2K stipend

[Haha]

Looks like the Valley is going to let each school choose to pay or not. Below is from todays Wichita Eagle.

New money — The NCAA legislation that will allow schools to pay athletes on full scholarship up to $2,000 a year for living expenses isn't causing consternation at WSU.
The NCAA will allow conferences to decide if their schools participate. The MVC is allowing schools to decide on their own. The money is intended to help athletes pay for the "full cost of attendance" to college, beyond what is paid for by the scholarship, room and board and books. An athlete could use that money for travel, clothes or movie tickets, for example.
Athletic director Eric Sexton said the decision came easily at WSU. To not offer the money could be used against Shocker coaches in recruiting. Sexton doesn't want to send his coaches into a recruiting battle at a disadvantage.
"We follow the bylaws and fund our scholarships to the level we are allowed to," Sexton said. "We want to be in a position where we give our coaches and our sport programs the best opportunity to compete."
Sexton estimates WSU will budget around $120,000 for the allowance. It will have around 58 athletes on full scholarships in men's (13) and women's basketball (15), volleyball (12) and women's tennis (8). WSU's other sports, all of which generally hand out partial scholarships, will account for 10 more full rides. For example, most track or baseball athletes are on partial scholarships. Coaches can, in rare cases, award a full ride.
Finding $120,000 isn't easy. At some MVC schools, especially the small, private ones, athletic directors are thinking hard about the pros and cons. WSU is in better financial shape than some of those schools, but it's still an addition to the budget.
"We go fund raise and fund raise," Sexton said. "We should be trying to provide the best experience and best support we can within the NCAA rules."
At Bradley, athletic director Michael Cross told the Peoria Journal Star his school is weighing the stipend. Bradley has around 50 full-scholarship athletes.
"Institutions are going to have to come to grips with what it means for them," Cross said. "There a lot of schools that are struggling with budgets, not just athletic budgets. It's going to be tough to justify giving additional aid to athletes."


Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/11/06/209189 ... z1cvi4mxpj

[Aargh]

The disparity in athletic department budgets and the ability to raise money has been discussed many times. Many posters thought those concerns were irrelevant. They just became relevant.

[MVCfans]

Athletic director Eric Sexton said the decision came easily at WSU. To not offer the money could be used against Shocker coaches in recruiting. Sexton doesn't want to send his coaches into a recruiting battle at a disadvantage.

I agree with Sexton on this. I hope all MVC teams follow suit.

[MoValley John]

The disparity in athletic department budgets and the ability to raise money has been discussed many times. Many posters thought those concerns were irrelevant. They just became relevant.

I have spoken at length on Valley schools raising and spending more money. Many posters thought I was full of it. I was told small budgets and barely getting by could be just as successful as spending a lot. I was told there was no need to increase funding and budgets. Now we are faced with an immediate increase in the cost of being competitive. I have said time after time that money in college athletics is out of whack, but if you want to compete, you have to behave like the big boys. The price of poker just went up.

[MoValley John]

Athletic director Eric Sexton said the decision came easily at WSU. To not offer the money could be used against Shocker coaches in recruiting. Sexton doesn't want to send his coaches into a recruiting battle at a disadvantage.

I agree with Sexton on this. I hope all MVC teams follow suit.

This needs to absolutely happen. And it needs to happen now.

[BirdmanBB]

http://eye-on-college-basketball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/26283066/33104639

MAAC passes the $2K stipend, but interestingly, it is only for men's and women's basketball and it is up to the individual schools for all other sports. The valley should have done something like this and let the football schools figure out how they are going to do it for football and then a women's sport(s) to match.

[Coogles]

http://eye-on-college-basketball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/26283066/33104639

MAAC passes the $2K stipend, but interestingly, it is only for men's and women's basketball and it is up to the individual schools for all other sports. The valley should have done something like this and let the football schools figure out how they are going to do it for football and then a women's sport(s) to match.

The Horizon League did the same. Men's and women's basketball are the flagship sports of these leagues. Seems wise to put resources there first and move on to others sports as the budget allows. That's "only" $52,000.00 per year for both basketball teams, assuming both are using the full 13 scholarships.

http://horizonleague.org/blog/horizon-l ... olicy.html

“Our operating regulations reflect our long-time League-wide philosophy of providing NCAA-determined maximum scholarship amounts in the sports of men’s and women’s basketball programs,” said Commissioner Jon LeCrone. “This vote by our athletic directors supports the continuation of that strategy which has a record of success.”

LeCrone said the decision to add $2,000 to full scholarships in other sports will be left to the individual institutions.

[Red]

What's the delay for the Valley commenting on this? Everyone either commits to this now or start looking for a new conference.

[Haha]

What's the delay for the Valley commenting on this? Everyone either commits to this now or start looking for a new conference.

Who cares if they comment on it. They have already decided to allow the each school to make it's own choice.

[DoubleJayAlum]

What's the delay for the Valley commenting on this? Everyone either commits to this now or start looking for a new conference.

Who cares if they comment on it. They have already decided to allow the each school to make it's own choice.

I don't give a rip about comments, but I would have liked to see a stronger position taken by the conference.

By leaving it up to each individual school, I suspect most of them will pass on paying the funds, causing those teams to gradually fall farther and farther behind. Ultimately, that will hurt everyone as the conference RPI starts to tumble.

I didn't realize a conference could choose to have the rule only apply in hoops. Since that is the case, the MVC should pass it for hoops only. If they want to give schools the option of doing it in other sports (baseball, soccer, volleyball, etc.), that would be okay with me as there are few baseballers or soccer players that get full rides anyway. I also don't think FB is relevant in this discussion as the MVFC, despite the similarity in name, is a completely different conference.