A&T's Eaves gets extension

[krazykev]

Staff report
N.C. A&T is drafting a new three-year contract for men’s basketball coach Jerry Eaves, both parties confirmed Thursday.

Eaves, credited for gradually rebuilding a program that won one game in the year before his arrival, has his fourth team in the middle of the MEAC standings at 4-3. The Aggies, 8-11 overall, won at SMU last month to break a losing streak in non-conference road games that dated to 1999.

Eaves, 23-83 overall, said his attorneys expect to see the new contract by early next week. Approval on both ends is considered a formality. The university’s board of trustees is expected to take up the matter in its Feb. 15 meeting.

[dj98]

He has earned it!!!!!!!!!!!

[numberonebrave]

The season is not over

[Aggie One]

Wise decision. It took a while with all the past history of being down for so long under Hunter but we're now finally moving in the right direction under Eaves.

[Aggie77]

numberonebrave said:

The season is not over

The season is not over, but he deserves the chance to show he can keep building the program.

[Bornthrilla]

Serious question: If this message board wasn't here do you still think Todd would have decided to give him an extension right now?

[DECKS]

I probably would have preferred to wait until after the MEAC tourney but if she needed to do this now to keep him then I'm all for it.

[Maxell]

It's the right thing to do. He has to be able to recruit with some level of predictability, particularly given our recent history.

[hawkeye]

Great News for the bball program!! Given the situation Eaves came into, he has done a fantastic job of regaining some of the program's respectability. Remember the program was in total disarray when he arrived. He had to build it from the foundation up. Excitement is back for the program and Eaves is responsible for that.

Along with the contract extension for Eaves, we gotta release a few more dollars for the bball recruiting budget. I don't want to hear we ain't got it because we find money to do other things. Besides this is an investment that will pay for itself and then some.

[B]

A&T offers Eaves three-year contract


By Rob Daniels
Staff Writer


GREENSBORO -- N.C. A&T appears to be poised to seek continuity in its men's basketball program after nearly a decade of instability. Coach Jerry Eaves said Thursday he has been offered a new three-year contract and hopes to have the deal formalized soon.

The agreement would succeed the current contract, which is to expire after this season, the coach's fourth on the job. While declining to discuss specifics, Eaves said the most important features of the new agreement pertain to the program's competitive position rather than to his compensation, which is expected to remain less than $100,000 annually.

"It's obviously getting better, and I think consistency and allowing a person to do their thing and get their system in, you have to do that," athletics director Dee Todd said. "We're showing him that we support him and that we like the direction the program is going in."

Scheduling and program budget are among the issues likely to be addressed in the contract, which will run through the 2009-10 season.

Eaves inherited perhaps the nation's worst Division I team when he took over in 2003 and has presided over a gradual climb to relevance in the MEAC.

The Aggies have gone from three league wins in 2004 to five in 2005 and six last season. At 4-3, A&T is over .500 in conference play at this stage of the season for the first time since 2002.

When they won at SMU last month, the Aggies broke a 46-game losing streak on the home courts of non-MEAC Division I teams. They also won three straight MEAC road games for the first time since 2002.

A&T has done it this season without the players Eaves presumed would be his top two scorers, Sean Booker and Demetrious Guions, both of whom were disqualified for academic reasons. While that attrition hurt, it is not symptomatic; most of the players who have completed their eligibility under Eaves' direction have graduated.

If Eaves, who turns 48 next month, remains on the job through the life of the pending contract, he will have the longest tenure of any Aggies coach since the legendary Don Corbett. Jeff Capel II, Roy Thomas and Curtis Hunter have run the program with varying levels of success since Corbett was forced out in 1993 after a 14-year tenure that included seven consecutive MEAC championships.

Eaves said his attorneys expect to receive the new contract by early next week. Barring unforeseen setbacks, the university's Board of Trustees is expected to approve the deal when it next meets Feb. 21.

Contact Rob Daniels at 373-7028 or [e-mail]

I wonder how they will address program budget. Hopefully he will be able to get even better recruits.

[aggiejazz]

Men's basketball is the second most important sports program at A&T (and at most colleges) with football being the first. Men's basketball is currently the only sports program at A&T that is profitable. It also looks to be winner inside the MEAC this year and the coming years.

Even though football has the largest following it is nearly impossible for a Division IAA program to make a profit and it has the largest budget. Winning football games only reduces your financial loses and losing all or nearly all of your football games doubles and triples your financial loses.

When you have a coach that is running a program that puts people in the seats and is virtually invisible to the athletic department's bottom line or better yet adds to the bottom line then you do everything you can to keep that coach.

[Aggie Monster]

I have to see some numbers saying that D1AA football is not profitable? That's one of the strangest statements I've ever heard. A&T's program not being profitable? Until late they have always had decent records and crowds. If you have numbers please share?

[4XLAGGIE]

raleighaggie said:

I have to see some numbers saying that D1AA football is not profitable? That's one of the strangest statements I've ever heard. A&T's program not being profitable? Until late they have always had decent records and crowds. If you have numbers please share?

It's a safe bet to say that when you tally the costs of running a football program against gate receipts and guarantee games, you are not going to make money.

[Bornthrilla]

4XL, was bluedeathvalley.com partly the reason why Eaves got his extension now rather than after the season?

[Aggie Monster]

Whatever, until I see actual numbers on that. Especially with A&T, I cant imagine they aren't making ANY money.