 25k who sign-up starting next week will get in for free, the club will also lower standing-room-only tickets for students to $9, research by the team last year found that those who go to games as kids are 2.9x more likely to become 'core' fans - link
If you can time it right today, the Pac-12 is using Meerkat to live stream starting lineup announcements from their MBB Tourney in Vegas, semifinal match-ups start at 9p EST with Arizona & UCLA that will be followed by Oregon & Utah currently scheduled for 11:30p EST; Also on this topic yesterday, popular entrepreneur Vanerchuk writes how Meerkat could already be in trouble with Twitter's recent acquisition of Periscope that would allow for live streaming to take place right in a user's feed - link, link
