Legal perks on campus

[AlaskaSU]

Living quarters are the number one perk that most students look at. Build amazing apartments for the players and that will trump any other on campus perk.

Right on. Due to new media that provides greater player exposure, the Dome is losing its luster as a recruiting tool. The Melo Center is a necessity as many of our competitors have similar practice facilities. Glitzy living quarters would be a competitive advantage. Kansas and Kentucky led the way. Others will follow. This is econ 101; when regulations prevent wage competition for labor, competition will be based on perks. Basketball generates revenue and a larger portion needs to be reinvested. If our product grows stale revenue will decrease. If we sit tight, we lose.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Locker rooms at the Dome are a joke if we're supposed to be a big boy program. That's embarrassing. I don't care how long they spend there vs time at the Melo Center. This should be an easy fix, frankly.

 

[MSOrange]

Every single Power 5 conference gets (insert conference here) money. Why doesn't every single power 5 school have a state of the art practice facility, new or newly renovated stadium, and have top notch everything?

Donors.

You're right. All it takes is a google search and you can see that any major facility project mentions donations as a significant portion of the financing. The ACC money is great but it won't pay for everything.

 

[GooseMutt]

There were no personal attacks.

Put the poster on ignore if you prefer.

Believe me It's fine. People complain all the time on here but most is frustration just wanting things to improve. I would hope/ expect that they put me on ignore and all move foward

 

[GooseMutt]

Right on. Due to new media that provides greater player exposure, the Dome is losing its luster as a recruiting tool. The Melo Center is a necessity as many of our competitors have similar practice facilities. Glitzy living quarters would be a competitive advantage. Kansas and Kentucky led the way. Others will follow. This is econ 101; when regulations prevent wage competition for labor, competition will be based on perks. Basketball generates revenue and a larger portion needs to be reinvested. If our product grows stale revenue will decrease. If we sit tight, we lose.

Agreed. If you Google Kansas facilities including living quarters you can understand why kids want to play at Kansas. Great coach, pampered by facilities and their legacy. I don't expect us to be at that level but it is an eye opener and obvious factor in my opinion

 

[MSOrange]

Agreed. If you Google Kansas facilities including living quarters you can understand why kids want to play at Kansas. Great coach, pampered by facilities and their legacy. I don't expect us to be at that level but it is an eye opener and obvious factor in my opinion

Yes and all financed by private donations, at least the dorm was. We're just fighting an uphill battle in that regard.

 

[AlaskaSU]

our competition.
Kansas Basketball's $12 Million Dorm Makes You Wish You Were A Jayhawk
and
John Calipari Tours the Kentucky Basketball Dorm [Video]
don't blame things on gmac, the salesman. blame it on the product he is selling.

 

[AlaskaSU]

our competition.
Kansas Basketball's $12 Million Dorm Makes You Wish You Were A Jayhawk
and
John Calipari Tours the Kentucky Basketball Dorm [Video]
don't blame things on gmac, the salesman. blame it on the product he is selling.

Joe Biden is unemployed. Perfect job for him to lead the funding effort as one of the Nation's most experienced fund raisers. If the U provided a 50% match, raising 7.5 million would do the trick. By comparison, The Melo Center was nearly 20 million. Nationwide alumni rally's, donations from Cuse professional basketball players, lots of possibilities.

We seem to have lost our competitive edge. Even with available playing time we are coming up empty on our main targets. Maybe it is just bad luck, but over the last three years we have been a middle of the road ACC team.

There are reasons why basketball recruits are influenced by housing perks: 1) they are more likely to come from public housing than from Scarsdale, 2) many of them have not spent much time living away from home, and 3) the four and five stars aspire to the good life, including fancy digs, that an NBA salary can provide.

Having over-the-top digs would give us a leg up on recruiting. At one time both the Dome and the Big East gave us a leg up. Those days are gone; we are not a flag carrier for the ACC like we were in the Big East, and the Dome no longer gives our players an exposure advantage. Our circumstances have changed and our past is no guarantee of future success.

I realize that catering to athletes is incompatible with the academic spirit and we are primarily an academic institution. Most of us are alumni and many are like me with many alumni in the family. Ultimately, academic reputation is more important than athletics. Therefore, we can decide to forego the facilities arms race. It would be OK with me. If we decide to compete, as long as athletes cannot be paid, we cannot be successful at the highest level without providing competitive residential facilities complete with tricked out lounges, patios with bar-b-cues, kitchen facilities and a dorm chef and barber, etc.

