Re: The Fairfield Factor: Stag Athletics and University Reputation -- Fairfield Stags Hoops Forum

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Date Posted: 06:35:14pm 01/10/06 Tue,
Author: Stagophile
Subject: Re: The Fairfield Factor: Stag Athletics and University Reputation
In reply to: ghostman 's message, "Re: The Fairfield Factor: Stag Athletics and University Reputation" on 05:37:24pm 01/10/06 Tue,

Exactly...name recognition from successful athletics...then you back it up with highly competitive academics, ever expanding facilities, and a beautiful campus!!!

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[> [> [> [> Re: The Fairfield Factor: Stag Athletics and University Reputation -- Stagophile, 04:59:09pm 01/11/06 Wed, [1]

Yadda, yadda, yadda...

Gonzaga has seen admissions, alumni donations rise since '99 upset victories in NCAA.

March 17, 2003: 6:17 AM EST
A weekly column by Chris Isidore, CNN/Money Senior Writer

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Gonzaga University has never seen a cent of the millions in television money paid to the National Collegiate Athletic Association for the school's appearances in the last four NCAA tournaments. But that doesn't mean it hasn't been cashing in on its success.

In 1999, the school became a poster child for the kind of Cinderella success story that makes the tournament so popular. That year it made it all the way into the Elite Eight before losing to the tournament's eventual champion, the University of Connecticut, by only five points.

Gonzaga's basketball success is helping the school raise money and enrollment.

The next two years it made it to the Sweet 16. Last year, its first year going in as a first-round favorite, resulted in a first-round loss.

The NCAA dollars go to Gonzaga's conference, the West Coast Conference, rather than the school or schools from the conference that make it to the tournament. Higher ticket sales, alumni donations and student enrollment are the real gain that Gonzaga and many similar size programs can hope to win with tournament success.

But there are also significant costs associated with having that kind of success. And it appears some of the lift from the school's upset victories has been relatively short-lived.

However Gonzaga does this year, it's safe to say the school has been transformed by basketball in the last five years. The Jesuit-run school in Spokane, Wash., is seeing growth away from the basketball court, funded by the increased flow of dollars that school officials believe is at least partly due to its basketball success.

The school started a fundraising campaign last April and is already building a 47,000 square-foot extension to its science building as well as planning an addition to its business school.

Basketball is getting its share of the increased dollars at a school without football. After Gonzaga lost its coach to the University of Minnesota following the 1999 tournament, the coach's salary got a "significant" but undisclosed increase, according to University spokesman Dale Goodwin. Basketball coach Mark Few now gets paid more than Gonzaga President Robert Spitzer. And in April the school expects to break ground on a new $23 million, 6,000-seat basketball arena that will hold 50 percent more fans than the current facility.

"Our coach feels it's the last piece of the recruiting puzzle he needs to stay competitive with the big boys as a legitimate top-25 contender," said Goodwin.

Goodwin says the school has already sold 3,000 season tickets for the new arena's first season in 2004-05, which is double the number of season tickets sold at its current home.

Increased donations have helped Gonzaga build an addition to its science building.

The school's overall fundraising has been given a lift by its NCAA success, rising 38 percent to $13.4 million during the 1998-99 school year, then another 23 percent in the next school year in the immediate wake of the team's success. But the donations fell back to the $10 million-range during the following two years, just above the pre-1998-99 levels.

The admissions gains have continued, though. The school has seen about a 22 percent increase in the size of the student body to 5,500 compared to the fall before its 1999 NCAA appearance.

"We began to get inquiries in states where we've never recruited," said Goodwin. "When we have conversations with those students, there's no question that many heard about Gonzaga through basketball."

The school has filled an additional 28 non-tenure track professor positions during the last five years to help handle the load and recently approved the addition of six new tenure-track positions to its faculty of 285.

Goodwin insists that even if the school doesn't get into this year's tournament, that support for the program, and the revenue that goes with it, should stay in place.

"People recognize we have all the pieces in place to continue the winning tradition," he said. "I don't think success on the basketball court will have any impact on the immediate fundraising and building plans."

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