Ostensibly Hoops

[eCat]

At what point does the effort to save Carolina Basketball at the expense of students - both in terms of education integrity and funding pisses off enough people that they throw the whole lot out?

-------------------

At unc, abdicating the obligations of leadership in scandal

When we spend millions on the nation’s most expensive lawyers and corporate consultants, we deploy funds that could have supported impoverished carolina Covenant students, or increased skimpy graduate student stipends, or raised the salaries of maintenance workers

So enough with the “it’s only private money” charade

Like many, I was distressed, though not surprised, that unc-CH has spent north of $10 million on public relations consultants and lawyers to deal with our academic and athletic scandals. I suppose this is what the aspiration to “run the university like a business” looks like.

Over $5 million went to Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. The folks at Skadden, Arps got a couple million more. We paid $1.3 million to Bond, Schoeneck & King; another million to Baker, Tilly. Almost double that amount went to Edelman, a giant PR outfit, offering expertise on “corporate reputation management.” FleishmanHillard raked in almost $400,000. You’d think the Old Well had relocated to Madison Avenue.

High-dollar outside investigators were reportedly necessary because, after years of stonewalling and false assurance, no one would believe an analysis conducted by the administration. A campus public relations officer explained, enthusiastically, that the millions to Edelman were spent to “support our management of media relations, content creation and internal communication.” FleishmanHillard’s website boasts it is “the most complete communications agency in the world, capable of reaching any audience, with any message, through any channel.” Praise the Lord. The new carolina Way revealed.

There are, I suppose, millions of things that could be said of this. I limit myself to two.

First, at the end of every story about unc’s breathtaking expenditures, the same concluding assurance appears. “Officials say that none of these legal and public relations bills are paid for by tuition or state appropriations.” The money comes from the private unc Foundation. Not to worry.

This is, at best, only half the story. Much money given to the university is designated for a specific purpose – to create scholarships for needy students, to build new classroom facilities, to support professorships in the arts, and the like.

The dollars used to pay PR flacks and branding specialists, on the other hand, must come from undesignated gifts. Surely no donor has established a fund to help the chancellor decide and articulate what the university stands for. I’m guessing it never before would have been thought necessary.

When we spend $10 million or $15 million on the nation’s most expensive lawyers and corporate consultants, we deploy funds that could have supported impoverished carolina Covenant students, or increased skimpy graduate student stipends, or raised the salaries of maintenance workers. I’ve never heard the university admit this. So enough with the “it’s only private money” charade.

Second, when did we decide to routinely outsource the obligations of leadership? Chapel Hill has a very robust legion of well-provided for administrators. We have a chancellor and a provost. Each has a bountiful array of associates. They are supported by a hefty public relations team and a first-rate group of lawyers.

Still, these days, whenever we face a significant challenge, we assume the need to hire a bevy of the nation’s highest-paid consultants to teach us how to behave like a decent institution. Having abdicated the obligations of leadership, we seem to think wisdom, character and savvy can be purchased. It’s not working.

Our greatest chancellor, William B. Aycock, died a few months ago. Dealing with crises like the Dixie Classic and the Speaker Ban, Aycock saw his share of trouble. Still, he never considered hiring “the most complete communications agency in the world.”

Thinking of Aycock, it’s easy to envision two distinct approaches to leadership and problem solving. In the first, decision-makers sit around a huge table in South Building. There is a chancellor and her cadre of assistants. And then a provost and his sizable group. Add to that our internal public relations team. And our external PR posse. Then there are internal and external groups of lawyers. As I said, it’s a big table.

They work for days, or weeks, responding to a crisis. Eventually a decision is made, and the group produces a statement to be issued by the chancellor. The final product is so chockablock with doublespeak that faculty members jokingly circulate email translations for the bureaucratically unschooled.

In the other model, Aycock returns to his campus office late in the evening after having had dinner with his family. He has consulted with university officials throughout the day. Now he sits behind his desk, a small lamp providing illumination. He makes the toughest decisions. And with pen and yellow legal pad, he explains them to the university community and to the people of North carolina.

The first model, of course, costs millions. The second, a relative pittance. But the cheap route would outperform the big boys every time.

[eCat]

btw, SEC basketball is having a pretty OOC season

A&M showing some strength, and the Tide just knocked off Notre Dame.

I suspect Auburn and South Carolina will be improved this year , and LSU may or may not do much but the Simmons kid is going to keep them in the spotlight.

[AlabamAlum]

I loved the back-to-back wins vs ND and Wichita State. We haven't done anything like that in about 10 years.

