Previous Mason AD talk

[mkaufman1]

I will turn this into the "Welcome" thread when its announced. But for now, post all your grievances/opinions about what the new AD hopefully will be looking to do. I also merged some posts into this thread already.

 

[TweederGMU]

Great event. Good turnout for a Monday after Easter holiday. Much of the old Final Four crew was there and was really cool to see them present Tony with a framed large pic of them from the Final Four on stage.

The biggest thing we all need to realize and embrace is Tony has the love and support of his old teammates and players and this can weigh in heavy among many different areas moving forward. We need to rally around him and this community and help him build. And this all boils down to publicity and funds. We need to get our NIL up by leaps and bounds to be and stay competitive. This comes down to addressing many areas of need in the funding and development areas in the AD.... we need to strike fast and really hit up corporate donors and sponsors as we will either sink or swim if this is not corrected in the net 2-3 years. We have to attack these areas and bring in passionate people, not just people who have a career in these areas, but people with energy and ideas to go after these donors.

Not to mention the alumni who don't give or hardly attend anything anymore. Time is now to reach out to them and get them re-engaged. We have thousands and thousands of alumni in our area that are just sitting on the sidelines. Time is now to put some attention to these peeps.

Darrell Green was also there and curious to see what capacity he is still involved with at Mason for the time being. We could really use his connections even if he wants to be apart of Mason nation in some format.

The team was really engaged at the event and seem to be ready to get to work. Let's Finnng GOOOOOO!

 

[EXpatriot13]

Jai Lewis endorsed her…

Keep in mind that the vision for the university comes from the president. It’s the AD’s job to execute the vision.

No idea if she would make a good AD, by the way.

We need someone to come in and completely reimagine how we approach athletics.

Someone that can establish relationships with corporate donors, develop new revenue streams via traditional and non traditional sponsorships, and showcase the need for incremental commitment from the university to allow for our athletic programs to compete in the A10 and nationally.

We have high school level soccer and baseball facilities. We have a basketball facility plan that’s been collecting dust for 6 years.

If we hire someone who has been part of our AD for 20 years to fix these problems…yikes.

We should start an AD thread (if there isn’t one already) so this doesn’t become a vibe killer in the TS thread.

 

[jessej]

Mason is not in a Power 5 confernce sharing its athletic prestige with a football program.

So does the new AD understand that and in what ways will it manifest in their leadership?

From a structural/flow chart perspective is the Mason Athletic Department set up in a way that is consistent with the changing nature of college athletics - NIL, Transfer Portal, 1 potential revenue sport - Men's BBall and the rest are money losers

 

[gmujim92]

We need someone to come in and completely reimagine how we approach athletics.

Someone that can establish relationships with corporate donors, develop new revenue streams via traditional and non traditional sponsorships, and showcase the need for incremental commitment from the university to allow for our athletic programs to compete in the A10 and nationally.

We have high school level soccer and baseball facilities. We have a basketball facility plan that’s been collecting dust for 6 years.

If we hire someone who has been part of our AD for 20 years to fix these problems…yikes.

We should start an AD thread (if there isn’t one already) so this doesn’t become a vibe killer in the TS thread.

Agreed, 90% of the AD’s job at P6 schools is fundraising and Mason needs to adopt that model even if on a much smaller scale. Bring in a rainmaker to engage with the lucrative NoVa corporate base and reconnect with alums, leading to significantly increased donations to both the PC and the collective.

Nena seems like a great person to keep on staff in some leadership role because of her relationships with the coaches and athletes, but we must hire somebody who has proven adept at getting into people’s wallets.

 

[gmutom]

…but we must hire somebody who has proven adept at getting into people’s wallets.

Cornelius?

 

[mkaufman1]

Cornelius?

I see what you did to get a (credit card) charge out of this crowd.

If I recall, Brad did do a good chunk of fundraising at Jacksonville.

Whether he did it because it was easier, less Mason factors, I have no idea. But I remember reading that he was good at it.

https://alumni.gmu.edu/s/1564/GID2/16/interior.aspx?sid=1564&gid=2&calcid=1025&calpgid=61&pgid=868&crid=0

 

[gmujim92]

I see what you did to get a (credit card) charge out of this crowd.

If I recall, Brad did do a good chunk of fundraising at Jacksonville.

Whether he did it because it was easier, less Mason factors, I have no idea. But I remember reading that he was good at it.

https://alumni.gmu.edu/s/1564/GID2/16/interior.aspx?sid=1564&gid=2&calcid=1025&calpgid=61&pgid=868&crid=0

The rumor was that Merten (and Cabrera, maybe to a lesser extent) hamstrung the AD’s fundraising efforts because he didn’t want $$$ diverted to athletics that might have ended up in the university’s main coffers.

Don’t know how true that is, but given how much Mason has spent on academic buildings, an aggressive capital campaign — and perhaps a bond issuance — would seem to be in order to bring Phase II of the Basketball Excellence Program to fruition.

 

[FlPatriot]

The rumor was that Merten (and Cabrera, maybe to a lesser extent) hamstrung the AD’s fundraising efforts because he didn’t want $$$ diverted to athletics that might have ended up in the university’s main coffers.

Don’t know how true that is, but given how much Mason has spent on academic buildings, an aggressive capital campaign — and perhaps a bond issuance — would seem to be in order to bring Phase II of the Basketball Excellence Program to fruition.

This is just not smart. Friend of mine did fundraising for a Big 10 school…successful athletics made the ask much much easier. Athletics is easy to relate to for most prospective donors.

