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Next SEC Commish Sankey introduced during presser at the league's MBB Tourney in Nashville, talks on a number of topics, likes the current state of the College FB Playoff with four finalists, monitoring full cost-of-attendance developments within the conference, but is for the support of student-athletes, wants to be careful with freshmen ineligibility & notes new standards for 2016 - link
Outgoing SEC Commish Slive on the hire of Sankey, "I'm very pleased, not only for Greg, but also for the league. I think the league is in very good hands. I think we're all very comfortable with Greg at the helm. He's an outstanding young man. We've worked together for 13 years. He's been an integral part of everything we do, & as you know, he's not only done a great job for us, but he's made an enormous contribution on the national scene." - link
Austin Peay AD van der Merwe will transition to role of VP for Advancement, Communications & Strategic Initiatives after just a year & a half in the AD chair for the Governors, will permanently make the move on April 1st with SWA Holt serving as Interim AD until a new leader is hired, excited to contribute to the university-wide vision of Prez White, no comments or details on plans for the AD search - link
Atlantic 10 leaders comment on the changing landscape of college athletics, St. Joe's AD DiJulia, "I think what might happen is there might be degrees of separation, but I don't believe anyone behind us is going to catch up in the new governance," Commish McGlade, "It's having your resources & strategically spending your resources so you can leverage the highest success," George Washington AD Nero also adds thoughts - link
Oral arguments in the O'Bannon case appeal are set to begin next week as funding for full cost-of-attendance upgrades are still very much front & center for so many leaders, unidentified mid-major AD, "Some mid-major conference schools are scratching their heads, asking how they'll get the money," Baruch College (DIII) law professor Edelman thinks Title IX could come into play, also notes potential implications of the pending Jenkins case - link
MASSLIVE with a pointed look at the challenges that face the next AD at Massachusetts, notes new contract signed by MBB HC Kellogg after last season's NCAA Tourney run, decrease in attendance for MBB from 6,544 in 2013-14 to 4,504 this season, lack of a conference affiliation for FB next season & Men's Hockey's poor competitive results - link
Southern Conference Commish Iamarino touches on a number of key topics impacting his league & others around the country, not surprised the freshmen ineligibility conversation has popped-up, though he does not believe a majority of conferences would be in favor of the proposal, thinks full cost-of-attendance will be permissive in the SoCon to the point of awarding student-athletes on the same team differently, calls autonomy movement "a natural evolution" - link
Inside Higher Education reports on topics that concern university Presidents, only 39% feel confident their school's financial model is sustainable for the next decade, Gallop survey includes a number of other data points, Cornell Higher Education Institute head Ehrenberg, "We've really reached a turning point. The growing debt crisis & decline in family incomes after the recessions have made people very cost-conscious, & institutions aren't going to be able to increase tuition as rapidly" - link, link
American & US Air moving forward with arduous process of combining frequent flier programs for the pair's merger, those who have accounts with both airlines could be impacted & are being encouraged to match-up their two rewards profiles online, American has around 70m accounts & US Air another 30m though there's naturally some duplication, full merger transition should be complete by the end of the year - link
@FootballScoop writer @Zach_Barnett tweets an impressive set of pictures from Texas A&M's FB facilities during a visit to College Station, includes a look at Kyle Field's on-going construction, the use of a number of digital screens inside the program's digs, the player's lounge known as 'Club Tw12ve,' coaches locker room complete with a steam room, athletic dining hall & more - link
Full article is behind a pay wall, but the Honolulu Star Advertiser indicates a decision on a new AD for Hawaii could come soon, position's advisory committee is wrapping up their work & is expected to make a recommendation on the new hire soon, Hawaii Bowl Executive Director Matlin believes to have had a strong interview with the group - link
Mississippi State blogger Robertson does a deep dig on the social media account of an Ole Miss supporter who commonly communicated with prospective student-athletes on a number of social platform & whose profiles were full of pictures of an attractive blonde female, finds it to be a complete farce, Robertson tracked down people whose pictures were used in the fake bios - link
Legal battle between new Texas A&M FB DC Chavis & his old employers at LSU continues, Chavis adds an amendment to the initial suit that includes claims of contract doctoring & being owed $205k for vacation time & incentives, LSU wants clarity on the process that took place before the Aggies announced Chavis as their new DC in mid-February, questions true date of starting to work for TAMU, more - link
Notable educator & author Sperber inks piece for the Washington Post on five myths surrounding college athletics, reviews the belief that athletic departments make enormous profits, Title IX's challenge of breaking-up the male-dominated coaching & AD ranks, how multi-million dollar salaries for HCs don't always pay off, college athletics as a promotion vehicle for schools & alumni giving around winning - link
MBB HC moves: Georgia Tech AD Bobinski meets with embattled HC Gregory, no decision made yet on future leadership for the Yellow Jackets program, Bobinski indicates he'll come to a conclusion on how to go forward by early next week; ETSU AD Sander part ways with HC Bartow after 12 seasons, "Murray Bartow is a good basketball coach, a good person, but it just seemed like we were kind of stagnant." - link, 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
Maryland Prez Loh puts himself right in the middle of a debate on Twitter in the wake of incidents at Oklahoma that stirred the pot in College Park, interjects his personal views on an email made public that included racial slurs & other indecencies written by a UMD fraternity member, tweeted a number of thoughts including closing with, "Together, & only together, will we rise above intolerance & racism" - link
Duke AD White one of three new board members for the United States Olympic Committee, interestingly replaces group that included Big 12 Commish Bowlsby, former CEO of Bloomberg LP Doctoroff & three-time Olympian & Prez/CEO of Classroom Champions Mesler join White on the 16-member board, USOC chairman Probst excited about diverse skill sets of his additions - link
Former Kent State AD Kennedy, who spent five years on the NCAA MBB Tournament selection committee, walks through his time with the group, says one of the biggest keys is being consistent with your voting, when talking about teams accumulated data throughout the season was important, "I have worked on NCAA selection committees before in other sports, but as an athletic administrator it was the greatest professional experience I have ever had." - link
Sacramento State AD Macriss says he plans to leverage MBB's success this season to build momentum for a new events center that would replace the 1,100-seat Hornets Nest, "...we're going to try to focus on capturing that energy & see if we can get the community & alumni & the boosters & the fans to help us make the events center a reality" - link
Detailed piece from the Reno Gazette-Journal on Nevada AD Knuth's search for a new MBB HC, will not use a search firm, still owes former HC Carter $300k for each of the next two seasons, but his contract did include mitigation, season tickets had fallen from 10,000 to 4,000 in the last eight years, Utah Assoc. HC Connor identified as the front-runner with a number of West Coast ACs as other options, hire expected in two to three weeks - link
More on Periscope, Twitter's live streaming acquisition that could pose a major threat to the advances of Meerkat, includes many of the same features as Meerkat, but adds the ability to record the stream for later play-back, as well as setting up private streams for only a dedicated group of invitees, deal for Periscope believed to be around $100m with stock a major component, Twitter execs think video is a huge opportunity - link
