D1.ticker - Eliminate the barrage of articles & time-consuming
searches. Efficient D1 athletics news in a daily email.
The NCAA rolls out potential changes to academic misconduct oversight, includes a set of principles that note student-athletes & the athletics program should be a vital part of the student body, academic misconduct legislation should be consolidated into one location in the DI manual, NCAA violations for staff or coaches who are involved & written policies must be in place for membership, also defines what constitutes academic misconduct, more including legislative & voting timelines - link
BYU FB HC Mendenhall on how the Cougars intend to still make noise as a FB independent, "We will schedule the best teams that will play us and we will play them anytime and anywhere." More thoughts that will raise eyebrows, this one on the fiscal competition within 'Big 5' leagues, "A football program getting $31 million a year? Give me a break. A lot of that is probably mismanaged." Does think his recruiting has improved since moving to independent status, more - link
The New Jersey Senate approved a measure that would give Rutgers $25m toward its athletic facilities upgrade plans, still has to survive the state Assembly & be approved by Governor Christie with those steps not likely happening until this Fall, which is fine by sponsoring Senator Lesniak as the planning process continues for the Scarlet Knights, Lesniak also again notes the state of RU's digs compared to the rest of the Big Ten - link
In Part I of an interview series, Virginia Tech AD Babcock reflects a bit on his year & a half tenure thus far with the Hokies, focused on continuing to learn how to be a better leader, sees a lot of upside & potential for his department, wants to naturally continue to grow the budget, likes the blend on his staff of new hires from outside the university & those with strong institutional knowledge, Hokie Club numbers are trending upwards, an international FB game is not currently on his radar, more - link
In Part II of the interview, Babcock covers new full cost of attendance for Va Tech that will run just under $1m, ok with being in the middle of the pack on the per year COA figure, will likely centralize financial education programming for student-athletes, believes the ACC is headed in the right direction & can close the financial gap on the SEC, continues to study potential infrastructure upgrades including improvements to Cassell Coliseum, more - link
The New York Times with a look at Thursday night's NBA Draft that included three of the top seven picks who never stepped foot on a college basketball court, age limit debate rages on as NABC Executive Director Haney says of the process, "At the end of the day, college athletics is not in the room," former SMU signee & #7 overall pick Mudiay doesn't believe his stock was impacted & Detroit Pistons guard & former Arizona commit Jennings notes how it's tough for a young person to turn down $1m+ - link
Financial details emerge on West Virginia's settlement with West Virginia Radio Corp. over the Mountaineers radio rights, WVU's Board of Governors agreed to pay WVRC $937,500 to put a close to the matter, though it's only a partial settlement as other parties, including IMG College, did not have figures listed in the article, agreement also includes a gag order keeping further comments on the situation quiet - link
Marshall AD Hamrick says university giving is up as a byproduct of the Thundering Herd's FB success according to the school's development director, excited to kick-off the 2015 season with a visit from Purdue, the first time a Big Ten team has traveled to Huntington, "People see us on TV, we are on TV every week. That first week is on national TV on FOX, people see their university, they see us winning, people like to win." More - link
This may surprise you, but TV ratings for the Women's College World Series, an event won by repeat champion Florida, out-paced those for the College World Series by 31%, the three-game finals series between Michigan & Florida in Softball drew an average of 1.85m viewers versus the same number of contests between Virginia & Vanderbilt in Baseball that produced a 1.41m avearage, macro factors that could have impacted not discussed in numbers review - link
Duke AD White begins his tenure on the USOC's Board of Directors beginning with a meeting next week outside San Francisco where some major issues are expected to be discussed including Boston's 2024 bid for the Summer Olympics, latest polling figures out of Beantown & across the state aren't terribly supportive of the city & state hosting the Games, IOC politics & a possible exit strategy will also be covered, Los Angeles could still also be in the mix - link
More from new Pitt AD Barnes who wants to extend the upcoming FB rivalry series with Penn State as long as it stays in a home & home format, the Nittany Lions also made an interesting hire last week with former NFL HC & DC Haslett becoming a consultant for the PSU FB program, HC Franklin thinks Haslett will add "invaluable experience that will be a tremendous resource," points to Haslett helping with game planning & serving as a sounding board - link, link
