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News of the day was Pittsburgh's hire of Utah State AD Barnes to lead its department, credited with infusing the Aggies with financial momentum that led to facility upgrades with more currently on the docket, New Mexico AD Krebs says Barnes stuck to his plan in Logan & made some excellent personnel decisions, inherits budget of over $66m, a significant increase from USU's $25m - link
NCAA Prez Emmert touches on a handful of items, defends the penalties originally handed down to Penn State post-Sandusky saga, acknowledges communication with PSU could have been better, calls the current era "one of the most interesting & probably dynamic moments in the history of college sports," says the NCAA Infractions unit is constantly getting tips on improper behavior, governing body is involved in the conversation around freshmen ineligibility - link
San Jose Mercury News columnist Wilner at it again, reviews situation at Santa Clara where he says the school needs to upgrade its commitment to athletics to realize its potential, which he believes is the ability to be one of the premier non-FB departments in the nation, positions some potential AD candidates, does the same at UC Davis with UC Irvine boss Izzi appearing on both lists, also mentions Cal Deputy AD Fulp, Portland AD Leykam & others - link
UAB boosters picked up the $20k bill to have economics firm OSKR complete their review of the Blazers decision to discontinue FB, Bowling & Rifle, believes a surplus of $500k could be realized if the three were reinstated & the school remained in Conference USA, per research says the trio didn't truly cost anywhere near the $3.75m reported by the university, upgraded College FB Playoff revenues would have outpaced full cost of attendance expenses, lots more - link (article), link (full report)
Illinois Senior Assoc. AD for Development Darnell gets his shot at impressing the Southern Illinois community as he vies for the Salukis open AD job, notes his work alongside former SIU AD Kowalczyk with the Illini whose tenure in Carbondale was marked by significant success, believes that culture can be replicated by empowering coaches, points to history of hiring 'Big 5' fundraisers for AD spot, also reviewed his diverse background & five key goals - link, link
Wisconsin Assoc. ADs King & Doherty talk about their review processes of HCs & programs over which they see, Men's & Women's Hockey for King, MBB, Men's & Women's Soccer for Doherty, despite different levels of outcome success for the programs this past year, all evaluations are done along the same lines for the Badgers, King points to perspective on Men's Hockey's rough season, student-athlete fulfillment key for Doherty, more - link
Watch: Interview with Cincinnati AD Bohn who reviews the progress of construction on Nippert Stadium that includes video of the construction, "We have tailgating now on the rooftop, which campus has helped us with to be able to have a true tailgating experience with an open flame adding to the fun, & so many things are going well & I think it's a mirror of the institution. It's about enhancing the game-day experience." - link
Wichita State is looking into allegations by a handful of WBB transfers on mental abuse by HC Adams that they say led to their departures, health professions professor Scherz was appointed by Prez Bardo to talk to the student-athletes about their decisions, Adams tenure with the Shockers has averaged two transfers per year, but also a high level of competitive success - link
More on LSU's financial situation as a number of institutions within the state are facing down major cuts, Prez Alexander on financial exigency preparations, "We don't say that to scare people, basically, it is how we are going to survive," Moody's lowered the school's financial rating earlier in the week that will impact the cost of new or improved facilities, lawmakers have yet to consider revenue-generating measures such as a tax increase, more - link
The Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal is off as the former has pulled its massive $45b offer after federal regulators were unlikely to give their approval, move would have combined the nation's two largest TV & internet players, TWC is apparently still trying to salvage the arrangement, AT&T acquiring DirecTV was seen as reactionary to Comcast-TWC, but is still on & expected to be approved, second-largest failed media merger in history - link, link
Michigan State MBB will head to Italy this summer as they prep for another Final Four run, scheduled to take in a number of key cities in the country including Rome, Venice & Verona as they play senior national teams from Russia, Italy & Georgia, HC Izzo points to the team chemistry-building benefits & mantra of playing 'Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime' - link
New York Times profiles Providence Equity Partners, majority shareholder of Learfield Sports, covers the bankruptcy security screener Altegrity that wiped out an $800m Providence stake, the firm's largest loss in 26 years, also a couple of other key losses, founder Nelson says the company grew too fast & made too many investments in 2007 & 2008 before the market crashed, thinks they learned from mistakes & results back up that claim, a whole lot more - link