[eCat]

I'm not a fan of Greg Marshall - but pro or con -he is a great example of the vetting process of coaching to me

Its certainly an accomplishment to put together a team that wins and goes on a deep tourney run - but the real question is did he just kind of luck into that like Gillispie did . You see these up and coming coaches treated like what they are doing is some consistent pattern with only 3 or 4 years under their belt of relative success.

Shaka Smart is another example -although coaching at Texas isn't a "premiere" coaching job - there are some fans that say Marshall or Smart should be guys considered at top level basketball schools like UNC or Syracuse - heck, even UK fans were touting Marshall as a replacement for Cal

I just shake my head at their logic - especially after our learning experience with Gillispie.

So back to Marshall - after he loses the remainder of those players from that juggernaut team of his, will he have the ability to retool - like a Brad Stevens at Butler or will he just be a one hit wonder who muddles in mediocrity and didn't leverage his early success into a bigger job?

[AlabamAlum]

I like Marshall. Hell, I was touting him when he was at Winthrop.

His last 5 seasons' wins: 25, 29, 27, 30, 35, and 30. He's won his conference 3 of the last 4 years and while the Missouri Valley isn't the ACC, it's not a bad conference. I also id loyal. He was at Winthrop for 10 seasons (and turned down jobs), before going to Wichita State (where he is turning down other jobs).

[eCat]

I like Marshall. Hell, I was touting him when he was at Winthrop.

His last 5 seasons' wins: 25, 29, 27, 30, 35, and 30. He's won his conference 3 of the last 4 years and while the Missouri Valley isn't the ACC, it's not a bad conference. I also id loyal. He was at Winthrop for 10 seasons (and turned down jobs), before going to Wichita State (where he is turning down other jobs).

Those are valid points, and if I were a fan of a program like Texas - I'd love to get Marshall

but for a "basketball " school like the top 6 or 7 in the country, Marshall has done nothing that merits consideration IMO, and neither has Shaka Smart.

For me the bare minimum would be to assemble a final four team on your own, and preferably do it twice in an 8 year period. Also, some NBA experience would be nice.

Too many fans think that bringing in a good coach to a basketball program with his history, amenities and money turns them into an elite coach - and that isn't the case.

A Billy Gillispie or Matt Doherty versus John Calipari and Roy Williams.

IMO, there are only 2 coaches I'd consider for an elite program if they are available right now and that would be Billy Donovan and Brad Stevens

When a program is considering the cost of getting those guys in , the cost of an incentive laden contract is probably cheaper than the long term cost of rolling the dice with a high probability of failure Marshall level coach for $2.3m a year - failure being defined as no final fours/no conference championships/no major wins over a rival - while at the same time seeing comparable schools fill the void that your program is creating.

[AlabamAlum]

As a fan of Alabama, we would have to get better to be like Texas in basketball.

[eCat]

As a fan of Alabama, we would have to get better to be like Texas in basketball.

looks like you are on your way with Avery.

I like the guy. I'm not sure what I thought about the hire at the time, but he's already brought an excitement back to Bama basketball that has been pretty rare over the years.

[AlabamAlum]

I like him. This year will be rough, but I hope it pays off in the coming years.

[crashcourse]

may pay off this year

.500 in conference should get you to the dance after beating two ranked teams

always liked avery too reminds me of a basketball version of tony dungy

[aTm]

Marshall is the real deal. Not an example of an up and comer needing vetting IMO. Anybody that finally gets him away from Wichita is probably winning national titles (and particularly because he appears to be discerning chooser of good jobs while turning down bad ones as well)

[aTm]

What's the list of coaches who won 398+ games in their 1st 17 years. I bet the list is pretty damn short, and he did already go to a final four.

[eCat]

I think he's a jerk

[AlabamAlum]

lol

[crotch]

Kentucky vs. Illinois State Highlights.....

[youtube]4fz5bSPk3Ys[/youtube]





[img2]http://kentuckysportsradio.com/wp-conte ... 00x776.jpg[/img2]

[Saint]

Seriously? Isn't this the same as spending money on coaches' salaries and everything else related to high-revenue sports? Yes, it is. That money is never going to be "deployed" for needy students because it's given by rich assholes who don't care about needy students. They only care about winning games, whether it's in Chapel Hill or Lexington or Tuscaloosa or any major university with a successful football or men's basketball program.

Not sure who wrote that but, damn, at least try to bring forth an innovative perspective.

At what point does the effort to save Carolina Basketball at the expense of students - both in terms of education integrity and funding pisses off enough people that they throw the whole lot out?

