Nassar: 
+ Michigan State MBB HC Izzo questioned by ESPN's Outside the Lines after yesterday's win over Maryland. Izzo sticks to his, "I’ve cooperated with every investigation — every one. And I will continue to cooperate with every investigation — every one" mantra. Tense moments. (link)
+ Sports Illustrated legal expert McCann inks on how historical precedent set by the NCAA could impact punishment(s) for Michigan State. "If the NCAA becomes a co-defendant, it would be awkward, at a minimum, for the NCAA to investigate a fellow co-defendant, whose interests are not all aligned with the NCAA. Michigan State and the NCAA could seek to blame the other, along with USA Gymnastics, for any institutional liability for Nassar’s crimes. Under these circumstances, it’s hard to imagine how the NCAA could credibly conduct an investigation into Michigan State. A court might be asked to review such a topic. Even if the NCAA is not formally brought into the Nassar victim litigation as a party, the litigation could reveal records that involve correspondences between Michigan State and NCAA officials. Those records could suggest that Michigan State was not adequately deterred by the NCAA in its handling of Nassar and other on-campus sexual assault cases. NCAA officials might also be subpoenaed in the litigation and forced to testify. In other words, the NCAA can’t really separate itself—or its fiduciary and legal interests—from the Nassar controversy." More. (link)
+ Speaking of more, here's just that from OTL on members of the 2010 Spartans' MBB squad who were accused of sexual violence in 2010. (link)
+ Yahoo's Eisenberg: "Izzo’s lack of candor about the allegations against him may be appropriate from a legal standpoint, but the downside is the damage it’s doing to his reputation. Michigan State has an obligation to be honest and forthright about matters of campus safety like this. The Lansing community has a right to know if the university is burying information and prioritizing the success of its football and basketball programs over the safety of its female students. When Izzo declines to answer questions about past sexual assault allegations, it makes it look like the program has something to hide." (link)

Texas A&M's FY17 results: $211M+ in revenue, $146.5M in expenses, equaling a surplus of $65.4M before payments were made on items such as facility debts & conference realignment costs. FB alone generated $97.8M. Big jump in contributions for non-revenue sports from $42.2M to $56M as overall revenue surged by $17.5M. FB's recruiting budget grew from $800K to $1.2M. (link)

Some interesting comments from Cal CFO Rae for those of you interested in the AD opening for the Golden Bears. "We have to stabilize our operations. Employees need to know that the place that they work is a stable environment and that they are going to have a reasonable workload. Faculty needs to know what we’re going to be able to invest in their research and also ensure a reasonable workload. We need to move to a place from where we just survive, to where we thrive. And to thrive we’ve got to get to a balanced budget." The university's overall $110M deficit has been trimmed to $57M. More Rae: "The most important thing leaders need to be doing on campus is earning the trust of everyone on campus. It comes from making commitments and honoring them. It also comes from being very transparent about decision making and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to participate." (link)

Prior to last night's loss to Temple, Connecticut MBB HC Ollie released a statement regarding an NCAA inquiry into the program's recruiting which read, in part: "I want to express that we will cooperate fully with NCAA as this process moves forward as we are committed to promoting an atmosphere of compliance with NCAA regulations. … As we head into the final weeks of the season, our total focus will be on helping our team improve and reach its highest potential. To that end, we have no further comment on this matter." Asked about the inquiry after the game, Ollie replied: "The vibes are still good, and we look forward to cooperating with the NCAA and I’ll just go back to my statement. … [The players] will be fine." Ollie's remarks reflect those made on Friday by Prez Herbst, who affirmed the university's commitment to compliance, adding: "We will do so in a thorough and transparent manner reflective of the model athletic and academic institution we continually strive to be." (link)

Montgomery Advertiser columnist Stevens profiles newly minted Auburn AD Greene, whose second interview with the school was beset by a flight delay which kept him from getting to his hotel until 3 A.M. Despite that, Auburn trustee Riggins says Greene's second interview was even better than the first: "I can’t explain the whole experience with Allen. He had it. Whether you’re a scout, coach or player, you know it when you see it, when you hear it. When he walked in the room and began his presentation I thought this was the guy." Such has been the story along Greene's path to success, a willingness to succeed and an ability to do so despite adversity. Greene: "I wasn't born with it, my parents know that. But, over time you develop an understanding that, as the leader of the department, you've got to remain steady regardless of what's happening." As he transitions into his role at Auburn, Greene, who was a baseball student-athlete at Notre Dame, acknowledges he will have to take time to get a feel for the landscape and determine what needs to be done. "As long as I know that the president wants to advance the athletics department, that's good enough for me. How that happens? TBD." (link)

Colorado State Prez Frank praises Rams AD Parker's ability to balance winning, graduating student-athletes and maintaining a culture of compliance, adding: "He wants to hire coaches who want to graduate student athletes, and he wants that. He wants to hire coaches that will represent the institution well, and he wants to win, and he wants to hire coaches who want that too." Frank also explains how those qualities impacted the university's decision to extend Parker's contract: "If I'm aligned with someone like that who believes in those same things, I want to stay with him and I was confident that I had that in Joe." Moving forward in his tenure, Parker notes the importance of imbuing every program and facility with an aura of success, which requires a program-wide commitment: "You can really make sure you're laying in the right attitude and culture and it starts with staff, it moves into students. … You're never going to have sustained success if you're always trying to push the leadership and culture piece from influences outside the locker room. You have to have the students take full responsibility for the culture and the leadership of the locker rooms themselves." Full profile. (link)