In the era of one and dones, the best teams reload every year. We cannot afford too many misses. We need to be at least as attractive, and maybe more so, than the schools that we compete against.

 

[RandygoCuse]

Joe Biden is unemployed. Perfect job for him to lead the funding effort as one of the Nation's most experienced fund raisers. If the U provided a 50% match, raising 7.5 million would do the trick. By comparison, The Melo Center was nearly 20 million. Nationwide alumni rally's, donations from Cuse professional basketball players, lots of possibilities.

We seem to have lost our competitive edge. Even with available playing time we are coming up empty on our main targets. Maybe it is just bad luck, but over the last three years we have been a middle of the road ACC team.

There are reasons why basketball recruits are influenced by housing perks: 1) they are more likely to come from public housing than from Scarsdale, 2) many of them have not spent much time living away from home, and 3) the four and five stars aspire to the good life, including fancy digs, that an NBA salary can provide.

Having over-the-top digs would give us a leg up on recruiting. At one time both the Dome and the Big East gave us a leg up. Those days are gone; we are not a flag carrier for the ACC like we were in the Big East, and the Dome no longer gives our players an exposure advantage. Our circumstances have changed and our past is no guarantee of future success.

I realize that catering to athletes is incompatible with the academic spirit and we are primarily an academic institution. Most of us are alumni and many are like me with many alumni in the family. Ultimately, academic reputation is more important than athletics. Therefore, we can decide to forego the facilities arms race. It would be OK with me. If we decide to compete, as long as athletes cannot be paid, we cannot be successful at the highest level without providing competitive residential facilities complete with tricked out lounges, patios with bar-b-cues, kitchen facilities and a dorm chef and barber, etc.

In the era of one and dones, the best teams reload every year. We cannot afford too many misses. We need to be at least as attractive, and maybe more so, than the schools that we compete against.

Might be a tough sell for Biden to make his post-VP career hitting up donors to raise money for fancy housing for college athletes.

 

[Orangepace]

GooseMutt might complain often but he has a good point here. Renovating a locker room is not a huge financial undertaking and the athletic department should have addressed the Dome locker rooms years ago; they're pretty pathetic. Unless they've changed since I was there in 2009, I remember thinking the locker room looked like what you'd find at a poor high school. Donations shouldn't be needed to fund something like this, the profits from the sports programs would more than cover reasonable renovations.

I know renovating the locker room is part of the future plans for the Dome, but this is something that should be addressed sooner than later.

I've donated plenty and understand/agree to the argument in theory. But it seems like this board seems to write a lot of checks for the University related to athletic programs -- coaching salaries, facilities, locker room updates, etc. -- while also complaining about the cost of tickets, beers, etc. The debits have to equal the credits...

 

[Brooky03]

I've donated plenty and understand/agree to the argument in theory. But it seems like this board seems to write a lot of checks for the University related to athletic programs -- coaching salaries, facilities, locker room updates, etc. -- while also complaining about the cost of tickets, beers, etc. The debits have to equal the credits...

How many complain about the cost of tickets and beer? Those aren't complaints I hear often. Both are cheaper than other programs of Cuse's caliber. JB is arguably the most underpaid head basketball coach by (literally) millions of dollars. If the athletic department can't scrounge up money for new lockers, some paint and flooring, then what are they doing with the profits?

 

[AlaskaSU]

I've donated plenty and understand/agree to the argument in theory. But it seems like this board seems to write a lot of checks for the University related to athletic programs -- coaching salaries, facilities, locker room updates, etc. -- while also complaining about the cost of tickets, beers, etc. The debits have to equal the credits...

basketball revenue exceeds basketball expenses.

 

[Orangepace]

basketball revenue exceeds basketball expenses.

Sure, but does it cover the costs of women's basketball, soccer, lacrosse, etc?

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

Oh I should foot the bill because I bring up something that may be hurting our recruiting. I paid for 4 years of education at Cuse and I should pay more . What have you done

Hmmmmm, lets see. My wife and I are both alumni and orange club donors. We are also A-Level season ticket holders for football and both basketball programs (all while living in Washington, DC.).

Apparently, unlike you, we believe in putting our money where our mouths are. We believe that if you want capital improvements, then you need to help pay for them! So the short answer is, yes, if you want to see improvements in our facilities, the best way is to help foot the bill.

 

[GooseMutt]

Hmmmmm, lets see. My wife and I are both alumni and orange club donors. We are also A-Level season ticket holders for football and both basketball programs (all while living in Washington, DC.).

