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Dayton moving forward with its AD search by naming a committee to help navigate the process, includes a number of on-campus leaders like EVP & COO Boosalis & VP for Finance & Administrative Services Horner, no current coaches, athletic administrators or student-athletes are a part of the group, Parker Executive Search gets the nod to assist, review of candidates will begin immediately until a successor to outgoing AD Wabler is named - link
Reports out of Texas have AD Patterson & Prez Fenves meeting on Friday for the third time to get on the same page on the direction of Longhorns athletics, odd wording as the article says a couple of times that Patterson may "be in trouble" with Fenves, communication with donors seems to be one key issue, this development comes just a couple of weeks after HornsDigest reporter Brown released a hard-hitting & long read on Patterson's tenure thus far - link
This one will get a lot of clicks as Variety writer Rainey takes a look at IMG College in the context of the William Morris Endeavor-IMG marriage, unnamed sources within the piece debate the upside of the business as WME-IMG COO Lublin notes the college space is strong & an excellent complement to the rest of the company's portfolio, one 'top insider' wonders if the company was oversold on the potential of IMG College, another asks why there's so much focus on the entity doing the "least well" of the company's verticals, more - link
Construction at Sun Devil Stadium for Arizona State hits a key marker as the south end zone structure has been completed, a number of upgrades with the $256m investment still to come, capacity will be reduced this season by 5,700 & end at 66k once all work is complete in 2018, article includes a video of the new south space as HC Graham notes, "Everything about the fan experience is going to improve with this project." - link
Colonial Commish Yeager continues his strong comments in opposition of some autonomy measures, laments how full cost of attendance upgrades have become "funny money, play money, pocket money" in the recruiting process, says the amount is one of the first questions now asked by parents, handlers & prospective student-athletes, doesn't think it's an issue for FCS programs, though Basketball is a bit of a different beast - link
Wake Forest AD Wellman expects a number of Demon Deacon programs to take steps forward next year as key facility projects come to a head in Winston Salem, says FB will be young, but talented & MBB returns a number of key contributors "there's reason to think this could be a year of significant advancement," $21m indoor FB practice center set to be complete sometime this fall or winter, as is a $4.5m building for golf with more on the way - link
What would SEC FB Media Days be without South Carolina FB HC Spurrier rattling off some great one liners? Says he expected many reporters in the audience to be retired by now, ironic as he's the oldest FB HC in SEC history at the age of 70 & second-oldest in the FBS, notes how HCs don't get to retire anymore with Wisconsin's Alvarez the last one (kind of), 7-6 mark last year was underwhelming though he thinks Tennessee & Arkansas may have been excited with similar records, more - link
A number of West Virginia FB ACs received pay increases as contract clauses call for at least 3% bumps annually, even with the step ups the FB salaries decreased in total by 7.6% as two exits were some of the staff's highest earners, HC Holgorsen worked with AD Lyons to redistribute some funds to further compensate members of his staff, Lyons says the deals are in-line with market comparisons, also talks multi-year agreements - link
In the first of a three-part series, Deseret News scribe Williams looks at how schools in Utah are adjusting to changes in the financial landscape of DI athletics, student-athletes from Utah, BYU & Southern Utah outline the time they spend on academic & sports-related pursuits that far exceed a normal person's 40-hour work week, Weber State AD Bovee says his department is still focused on helping student-athletes grow, Utah Valley AD Otoupal still considering full COA for the Wolverines, more - link
Ohio releases its 16-page annual report from the 2014-15 campaign, goes through athletic & academic highlights for each program, the Bobcats led the MAC in FB & MBB attendance for the third-straight year, overall ticket revenue outpaced projections by $135k, licensing returns again set school & conference records, FB ticket sales up 16% for a top mark, also takes a look at a handful of facility improvements - link
Instead of just following the trend of packing more seats on to a plane, Frontier is actually offering more room for passengers, at least for the dreaded middle seat that will measure 19 inches in width, an extra inch more than seats on either side of it, but Frontier is pushing rows closer together & seats will no longer recline, piece thinks passengers who chose the discount airline know there are some trade-offs - link
Temple AD Kraft nabs McElroy from CLC to serve as Executive Senior Assoc. AD/SWA for the Owls, in Atlanta McElroy oversaw a portfolio of 65 schools that partner with CLC, also spent time at the NCAA as Assoc. Director of the DI WBB Tourney, a stint at Georgia Tech, one at SMU as Senior Assoc. AD & Director of Compliance, & of course her three-year stay at Georgia State from 2005 to 2008 as AD - link
