Nicholls AD: School Won't Drop Athletics, Classification

[TexasTerror]

School operates at the minimum for sport sponsorships. Not sure about scholarships and how short they are compared to the maximum allowed. We'll see how devastating the cuts are in Louisiana, because I am not sure anyone truly has an idea or a true grasp of how it will impact higher education in the state, let alone the athletic side of things...


If the 35 percent budget cuts occur, Nicholls athletics would suffer, but not drastically, Nicholls athletic director, Rob Bernardi said.

"Like the president said in his speech the other day, we're going to have athletics," Bernardi said. "This is not going to be a junior college, and we're going to be a Division I institution. While there may be some cuts, I don't expect us dropping sports or dropping classifications."

Bernardi isn't sure how the cuts would affect the department, but he said he is reluctant to think that Nicholls would drop any sports.

Credit: Nicholls Worth (http://media.www.thenichollsworth.com/media/storage/paper262/news/2010/10/07/Sports/Bernardi.Says.cuts.Wont.Eliminate.Athletics-3940986.shtml)

For more discussion on the Louisiana financial situation - visit the thread regarding Louisiana schools facing more budget problems (http://anygivensaturday.com/showthread.php?58721-Louisiana-schools-facing-more-budget-problems)

[Bogus Megapardus]

What would happen if the state-run institutions went to Division II, like the are in Pennsylvania? Pennsylvania has 15 state-run Division II universities, many of which play some really good football with a solid fan base. I still never understood why everything in Louisiana (and Mississippi) has to be Division I.

[wr70beh]

What would happen if the state-run institutions went to Division II, like the are in Pennsylvania? Pennsylvania has 15 state-run Division II universities, many of which play some really good football with a solid fan base. I still never understood why everything in Louisiana (and Mississippi) has to be Division I.

I agree. Wisconsin has 9 state-run universities out of 12 that play at the D3 level.

[TexasTerror]

The institutional support is so critical to many of the Louisiana athletic departments.

In fact, the only schools in the state that is planning on remaining Division I that receives none is LSU. Southern does not receive much financial support from its school - but most other schools including all the ones in the SLC (plus Grambling) receive 40-60% of their budget (as of 2008-09) from direct financial support from the school.

With the cuts to the universities, can these schools continue their general fund support? Not sure.


What would happen if the state-run institutions went to Division II, like the are in Pennsylvania? Pennsylvania has 15 state-run Division II universities, many of which play some really good football with a solid fan base. I still never understood why everything in Louisiana (and Mississippi) has to be Division I.

Only one state-run institution is an NCAA member at a non-Div I level (UNO - transitioning to Div III). The other state institutions that are not Division I are Southern-New Orleans (SUNO) which is NAIA, in addition to LSU-Alexandria and LSU-Shreveport, which are also NAIA.

Centenary also recently announced a move to Division III and found a home in the American Southwest. There are a few NAIAs around the state amongst the private schools including Dillard, Xavier and Loyola in New Orleans.

[MplsBison]

I agree. Wisconsin has 9 state-run universities out of 12 that play at the D3 level.

Which is BS, IMO.

DIII should be for small private schools only. No public school should be allowed to play DIII.

[TexasTerror]

DIII should be for small private schools only. No public school should be allowed to play DIII.

Not all public schools have tons of students to draw from in order to support their athletic program at a level conducive to competing at the Division II level. Same goes for Division I for that matter. Not all the schools at this level of competition should necessarily be here...

[Bogus Megapardus]

DIII should be for small private schools only. No public school should be allowed to play DIII.

I'm pretty sure I want to know the logic behind this. The true student-athlete who wants to play lacrosse for UMass-Dartmouth or Salisbury State or the College of New Jersey can't choose to do so any longer, for example. They have to pay full tuition at an expensive private institution instead. Fascinating proposal.

[msusig]

Not all public schools have tons of students to draw from in order to support their athletic program at a level conducive to competing at the Division II level. Same goes for Division I for that matter. Not all the schools at this level of competition should necessarily be here...

Why are you so worried about the financial problems of Louisiana universities? We will be fine.

[TexasTerror]

Why are you so worried about the financial problems of Louisiana universities? We will be fine.

I live in Louisiana... I may be a Sam Houston State alum and a Houston, Texas native - but I have lived in New Orleans since pre-Katrina, am closing on a house in the next 45 days and will soon have several hundred thousand dollars invested in staying put in Louisiana for a long time.

My wife and I love it here. Education is important as not only is higher education at risk, but so is the public education system for our future child(ren). My wife is a teacher and how the education scene handles the budgetary changes impacts her goals as well...

[BlueHenSinfonian]

I'm pretty sure I want to know the logic behind this. The true student-athlete who wants to play lacrosse for UMass-Dartmouth or Salisbury State or the College of New Jersey can't choose to do so any longer, for example. They have to pay full tuition at an expensive private institution instead. Fascinating proposal.

Maybe a better question is if Lacrosse (or other non revenue sports like rowing, golf, wrestling, or track and field) should be scholarship at all. The argument can be made for football, basketball, and perhaps baseball scholarships because a successful program can bring in more to the university than the expenditures, or at the very least do a lot for the visibility of the school to bring in potential new students. Apart from the big three sports (and perhaps volleyball and softball and softball for women's sports to help even out the expenses for Title IX reasons) does it make sense for universities to offer athletic scholarships?

I'm not saying that the teams shouldn't be fielded, but whats wrong with offering only academic (or academic related special skill related to the major, such as music performance) and need based aid to potential recruits for other sports?

I could be wrong, I know lacrosse is big at certain schools, but the NCAA doesn't seem to have attendance data on any of it, and though I'm aware Delaware fielded a lacrosse team, I don't personally know anyone who ever mentioned attending a game. Do hockey, lacrosse, track and field, etc, make economic sense for certain institutions? Is Johns Hopkins better off being able to offer a potential students a lacrosse scholarship if they couldn't offer that same student an academic scholarship?

[TexasTerror]

Can we revert the conversation back to the original subject?

I know MplsBison likes to divert conversations, but the original subject is an important one. Losing FCS schools - whether for drop down or reclassification - is very critical to the future alignment of the conferences and the classification.

[JSU02]

Can we revert the conversation back to the original subject?

I know MplsBison likes to divert conversations, but the original subject is an important one. Losing FCS schools - whether for drop down or reclassification - is very critical to the future alignment of the conferences and the classification.

That idea of a Bayou conference (sans LSU of course) is very interesting, and would likely save a lot of money. Is it only a rumor or have any articles been written about it?

[TexasTerror]

That idea of a Bayou conference (sans LSU of course) is very interesting, and would likely save a lot of money. Is it only a rumor or have any articles been written about it?

Only a rumor...

Too many schools that feel entitled to something and want no business being associated with the others (i.e. ULL/McNeese & La Tech/ULM probably being at the forefront of that list)... doubt enough schools in this state have the true desire to want to make that work!