Date Posted:11:23:06 04/21/04 Wed Author: Respondent Subject: Re: thompson III hired as gtown coach In reply to:
HC 1991
's message, "thompson III hired as gtown coach - what a joke" on 11:22:49 04/20/04 Tue
'gate88---the Hoyas didn't require Ivy League grades to go along with Big East ability under Thompson pere. Apparently it is their president's intention to do so under Thompson fils. Your comment (like those of 'Gate Raider)
seems to indicate that you think such a possibility is ludicrously remote. I'm not so sure. Duke, Stanford, Wake Forest, Notre Dame have succeeded in the upper echelon of competitive mens'hoops while maintaining good graduation rates and representative academic status and accomplishments among their players. This is an approach that XU Dash and several alumni posters have espoused for HC. I guess Pres. DiGioia was convinced that it would/could work for G'town (a PL associate member). Let's watch over the next several yrs. If Pres. DiGioia is right, I'm sure that you and 'Gate Raider will be the first to point that out and support a similar HC move. In any case, which school is currently more likely to be able to recruit the next Shane Battier or Emeka Okafor--G'town or HC? You're right. It is a rhetorical question.
Let's not carry the Georgetown-HC comparison too far. Georgetown has an enrollment of over 12,000. Like Duke, Stanford, Notre Dame, etc., they have the resources to provide a lot more dedicated academic support to athletes than we do. Those schools' academic support services for athletes have larger budgets than some academic departments at HC.
hc69 13 mens' scholarship players in school at any one time.
Assuming that an HC roster in the Big East or A-10 would
require extra academic support for 8-9 players (an assumption I make for the purposes of discussion not because I think it is likely), that extra support could easily be provided financially from the dramatic increase in revenue generated by participation in one of those leagues. Daughter-in-law has a close friend who is the academic advisor for both the mens'and womens' hoop teams at a Big 10 school. The salary is certainly not large.
However, try justifying to the faculty (or the other students athletes!) that the "blessed few" are going to get this wonderful academic support while the other 700 intercollegiate athletes who put just as much time into their sports don't.
"Blessed few" may need the extra help. Other 700+ may not. However, within reason, there should be enough additional funding to provide a "cadre" of advisors for others. With regard to faculty/other student concerns, the issue has to be viewed as one of trade-offs(possibly one or two entering hoopers per yr. somewhat below avg. academic criteria vis-a-vis considerable net increase in revenues which will lower(or minimize the increase in) the tuition burden on ALL students and their parents. Many alums of your(and my )vintage came from middle class to lower middle class families. I suspect that the tuition increases over the last 35 years since your graduation have far outstripped the rate of inflation and changed the demographics of the student body considerably--for the most part shrinking the pool of students from middle class families. One would think that those of the pro-PL persuasion, particularly those who wish to see HC maintain the current number of varsity sports, would at least be willing to concede that the current league status is an impediment to long-term maintenance of the current # of varsity sports at a competitive level and an ever-increasing drain on the pocketbooks of students, parents and alumni. Would I be willing to make a league switch that would result in a significant revenue increase at the cost of minimal decreases in the academic rating of some entering freshmen hoopers and minimal increases in academic support for those hoopers? Yes. IMO, the net gain of such an approach would be considerable. Would I be willing to make such a switch at the cost of major decreases in the academic/conduct profile of entering freshmen? No. However, past HC history from '01(that's 1901) to '90 indicates that HC could be competitive at a higher level without selling its academic soul. In any case, let's see what G'town does under Thompson III. If the Hoyas flourish competitively under the new regime while maintaining a quality academic/graduation profile, then the path for HC is clearly set since G'town is a Jesuit school with a top-notch academic rating and a PL football member.
IMO, HC should follow the same path. Size of student body is NOT a significant factor for maintaining a quality D-I program, particularly if the D-1 program does not sponsor D-1 football. If it was, Wayne State U. (D-II school in the Midwest with 40,000 students) would be D-1 and far outstrip Providence, G'town, Wake Forest and our Crusaders athletically. athletically