Colorado State supporters donated $9.6m for the Rams new on-campus FB stadium in the most recently completed fiscal year, brings the private giving total for the project to $27.2m & VP for Advancement Anderson expects that number to grow significantly this year as the wheels are turning much quicker on the new digs, brick campaign set to launch, donations will help to cover payments on the revenue bonds that are being used to fund the $239m build - link
Memphis AD Bowen has apparently removed all transfer restrictions from exiting MBB student-athlete Nichols who decided to do so really late in the summer, originally was banned from considering any other AAC school or future Tigers opponent, as well as a few others, but now is free to move to any institution of his choice, Virginia was on the original no-go list & is noted in the article as a place Nichols is highly interested to check out - link
Marshall AD Hamrick never mum on the challenge of FB scheduling for the Thundering Herd, says the reality is designing a slate that gives his program the best shot at the one 'Group of 5' slot to premier bowl games, with that aim one focus is on match-ups with top-tier peers from the G5, article notes Hamrick is reportedly going after contracts with Boise State, Colorado State, South Florida, East Carolina & Houston, "We need to establish that Marshall is the best of the G5 teams." - link
Northwest Herald with a number of financial rankings in & throughout the Big Ten starting with FB profit as Ohio State & Michigan were both above $40m, MBB profit has three over $10m, overall athletic department net that shows 11 of 14 at break-even or better, operating revenue comparison with seven who top $100m, obligatory FB, MBB & WBB HC lists included, as is ticket sales & recruiting spending - link
More context on developments around ESPN from SportsBusiness Journal's Fisher, notes the company finishing first in comScore's June online sports reach rankings, though overall numbers for the worldwide leader fell in reach & consumption for the third consecutive month after a strong run in the second half of '14 & first half of '15 when it set four comScore records - link, link, link
Important development since it serves as the guts for so many high-profile online streaming platforms, Major League Baseball Advanced Media boss Bowman says the company will not pursue an IPO & instead will look for investment from "strategic partners" for its technology piece, will be focused on the step over the next month with potential final details by the World Series, notes the business has been growing at an impressive clip of 15% to 30% - link
UCLA announce plans to move forward on groundbreaking for both the new Wasserman Football Center & Mo Ostin Basketball Center on the last Thursday of August, comes less than two years after fundraising initiatives for the projects were announced, $54m of $65m has been secured for the phase-two Wasserman build & $16m of $25m for the Ostin project, AD Guerrero says the new facilities are a sign that the Bruins will continue to be a premier program in the nation, more - link
Texas A&M FB student-athlete Ifedi set to become the second Aggie to receive loss-of-value insurance from the school with premiums likely between $50k to $60k, says he had never heard of the option & is still learning the ins & outs of the policy, teammate Obioha does not think the situation will become a recruiting advantage as you have to play yourself into the position instead of going on pure projection - link
Grantland with a #longread on former USC FB student-athlete & former Heisman Trophy-winner Bush who wowed crowds during his time with the Trojans, but was also involved in a high-profile NCAA case, morphs into a piece on how the governing body oversees college athletics as it compares & contrasts other similar investigations at other schools, believes it's time to remove the asterisk from Bush's name - link
Junior College power Hutchinson Community College set to be sanctioned by the NJCAA for improper benefits for WBB student-athletes as the Blue Dragons finished as national runner-up for the third time in the last four seasons, full report due out today & will be reviewed by NJCAA Executive Director Krug, program has gone an astounding 257-26 in eight seasons under HC Ontjes - link
MLive.com with a read on the role athletics is playing in the first year of Michigan Prez Schlissel's tenure, a number of issues, mainly around FB, surfaced as soon as Schlissel made it to Ann Arbor though they certainly haven't been the only ones he had to deal with, wants to be judged by his first five to 10 years, not his first six months to a year, says he's ultimately at UM to promote academic excellence - link
More from around higher education: Nebraska Prez Bounds selects Isaacson, Miller to conduct the Chancellor search for his Lincoln campus at a base fee of $122,100, Isaacson, Miller was the firm of record in Bounds' appointment a couple of months ago (link); Interesting note in the state budget saga handcuffing schools in the Prairie State as Illinois says it has 180 days of cash on hand & expects to operate as normal for now (link); Former Winthrop Prez Williamson goes on the offensive after a long silence during & following her contentious exit from Rock Hill (link)
Check out today's 'First 4 Out' feature on Twitter, click the link to see four more developments from yesterday that didn't quite make today's email. Enjoy & feedback is welcome! - link
