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#10: SMU AD Hart, whom USA Today's Wolken says had been the "initial focus" of the KansasAD search, is sticking in Dallas. Wolken indicates more interviews will go down this week. (link); SB Nation's KU outlet reports UCF AD White has met with the Jayhawks, also mentions the new names of Northwestern Deputy AD/AVP for Development Goff & UCLASenior Assoc. AD for External Relations Rebholz as being connected to the process. (link)
#9: Glass will also be busy hiring a new Baseball HC as Hoosiers skipper Lemonis is the selection at Mississippi State. D1Baseball's Rogers broke the news late Sunday night, pointing to "sources" who clearly are closely connected to the situation in Starkville. (link)
#8: Colgate Chief of Staff/Sr. Assoc. AD Guglieri leaves the Raiders department (link)
#7: Disney can move forward with its deal for key 21st Century Fox assets, but must divest the 22 Regional Sports Networks that are part of the deal. Justice Department assistant attorney general Delrahim: "American consumers have benefitted from head-to-head competition between Disney and Fox’s cable sports programming that ultimately has prevented cable television subscription prices from rising even higher." (link)
#6: The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that freshly minted Maryland AD Evans' path to "public redemption" has included more than amending for a drunk-driving arrest that resulted in his being let go from the same position at Georgia. Specifically, the Chronicle cites allegations of a romantic relationship with a staffer not long after his arrival at Maryland. An inquiry in to the matter found "no violation of university policy and no evidence of an improper relationship," yet former AD Anderson was concerned enough about the relationship to sever the reporting line between the two. Citing interviews with former employees and sources close to the department, the Chronicle adds: "Concerns about Evans’s relationship with the woman were significant and widespread enough to feed perceptions that the woman was in a protected class of employees who could not be crossed without retribution from Evans." According to a formal complaint, employees viewed Evans as "ascendant" within the program and feared to publicly disagree with the woman for fear of retribution from Evans. For his part, Evans has called the allegations "absolutely false" and says there is "no basis to them moving forward." (link)
#5: Speaking of facilities, new Texas A&M FB HC Fisher when he first saw his new office, "It's like a damn nightclub in here. This ain't gonna be my office." (link)
#4: Check out Alabama's new Sports & Nutrition facility. 25,000 square feet, includes a fuel center & smoothie bar, five performance chefs & four dietitians, an upstairs patio overlooking the practice fields, 50+ HD TVs, more. One-minute video gives you a tour. Not too shabby. (link)
#3: USA Today's annual NCAA Finances database is out & we've tipped over the $200M mark as both Texas & Texas A&M produced $211M or more in revenues for 2017-18. Overall, 31 departments did $100M+ in revs & 39 were over the century mark in expenses. Top 10: Texas, Texas A&M, Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, Florida, LSU, Auburn. First non-P5: UConn at 49th ($83.374M in revs). SEC with 11 of the Top 25. James Madison top non-FBS at 62 ($48.21M in revs). Lots more, obviously. (link, link); Also,
+ The case of Washington State is explored as an example of overspending to try & keep pace in the race. WSU Prez Schulz on the overall space, "We’ve probably all put ourselves in the position where we’re always looking for that next biggest thing, and that means you probably spend more than you should. And I think we’ve reached the point where frankly some of that spending is going to plateau because there aren’t huge new piles of revenue that are going to come into those schools. So you better live within your means or find alternative ways to fund your ambitions." Former Cougars AD & current Nebraska boss Moos continues to say everyone knew what was going down in Pullman, shocked that people are, well, shocked. WSU AD Chun believes Moos brought Wazzu out of the stone ages, presses forwarded on narrowing the deficit gap. More. (link)
+ Here's how the results look when sorted by net income. Fourteen departments over $10M. (link)
#2: Maryland has appointed acting AD Evans to the position on a permanent basis, which will mark Evans' second stint as a 'Power 5' AD following a six-year run at Georgia. Baltimore Sun columnist Markus calls this a "second chance" for Evans, who said in a news release Monday: "Since the day I arrived, I have been inspired by the student-athletes, coaches and support team that strive for success in Maryland Athletics. ... I’m guided by the principle that we learn from our wins and losses, and I am eager to lead an athletics department that ultimately achieves greatness together." Support is not universal on campus, however, as wrestling student-athlete Smith, a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the Athletic Council, which advised Prez Loh on the hiring, says some of the issues his group raised were not addressed. "We had talked to Loh because we felt some of the decisions weren’t made in the best interest of the the student-athletes. To find out that something like this happened, it’s not only like they’re saying, 'We don’t care.' It’s, 'We don’t care even more now.'" Loh cited Evans' "institutional fit" as a factor in his hiring, adding: "Throughout his tenure here, Damon has demonstrated visionary, transparent, compassionate and ethical leadership." (link, link)
#1: College Football Playoff COO Kelly is the new AD at USF. Kelly, who previously served as Assoc. AD for the Bulls & also led Super Bowl & NCAA MBB Final Four efforts in the market, called a "perfect hire" by Tampa Bay Sports Commission head Higgins. CFP Executive Director Hancock: "First of all, for this job, his ties to that area just made him a natural. And in college athletics, he's really done it all. He has a great national perspective, and that comes from working with a national event like ours for 5 1/2 years. So he's been able to learn from the best — other athletic directors, coaches, commissioners. He's a great listener, and consensus builder. He's a terrific people person." Kelly: "This is a dream opportunity for me. […] It's a very exciting time with the university and the entire region on such strong upward trajectories. I can't wait to get started with our student-athletes, coaches, staff, Bulls fans, donors and alumni everywhere." (link)