The Denver Post examines the approaches taken by Colorado and Colorado State in promoting mental health among student-athletes, including the embedding of licensed mental health professionals. At both programs, incoming first-year players are introduced to their respective counselors and given their cell phone contacts. The counselors are then regular attendees of practices, games, study halls and several other activities in a student-athlete's given day. CU sport psychologist Chris Bader: "What I have seen in my time in the field is the stigma is lessening. They’re sort of familiar with what we’re doing and it’s not this weird 'voodoo magic' that it might have been a few years ago." CU reports roughly a 50-50 split between male and female student-athletes who visit counselors while CSU says slightly more female student-athletes visit. (link)

Amid declining state funding, Central Connecticut State continues to consider its options in the athletic department, which has so far announced the elimination of men's and women's golf, saving the university roughly $214K. In addition, CCSU will eliminate 35.5 scholarships in various other sports and require all student-athletes who receive scholarships to live on campus, which will bank the university another ~$315K. Prez Toro: "The financial impact per year will be more than $2M including the scholarships and the cost of those two teams and another set of budget cuts." A shared governance task force ultimately decided on the above changes instead of a potential move to DII or DIII, but future measures could depend on an efficiency review which will examine staff levels within the department. Meanwhile, Toro says CCSU has no plans to hire a new AD until the task force submits its recommendations: "I didn't think it would be fair for a new hire to have to come and have to implement changes right away. I think we're close to being ready to launch a search for an athletic director so the person is in place by July 1." (link)

The Drake Group's former Prez Gurney pens of The Chronicle of Higher Ed on how to (maybe) reduce academic fraud in athletics. 1) Reporting Lines ("Certainly academic advising and all support services should be under the direct supervision of the institution’s academic authority, but the reporting line must be direct and unshared with the athletic department. Daily direct supervision must be under an academic official."); 2) Budgets ("The budget for athletic academic-support programs must be controlled and derived from the college’s academic budget."); 3) FARs ("The very structure of the position may pose a potential conflict of interest. Review of academic services and athlete achievement should be scrutinized by independent faculty members."); 4) Peer Review certification programs should be reinstated; and, 5) Admissions & Eligibility ("The review of qualifications for every athlete must be based upon the applicant’s ability to succeed."). (link); Another Chronicle piece of note, though this one is behind the wall, "Who Should Oversee Athletes' Academic Progress?" (link)

More Personnel: The future of ESPN's SC6 includes lots of questions marks as Worldwide Leader executive Williamson indicated anchor Hill's move to The Undefeated could be a sign, "I think there is probably an element of truth in that. That can happen anytime you start something from a certain point or certain direction and then you evolve certain products. … As you tweak different things, people come to realization that this is not exactly for me." (link); High Point AD Hauser will introduce a new Women's Volleyball HC today for the Panthers. (link)

UT Chattanooga AD Wharton camps with the Times Free Press, says his biggest focus has been communication and relationship building. Still $1.1M away from breaking ground on a new athletic complex, but expects that to happen by April. Talks a facilities master plan and enhancing the fan experience. On conference realignment and smaller programs in general: "There is a ceiling, and I'm curious in five years where things go. There's already the haves and the haves-nots, but I think we have an opportunity at Chattanooga that we can keep going. Our ceiling is a lot higher." Wharton sees the Mocs being at the top of the league in five years and expects fundraising efforts to ramp up. Also mentions wheels are in motion to finalize a renewal with Learfield and Mocs Sports Properties. (link)

On the Erik Ainge Show last week, Tennessee AD Fulmer discussed the biggest challenge facing the Vols department: "To make sure we're communicating well. I've said this a million times, but I saw it when it was at the very best. From the President to the athletic director to me to Pat [Summitt] and all those. It was clear what our goals were and what our challenges were. It's not rocket science. It's just clear communication and trust. They trusted us that we were not going to embarrass them by doing something that's out there that gets the whole university embarrassed. When you've got 500 kids, there's going to be stuff happening from time to time. You just have to make sure you're managing that properly. So, just trust and communication." (link)

Today is the groundbreaking ceremony for USC's Memorial Coliseum's $270M makeover, which includes reducing seating capacity from 93,607 to 77,500, adding aisles, widening seats, new pressbox, new suites, upgraded entryways and videoboards, updated Wi-Fi, new lighting, replacing electrical, mechanical & plumbing systems and additional concession stands. Originally built in 1923, the last time the facility underwent substantial work was 20 years ago when $93M was spent to repair damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake. (link)

Fox Business reporters Korn and Rexrode look at the impact banks have on college campuses nationwide. Schools had to reveal details of these relationships by January 1 and a Wall Street Journal review found that 112 colleges received nearly $18.7M in FY17 from banks for consumer finance deals. Cal pocketed $1.7M from Bank of the West, while on the other end, Holy Family University (PA) (DII) got only $2K from PNC. Students at regional public universities and community colleges tended to pay the highest average fees, reaching as high as $70/student in some cases. Wells Fargo with the highest fees, while PNC came in with the lowest. Other figures: University of Illinois System gets $936K in annual royalty payments from PNC, Washington State gets a flat $275K annual payment from U.S. Bank. A bit more. (link)