-------------------

At unc, abdicating the obligations of leadership in scandal

When we spend millions on the nation’s most expensive lawyers and corporate consultants, we deploy funds that could have supported impoverished carolina Covenant students, or increased skimpy graduate student stipends, or raised the salaries of maintenance workers

So enough with the “it’s only private money” charade

Like many, I was distressed, though not surprised, that unc-CH has spent north of $10 million on public relations consultants and lawyers to deal with our academic and athletic scandals. I suppose this is what the aspiration to “run the university like a business” looks like.

Over $5 million went to Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. The folks at Skadden, Arps got a couple million more. We paid $1.3 million to Bond, Schoeneck & King; another million to Baker, Tilly. Almost double that amount went to Edelman, a giant PR outfit, offering expertise on “corporate reputation management.” FleishmanHillard raked in almost $400,000. You’d think the Old Well had relocated to Madison Avenue.

High-dollar outside investigators were reportedly necessary because, after years of stonewalling and false assurance, no one would believe an analysis conducted by the administration. A campus public relations officer explained, enthusiastically, that the millions to Edelman were spent to “support our management of media relations, content creation and internal communication.” FleishmanHillard’s website boasts it is “the most complete communications agency in the world, capable of reaching any audience, with any message, through any channel.” Praise the Lord. The new carolina Way revealed.

There are, I suppose, millions of things that could be said of this. I limit myself to two.

First, at the end of every story about unc’s breathtaking expenditures, the same concluding assurance appears. “Officials say that none of these legal and public relations bills are paid for by tuition or state appropriations.” The money comes from the private unc Foundation. Not to worry.

This is, at best, only half the story. Much money given to the university is designated for a specific purpose – to create scholarships for needy students, to build new classroom facilities, to support professorships in the arts, and the like.

The dollars used to pay PR flacks and branding specialists, on the other hand, must come from undesignated gifts. Surely no donor has established a fund to help the chancellor decide and articulate what the university stands for. I’m guessing it never before would have been thought necessary.

When we spend $10 million or $15 million on the nation’s most expensive lawyers and corporate consultants, we deploy funds that could have supported impoverished carolina Covenant students, or increased skimpy graduate student stipends, or raised the salaries of maintenance workers. I’ve never heard the university admit this. So enough with the “it’s only private money” charade.

Second, when did we decide to routinely outsource the obligations of leadership? Chapel Hill has a very robust legion of well-provided for administrators. We have a chancellor and a provost. Each has a bountiful array of associates. They are supported by a hefty public relations team and a first-rate group of lawyers.

Still, these days, whenever we face a significant challenge, we assume the need to hire a bevy of the nation’s highest-paid consultants to teach us how to behave like a decent institution. Having abdicated the obligations of leadership, we seem to think wisdom, character and savvy can be purchased. It’s not working.

Our greatest chancellor, William B. Aycock, died a few months ago. Dealing with crises like the Dixie Classic and the Speaker Ban, Aycock saw his share of trouble. Still, he never considered hiring “the most complete communications agency in the world.”

Thinking of Aycock, it’s easy to envision two distinct approaches to leadership and problem solving. In the first, decision-makers sit around a huge table in South Building. There is a chancellor and her cadre of assistants. And then a provost and his sizable group. Add to that our internal public relations team. And our external PR posse. Then there are internal and external groups of lawyers. As I said, it’s a big table.

They work for days, or weeks, responding to a crisis. Eventually a decision is made, and the group produces a statement to be issued by the chancellor. The final product is so chockablock with doublespeak that faculty members jokingly circulate email translations for the bureaucratically unschooled.

In the other model, Aycock returns to his campus office late in the evening after having had dinner with his family. He has consulted with university officials throughout the day. Now he sits behind his desk, a small lamp providing illumination. He makes the toughest decisions. And with pen and yellow legal pad, he explains them to the university community and to the people of North carolina.

The first model, of course, costs millions. The second, a relative pittance. But the cheap route would outperform the big boys every time.

[eCat]

Monmouth Hawks having fun

[youtube]bywqDdSZHfw[/youtube]

[eCat]

you really think that money is solely coming from the athletics revenue fund?

[goldenbear]

Maryland and UNC scoring at will to start 2nd half UNC up 8, Turgeon goes 1-3-1 gets two stops and now it is a tie game.

Roy sticks with Man and Maryland gets open look after look

[goldenbear]

Britt jsut gotten broken down mix it up Roy stopp playing man all the time