Clemson FB HC Swinney with some strong thoughts on full cost of attendance, "There's no question, it's a nightmare. The intent is good...But, there's some negative unintended consequences, & there's no question it's not a level playing field & it is going to be the No. 1 topic at all the coaches meetings because it's not good." Pushes back on even more compensation for student-athletes as they're already getting a ton of benefits - link
After Tuesday night's Indiana-Notre Dame Baseball game in Indianapolis drew over 8,700 fans, Hoosiers AD Glass wants to make the neutral site match-up an annual event complete with it's own branding, thinks it's a win for both schools to engage Indy alumni & potentially motivate them to attend more games in Bloomington or South Bend, believed to be the largest crowd ever in the state to watch a college baseball affair - link
Colorado State AD Parker provides more comments on his previous statement that Women's LAX could be an addition for the Rams in the near future, notes no real studies have been done on campus nor has a funding model been established, move could be important for balancing the department's Title IX portfolio, notes his tenure at Michigan when the Wolverines added Men's & Women's LAX programs - link
Despite indicators pointing in an affirmative direction, Michigan will not host a night FB game this season, will play a prime time game at Minnesota to close October, Interim AD Hackett previously pointed to the desire to play more night games when viewership is higher & the Wolverines could show off their massive Big House - link
During a road tour stop in Newton, Ole Miss AD Bjork talks about the tenure & impact of outgoing Chancellor Jones whose stay in Oxford was heavily reviewed a couple of weeks ago, believes Rebs faithful should thank Jones for his contributions, but also wants the university family to continue to capitalize on the momentum Jones helped create - link
Michigan State & Nike roll out new FB uniforms ahead of tomorrow's spring game, home & road looks stick heavily to bold green & white traditional look with a few tweaks, but alternative combination moves the needle with a green anodized helmet & use of bronze accents throughout, options are meant to be interchangeable, unclear when the Spartans may wear the alternate look - link
Arizona State AD Anderson tabs Garner Smith as Senior Assoc. AD & SWA for the Sun Devils, heads to Tempe after a seven-year stint with the NFL where she was the Director of Player Security Services & Player Engagement Education, tasked with educating players on domestic violence, sexual assault & gambling fronts, prior to her NFL tenure worked at the NCAA for 10 years, excited about new opportunity - link
Arizona State also on the wire as its set to receive $140k over the next three years for the build-out of a Women's Triathlon program, an addition that is not technically tied to the Sun Devils launch of a Men's Hockey team, AD Anderson thankful to be one of the eight schools selected by USA Triathlon, also points to donors who made it possible, calls current developments in his department "an unprecedented time within Sun Devils athletics" - link
Still no official word from Kennesaw State AD Williams or any other leaders at the school on the review of its MBB program announced a month ago, former HC Lallathin was reassigned within the department after a year of competitive improvement, AC Rivers was promoted to Interim HC, an open records request didn't turn up much other than some minor violations, Lallathin's contract reviewed - link
Northwestern State AD Burke reviews the turn-around in his department over the last couple of years as a number of Demons programs have flipped the script from a win-loss standpoint, credits HCs for their leadership & recruitment of quality student-athletes, FB, MBB & WBB have all seen marked improvement since 2011-12, wants to continue to engage alumni & supporters with the desire of moving forward on needed facility projects - link
Watch: More SMU FB HC Morris who has rebuilt the Mustangs video department & replaced static cameras with drones to capture key practice & performance footage, "Not we've got two freakin' drones flying around at practice," also added helmet cameras & other gadgets to upgrade the program's capabilities - link
New Mexico MBB HC Neal indicates he's pushing for the relaunch of a hoops rivalry with UTEP with a four-game series that would see both programs get two home games, likely to start again in 2016-17, an NIT match-up between the two back in 2011 included an altercation during pre-game shoot-arounds, also points to hire of new AHC Harriman that could lead to more recruiting of Australia - link
Little Rock leaders are pulling back on their plans to host a FB bowl game next season, War Memorial Stadium Commission chairman Crass says it "is not feasible" right now, still believes the city & region have all the necessary elements for a future game, teams from the Sun Belt & American would have been involved, Sun Belt Commish Benson says the game had an offer from a TV network & title sponsor, remains optimistic about a future game in the city - link
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