 

[gmujim92]

This is just not smart. Friend of mine did fundraising for a Big 10 school…successful athletics made the ask much much easier. Athletics is easy to relate to for most prospective donors.

Likewise I have a buddy who used to work in major gifts for the Miller Center at UVa and he said the university never limited who they could go after for donations … it was basically you eat what you kill, 7-figure gifts and up.

Doesn’t really surprise me about Mason, though, given TOC’s comments about athletics being a side door of the university. Very telling about the prevailing worldview, hope that has done a 180 since Dr W took over.

 

[GMUgemini]

I see what you did to get a (credit card) charge out of this crowd.

If I recall, Brad did do a good chunk of fundraising at Jacksonville.

Whether he did it because it was easier, less Mason factors, I have no idea. But I remember reading that he was good at it.

https://alumni.gmu.edu/s/1564/GID2/16/interior.aspx?sid=1564&gid=2&calcid=1025&calpgid=61&pgid=868&crid=0

He did some good fundraising the first few years here (including the single biggest year of fundraising ever for Mason athletics) but sustained mediocrity is going to dry that well up.

 

[mkaufman1]

Likewise I have a buddy who used to work in major gifts for the Miller Center at UVa and he said the university never limited who they could go after for donations … it was basically you eat what you kill, 7-figure gifts and up.

Doesn’t really surprise me about Mason, though, given TOC’s comments about athletics being a side door of the university. Very telling about the prevailing worldview, hope that has done a 180 since Dr W took over.

I'm stating obvious but we've come a very long way from that side door comment. Even Cabrera who didn't understand basketball at all (or care that much), understood that athletics was important to the university and to a school like Mason.

I can also confidently say that Dr W fully gets athletics and I have a tremendous expectation that he is going to get someone who is going to really take our programs to new heights. That expectation started when he let Brad get Kim and pay him more than any other coach previously while buying out Paulsen. While nothing changed much in the last 2 years of Brad otherwise, I am confident that things will change with Dr W bringing in his own hire.

 

[EXpatriot13]

The rumor was that Merten (and Cabrera, maybe to a lesser extent) hamstrung the AD’s fundraising efforts because he didn’t want $$$ diverted to athletics that might have ended up in the university’s main coffers.

Don’t know how true that is, but given how much Mason has spent on academic buildings, an aggressive capital campaign — and perhaps a bond issuance — would seem to be in order to bring Phase II of the Basketball Excellence Program to fruition.

Do we know what the Basketball Excellence Program entails? I remember this fluffy sounding name but not what it includes or what the specific goals of it are.

Assuming the basketball facility is part of that, it doesn’t sound like they need to secure any additional funding to get it done. Seems the delay is mostly due to Mason admin debating where to put it for the last several years.

 

[GSII]

I could see someone from the west coast as AD. Someone who has dealt with tech firms and corporations.

 

[mkaufman1]

Do we know what the Basketball Excellence Program entails? I remember this fluffy sounding name but not what it includes or what the specific goals of it are.

Assuming the basketball facility is part of that, it doesn’t sound like they need to secure any additional funding to get it done. Seems the delay is mostly due to Mason admin debating where to put it for the last several years.

This (below) is from that one webpage years ago that explains how the practice facility fits in. The total plan was 15m.

• The facility is part of the $2.2-million Phase I of the Basketball Excellence Plan, which also features new state-of-the-art game day locker rooms, lighting and amenities in EagleBank Arena

So essentially all the stuff that we called the low hanging fruit were all this phase 1. Phase 2 which is the rumored add on is probably part of it as well, however has had several years of hold up for the "reasons" you mentioned and probably others.

I could see someone from the west coast as AD. Someone who has dealt with tech firms and corporations.

Gut feeling or info?

 

[GMUgemini]

I doubt GSII has any inside information, but Washington did come over from Irvine, so he’s got connections out there…

He did his undergrad and PhD at an ACC school (NC State)…

Also a NYC native (Big East energy?)

Who knows what he’s going to do.

 

[EXpatriot13]

Villanova just created a new position within their AD; GM of Basketball. Responsibilities include:

“..managing a myriad of responsibilities that impact both programs, including opportunities and education around Name, Image and Likeness; the transfer portal; student-athlete brand-building and marketing; and advancing institutional fundraising in partnership with University Advancement.”

Such a great idea. Born out of necessity and being sure they can stay ahead of the curve when it comes to the business side of college basketball.

We need to get a move on with our AD hire, and that person needs to transform our athletic dept and attack these new and emerging trends/realities.

 

[jessej]

Villanova just created a new position within their AD; GM of Basketball. Responsibilities include:

“..managing a myriad of responsibilities that impact both programs, including opportunities and education around Name, Image and Likeness; the transfer portal; student-athlete brand-building and marketing; and advancing institutional fundraising in partnership with University Advancement.”

Such a great idea. Born out of necessity and being sure they can stay ahead of the curve when it comes to the business side of college basketball.

We need to get a move on with our AD hire, and that person needs to transform our athletic dept and attack these new and emerging trends/realities.

UConn is the only Big East School with a Div I FB team
A-10 has no Div I FB schools
and there are less than 10 (out of 350+) Div I women's bball programs that are potentially profitable

This is a great move and maybe the position should be titled Co-AD as Men's Basketball is the sole potential revenue creating sport at that University and many others with similar athletic programs.

I wonder if any collegiate athletic departments are set up for the changes that are occurring in college athletics. But this seems to be a step in the right direction.