Florida State AD Wilcox says the Seminoles are likely the play its 2016 Spring game in Orlando as Doak Campbell Stadium will be under construction, Jacksonville was also in the running, but Seminole Boosters Inc. have a coinciding event in Orlando that makes the city a better fit, Wilcox also noted upcoming neutral site games against Ole Miss & Alabama will generate $1m & $2m more respectively than a home game in Tallahassee - link
Iowa State's work on the south end zone of Jack Trice Stadium will be ready for FB's season-opener against Northern Iowa in early September, completion dates of August 11th for the Sukup End Zone Club & August 24th for all seating are within range for construction crews, Director of Facilities, Planning & Management Jorgensen notes there could be more work in the future, "You guys know Jamie, he's always thinking and brainstorming on what the next step is going to be" - link
Watch: Fresno State's upgrade plans to Bulldog Stadium were covered here yesterday, but check-out this promotional video that shows conceptual renderings of what the facility will look like after it undergoes a four-phase improvement process, AD Bartko's comments, "it is not a matter of if or when this happens, it has to happen. We will do it together...It's early, like on Christmas morning when you get a new present but haven't put it together yet. Now we have to dig in over the next year" - link
Montana begins work on its new $14m Washington-Grizzly Champions Center that includes a new 17,000-square foot weight room that all programs will take advantage of & all new digs for FB, project won't be fully complete until the Fall of 2017, AD Haslam, "I've long said we don't need Taj Mahal, we don't need things that are over the top. We need functional, safe, clean and nice facilities that can serve our student-athletes for a long time" - link
FAU continues to raise monies for a new FB training complex & indoor facility after getting a key $16m lead gift back in December, have had success with a number of smaller gifts including one for $500k, AD Chun not sure when ground-breaking will take place, lead donor Schmidt committed to helping the Owls raise another $25m for the project with a projected price tag of $40m to $50m - link
Drone usage continues to grow with a number of NFL organizations using units to capture better practice film, but the FAA reminds sports entities that an exemption is needed in order to fly the devices & is continuing to work on legislation around drones that are less than 55 pounds in weight, there have been 193 cases where drones have gotten too close to other aircraft & a fine was handed down to a man shooting a promotional video for the University of Virginia - link
Learfield Sports & Missouri State will continue their relationship for another 10-plus years as the MSU Board of Governors approved the extension yesterday, pairing initlly created with Learfield acquiring Nelligan last year & comes with a commitment from Learfield to upgrade digital elements, including LED ribbon boards, in JQH Arena in time for the 2015-16 hoops season, subsidies from Leafield to the Bears will increase within the new deal although exact terms were not released - link
Michigan FB student-athlete Pipkins says members of the Wolverines FB staff, including HC Harbaugh & Assoc. AD for FB Minick, asked him to retire from the game a number of times in the last couple of months, Pipkins officially announced his intent to transfer yesterday, believes he was being pushed-out to make room for another 2016 scholarship after his history of injuries, Harbuagh says in response that he & his staff felt like the decision was all about the long-term health of Pipkins - link
Miami (OH) got approval from its Board of Trustees yesterday to move forward with construction of the Gunlock Family Athletic Performance Center, ground-breaking on the project will be held in late August, the Redhawks have already received a $6m lead gift for the effort & another commitment of $10 over 13 years from Mercy Health-Cincinnati, facility will be utilized by all programs & be a upgraded new home for FB - link
Kansas State Sports Properties agrees to a multiyear deal that will keep Pepsi as the official beverage provider for the university & Wildcat athletics, Prez Schulz says the deal will help his campus become a Top 50 public research institution by 2025, no financial details mentioned in the article, Gatorade will also stay in the mix, athletic assets for the sponsorship include signage, third-tier TV presence, digital, sampling opportunities & more - link
This one has already made some rounds this week, but it's an interesting read from Stanford Senior Assoc. AD for External Relations Blue on the technology lag of the sports industry, Blue takes a look at macro factors of the space that do not reward a first-mover advantage, misaligned business objectives for clients & technology providers who are trying to make a sale, difficulty of driving revenue through technology & some assets being managed at the league level - link
The legal gray area of daily fantasy sportsinvestigated in this article by subject matter expert Rose, notes that ultimately state laws may end up governing this niche of the gambling industry, "Sports betting is here to stay, whatever federal or state laws are passed. The professional and collegiate teams and leagues are beginning to recognize that wagering on sports events has been and continues to be a significant factor in the popularity of athletic contests." Lots more - link