Apparently, unlike you, we believe in putting our money where our mouths are. We believe that if you want capital improvements, then you need to help pay for them! So the short answer is, yes, if you want to see improvements in our facilities, the best way is to help foot the bill.

I have my charitable interests. Where's the ACC money going

 

[UnknownOrange]

I have my charitable interests. Where's the ACC money going

You realize we have 18 sports at SU, admins, facility costs, etc. Every ACC school has ACC money. People forget that Gross spent money like crazy before we got to the ACC so we have debts to pay/have been paid.

Duke's locker rooms aren't all that great.

SU just needs to ramp up donor investment. Having big donors is great but this is Syracuse - I'd love a million donors giving $5 than one donor giving $5 million

 

[GooseMutt]

You realize we have 18 sports at SU, admins, facility costs, etc. Every ACC school has ACC money. People forget that Gross spent money like crazy before we got to the ACC so we have debts to pay/have been paid.

Duke's locker rooms aren't all that great.

SU just needs to ramp up donor investment. Having big donors is great but this is Syracuse - I'd love a million donors giving $5 than one donor giving $5 million

Don't disagree but which sports bring in the revenue. Must reinvest in those if necessary

 

[UnknownOrange]

Don't disagree but which sports bring in the revenue. Must reinvest in those if necessary

I understand that but you understand that those other programs cost money to run... you can't just take the money that goes to Women's Ice Hockey to immediately upgrade football's locker room

 

[MSOrange]

You realize we have 18 sports at SU, admins, facility costs, etc. Every ACC school has ACC money. People forget that Gross spent money like crazy before we got to the ACC so we have debts to pay/have been paid.

Duke's locker rooms aren't all that great.

SU just needs to ramp up donor investment. Having big donors is great but this is Syracuse - I'd love a million donors giving $5 than one donor giving $5 million

100% agree Dan. The SEC and Big 10 schools make even more but they haven't stopped fundraising from donors. The ACC money won't pay for everything.

 

[UnknownOrange]

But but but ACC MONEY!!

 

[GooseMutt]

View attachment 95780

But but but ACC MONEY!!

Okey dokey. Guess our facilities will remain as is and not important to recruiting. Somehow because I raised the issue I'm supposed to pay for it. My daughter is a senior at a major university and I'm footing the bill and do have other charitable interests but I suppose if there was a concerted effort I would participate on some level. We have major headwinds here and many people on this board have a real sense of entitlement whereas they believe our history and legacy are adequate to keep us relevant. Hate to tell you but we are on a significant slippery slope

 

[UnknownOrange]

Okey dokey. Guess our facilities will remain as is and not important to recruiting. Somehow because I raised the issue I'm supposed to pay for it. My daughter is a senior at a major university and I'm footing the bill and do have other charitable interests but I suppose if there was a concerted effort I would participate on some level. We have major headwinds here and many people on this board have a real sense of entitlement whereas they believe our history and legacy are adequate to keep us relevant. Hate to tell you but we are on a significant slippery slope

Lol I am not saying you singularly should fit the bill. I don't donate a dime to Syracuse University.

I am just not sure why Syracuse University doesn't have a more focused effort for this. I have great respect for the people in the OC but there needs to be more of them.

My posts are just to point out that while ACC money is important, it has far more important places to go than toward a locker room.

 

[GooseMutt]

Lol I am not saying you singularly should fit the bill. I don't donate a dime to Syracuse University.

I am just not sure why Syracuse University doesn't have a more focused effort for this. I have great respect for the people in the OC but there needs to be more of them.

My posts are just to point out that while ACC money is important, it has far more important places to go than toward a locker room.

Thanks it wasn't you I was referring to. Your comments are reasonable and appreciated

 

[UnknownOrange]

Thanks it wasn't you I was referring to. Your comments are reasonable and appreciated

F it ... let's build a locker room ourselves.

But in honesty I think we will have a brand new locker room by the 2019 season. Things just take a while in Syracuse for whatever reason.

 

[AlaskaSU]

I hope that the athletic department is highly aware that if the quality of our largest revenue producing sport slips, revenue will decline. Reinvestment is necessary if we are to improve recruiting and everything depends on recruiting. Our former recruiting advantages have dissipated. To wit; player exposure is less dependent on the quantity of home court seating, and our reputation was based on leadership of the Big East. The new big boy is the ACC and we are an ACC dud. If we stand still we will not gain ground in the ACC. Our reputation will be a distant memory that no one cares about except for the diehards. This should be decision time.