UNC Big Sky Story

[89rabbit]

The Greeley Tribune wrote a story about UNC's budget and how it stacked up with the rest of the Big Sky. It is a pretty good read, here is a link, and some highlights:

http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/2005 ... /107100036

Bears hope to stack up in Big Sky

Nate Miller, (Bio) miller@greeleytrib.com
July 10, 2005

GREELEY -- Sitting in the sticky summer heat of the University of Northern Colorado men's basketball locker room, Matt Kline can feel the expectations of the Bears' move to Division I and into the Big Sky conference.

"We know that we are on the forefront of going D-I, so it puts pressure on us," the junior guard said. "But what college athlete doesn't play under pressure?"

The pressure will increase when the Bears try to compete with better-funded schools. Numbers show if UNC were to begin Big Sky play today, it would be the conference's worst-funded program. In fiscal year 2003-2004, UNC spent $4.4 million on its athletic programs, $821,868 less than Sacrament State, the conference's worst-funded department, according to official reports filed with the government. Complete information for the 2004-05 fiscal year isn't available until October when schools submit their reports.

Sacramento State struggled on the playing field last year, finishing in second-to-last place in the eight-member conference at 2-5 in football and in fourth place in men's basketball. Its only high-profile success came in women's volleyball, in which the Hornets finished 11-3 in second place.

However, UNC athletic director Jay Hinrichs has confidence the university will be financially competitive when it begins Big Sky play.

"By '07-08, I would like to have the average of the Big Sky budgets," he said. . . .

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

When Kline first came to UNC two years ago, he felt as if he was playing basketball at a big high school.

"My freshman year, I didn't feel like a D-I athlete," he said.

Playing against teams such as Syracuse and Oklahoma changed that.

"You don't see a lot of 7-footers playing in D-II," he said. "Playing D-I, you see them almost every night."

Despite UNC's sluggish season, finishing 8-21 as a Division I independent, Kline found a reason to be encouraged when the Bears played Big Sky Conference member Montana State in Bozemon, Mont. The Bobcats men's basketball program outspent UNC by $795,916 but won only 87-75.

"Their gym was nice, but I wouldn't say it was like a nice D-I gym," he said. "I'm confident going into that conference knowing that right at the start we can be a contender."

Hinrichs wouldn't have it any other way.

"The entire athletic department, as well as the individual teams, expect to compete," he said. "If you went into it unprepared, you might hit a bump in the road. We're not going to do that."

Rasmuson said he thinks UNC has the right people in place to be successful. . . .



P.S. As a point of reference SDSU's '04-'05 athletic budget, as reported in the 2004-'05 annual report, was $6.5 million and will go up as we add additional scholarships and the Women's Sport of Equestrian this fall.

[SonomaCat]

The fact that the player used the term "gym" to describe the facility is kind of funny.

[PapaG]

The fact that the player used the term "gym" to describe the facility is kind of funny.

I'm guessing he would think UNC could compete in the Pac-10 (Mac Court/Hec Ed) and the ACC (Cameron Indoor) immediately as well if he is going to base how the gym looks as the measuring stick.

And keep him away from EWU. He'd probably think UNC should be the favorite based on that eyesore.