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Post by Bornthrilla on Nov 28, 2023 14:19:39 GMT -5
Actually, the plan to extend the fieldhouse goes back to when it was first built, 20 some years ago. The current building was always just supposed to be phase I.
That is why it looks so weird and just takes up one corner of the endzone.
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Post by A&T AGGIE 96 on Nov 28, 2023 17:34:31 GMT -5
I wonder how we will use the additional $1M... Maybe add to the endowment? My understanding is that all that additional money is specified for athletics.
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Post by A&T AGGIE 96 on Nov 28, 2023 17:52:42 GMT -5
I'm just wondering which one or more of our "peer" institutions are going to sit by and wait for us to get up to 25 milly or whatever? I'm willing to bet money the ones behind us are going to zoom right past us in short order. NCAT was "notorious" about taking a long time on facilities improvements and increasing our budget. That's part of why we are in the mess we are in today. As sad as it sounds while in the MEAC there was no "incentive" to do better. We had some of the best and largest facilities in the MEAC and were not even trying. Y'all remember no lights in the stadium, no field house, piss poor press box, and the asphalt track. We added a softball complex, but only because we depended on Greensboro parks and rec fields which I can only assume didn't meet NCAA standards, and damn sure didn't help recruiting. We were winning, and in the later years dominating the MEAC just with what we had...even after the athletic budget was increased to fully fund scholarships etc. I say all that to get to this point. We were not concerned with what our "peers" were doing at the time because it didn't really matter...now it does. We are out of our comfort zone and that can be painful and we will take lumps as we learn and bring ourselves up to speed. There is no expectation that our new peers will be waiting on us or anyone else. They never had that frame of mind so we can't either. Leadership will need to develop and push plans that keep us in the race in the CAA or anyplace we land in the future.
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Post by A&T AGGIE 96 on Nov 28, 2023 18:16:05 GMT -5
So, no more fieldhouse expansion plans now? Based on the presentation the AD gave a couple weeks ago the major upgrades to the stadium facilities will include an expansion of the existing field house and a new "Head House". I think the head house is the one we have been planning for years with very little movement outside of planning. Upgrades to the existing football locker rooms won't take away from those plans. I don't think the locker rooms have been updated since the field house was build. Those locker rooms are used by the football and track team right? A $2.2 million upgrade has been approved by the BOT and I'm willing to bet it is greatly needed. I also saw in the BOT report that $2 million was approved by the BOT to move the radio tower. The AD said he wanted it moved to the "Farm" as there was plenty of space out there. It says in the BOT document that moving the tower was to provide a designated band practice area...but as I recall the AD said the area was to be used for track and field events and to make room for improvements to the football practice area including a turf field. The turf field as I recall is even in Brown's contract right? So we shouldn't be surprised when the Softball field is moved to the a location near the baseball stadium per the Athletics Master Plan. On a side note...the AD also mentioned that he wanted to replace the "chain link" fence surrounding the football stadium. Many alums and his wife (who was in attendance also) said it must be done. Those in attendance laughed at the idea of his wife giving him that "nudge" on a facility improvement, but we have all wanted to see it go for some time now. I didn't take notes, but as we talk more about this stuff more comes back to me...any other Aggies in attendance at the meeting who are members of the board please correct me if my memory is wrong...or if you just want to add something I left out.
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Post by A&T AGGIE 96 on Nov 28, 2023 18:18:15 GMT -5
I'm willing to bet money the ones behind us are going to zoom right past us in short order. >> This is what usually happens. Compared to us how many years has Liberty, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Campbell ... etc being playing college football ? 3 of the 4 listed is FBS. That's on US...we were stuck in neutral for a long time, time to put the program in drive.
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Post by DOOMS on Nov 28, 2023 19:15:25 GMT -5
Not really on us. A large number of folk on this board donate and have approached the school with any number of ideas to raise monies over the years... to almost deaf ears.
The schools that shot past us recruited donors, had a plan, executed the plan, and regularly communicated with with their alums, stakeholders, and constituents. Ayantee failed to do so.
That's on THEM.
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Post by AggiePride on Dec 3, 2023 11:06:45 GMT -5
What is the CAA going to do in response? What schools are the potential replacement list? Also the twitter comments are annoying. Ummmmm....Does the CAA have to respond? The CAA had like 16 football playing schools, the largest FCS league in the country. If they want a replacement I'm sure they can find one. We are in uncertain times in D1 athletics. Schools and conferences have to do what is best for them. UD has been rumored to be exploring a move to FBS for some time now...and their fans and alumni have long wanted this move from what I can tell, and they will fund it...the school already has a $48 million athletics budget and excellent facilities with even more improvement on the way. They have nothing else left to do or prove at the FCS level...and they decided to move on. Just like other CAA schools that moved on. From what I can tell and what I have seen over the past year the CAA is a better league than the MEAC and the Big South... period. Man you need to stay off twitter...that stuff will make your mind mush. UD was one of the best FCS programs in the country...and it hurts to lose them, but the best FCS programs tend to move up to FBS...it should be expected. If folks think losing the CAA "watered" down the CAA, then what did the loss of so many schools do to the Big South? Ask yourself how many Big South schools made it to the FCS playoffs? By my count just one Gardner-Webb...the same Gardner-Webb we played and lost to for the championship last year...the same Gardener Web that lost in the first round over the weekend. How well do you think we would have done in that league this year? Ask yourself how many MEAC schools made it the the FCS playoffs this year? By my count just one nccu...the same nccu that "dragged" us up and down the field...the same nccu that won a number of OOC game against CAA schools, but in the end lost in the first round of the playoffs against Richmond, a CAA school. Both teams are schools we lost to during the season. The MEAC will also send its conference champ Howard (which has a worse record than nccu) to the Celebration Bowl. This is a team that lost to Hampton, a CAA school (who also also beat us this year). How do you think we would have done in the MEAC this year? The CAA sent 4 teams to the playoffs, and by my count 4 still have a shot at the title. Which of all those conferences is the best...IJS !! Our problems aren't what league we play in...our problems are...well we have discussed our problems to no end on this site, so I'm not going to bring that into this thread. We need to improve our product, consistently finish in the top half of the CAA, and the rest will take care of itself. What Delaware is doing should not be our concern. They are moving up...I could see if they were making more of a lateral move to another FCS league...but they moving to FBS. How many schools have gone FBS out of the MEAC or the Big South? Y'all need to stop trippin' Mush is the truth. So many bad opinions masked as facts.
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Post by marchingband1969 on Dec 3, 2023 13:08:19 GMT -5
I'm willing to bet money the ones behind us are going to zoom right past us in short order. >> This is what usually happens. Compared to us how many years has Liberty, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Campbell ... etc being playing college football ? 3 of the 4 listed is FBS. That's on US...we were stuck in neutral for a long time, time to put the program in drive. I'm not saying we didn't drag our feet on athletics but we can't compare ourselves to most of the schools you listed. Liberty built-up their billion dollar endowment and enormous operating revenue by Jerry Falwell stealing in the name of the Lawd. UNC Charlotte had Hugh McCol (CEO Bank of America) and Jerry Richardson (Carolina Panthers owner) and they had the home phone number of lots of rich people. And Campbell University is part of the Connon Mill family. Those 3 institutions had some deep pockets underwriting their athletic programs.
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jbrob
Official BDF member
Posts: 1,190
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Post by jbrob on Dec 5, 2023 13:40:13 GMT -5
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Post by aggie2039 on Apr 29, 2024 9:26:41 GMT -5
This sounds familiar!!! -------------------------------------------- Assanis: Conference USA move to help university get in front of enrollment’s “demographic cliff” Assanis stresses his belief that ascending to CUSA on the football field and in other sports will open the door to the university recruiting not just more student-athletes, but also a greater pool of all students in general. “It allows us to recruit students to the university from many more regions of the country, not just from the Northeast, where we’re facing a demographic cliff, but literally from all over the U.S.,” Assanis said Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center. “Florida, Texas, other centers of growing population with underrepresented communities, different socioeconomic backgrounds.” “Basically, with this elevation of our athletics and our student-athletes, who are obviously students first, it gives us an opportunity to tell the UD story to so many people across the United States,” Assanis said. Delaware is set to diversify its regional brand awareness through CUSA membership as the higher education landscape grapples with the potentially shrinking pool of college students that follows from declining U.S. birth rates since the 2008 recession. For any concern of culture shock or an unnatural fit, there is the more apparently pressing interest of widening the university’s scope and visibility. “It expands our reach to tell people about our excellent academic programs,” Assanis said. “Reach every home and expose our groundbreaking research, our outstanding faculty and staff and above all, our amazing students, I’ve been saying all along.” udreview.com/assanis-conference-usa-move-to-help-university-get-in-front-of-enrollments-demographic-cliff/
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Post by AggiePride on May 11, 2024 10:05:26 GMT -5
Weren’t we on the short list?
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Post by westcoastaggie on May 11, 2024 16:24:06 GMT -5
Weren’t we on the short list? Richmond is.
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