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NJIT to join Atlantic Sun Conference

Glad NJIT is in a conference now ,
If they keep on playing like they did last year, the Highlanders will be moving into a better conference in the near future.
Getting conference affiliation is the first step and do well in it, will be attractive to a higher rated conference that wants to add or replace a member.
 
Hey they are in an autobid conference now. Thats HUUUUUUGE.
 
This is a GREAT landing spot for NJIT! There was quite a buzz on the First Coast (NE Florida from Jax to St. Aug) when UNF made the tournament this year. And this area is a pipeline to NJ, with super cheap flights from Trenton-Princeton airport to St. Augustine airport, and even JAX. It's been a great pipeline for RU football recruiting as well - lots of talent here and easy access to NJ.
 
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Great news for NJIT. They are up and coming program. Love what I saw from them last year

Thought the NEC or MAAC would of been a good fit for them but this is the 1st step
 
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I wonder what the reaction on this board will be when they make the tourney before we do.
 
NJ-native coach Joe Dooley at FGCU ("Dunk City") has to be happy to add NJIT. Annual visit to NJ and added recruiting reach. FGCU's on-campus arena is a great place to watch a game. A convenient place for people who winter at Fort Myers, Naples, and Marco Island to get a dose of Div-1 hoops. Would love to see Rutgers get FGCU on their schedule. FGCU just signed a home-and-home deal with LaSalle for this coming season and next. Their style of play is a lot of fun to watch. This article from the Naples, FL newspaper ...

http://www.naplesnews.com/sports/co...logy-to-join-atlantic-sun-conference_87123447
 
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I wonder what the reaction on this board will be when they make the tourney before we do.
When they do, then we can talk about it.
Many schools ( that joined a new conference) have gone before us and hopefully that will end soon.
I'm sure there are schools that moved up to Division 1 after 1991 that made the Dance while RU didn't get an invite.

I think I'd wish them luck in the tourney, if they go before RU, but can't say for sure until it happens
 
NJ-native coach Joe Dooley at FGCU ("Dunk City") has to be happy to add NJIT. Annual visit to NJ and added recruiting reach. FGCU's on-campus arena is a great place to watch a game. A convenient place for people who winter at Fort Myers, Naples, and Marco Island to get a dose of Div-1 hoops. Would love to see Rutgers get FGCU on their schedule. FGCU just signed a home-and-home deal with LaSalle for this coming season and next. Their style of play is a lot of fun to watch. This article from the Naples, FL newspaper ...

http://www.naplesnews.com/sports/college/fgcu/college-sports-new-jersey-institute-of-technology-to-join-atlantic-sun-conference_87123447

So would I, but at the RAC.
 
Good for them. That's gonna be a tough high scoring conference for them.
 
Good to hear. I root for all the local schools to do well (as long as we are not competing directly).
 
With mostly southern teams in the conference this may help them do well in baseball and softball recruiting vs. the other area teams. They will have a lot of road conference game sin Feb and Mar but home games in April.
 
Glad to see them in a conference, crazy that it's not the NEC. I mean, there are some good things about being in the A-Sun, as noted above, but it's still silly.

Not as silly as the "Great West" the Highlanders used to be in, though ...
 
Correct but there is an automatic bid for the winner of the conference tournament which is a huge for them in recruiting.
 
Hardly worth $100million to be a new arena for the Atlantic Sun and get a negative rating from Moody's.
NJIT said It 's going to be a multi-purpose events center with 59 percent of the building multi-use,20 percent will have an athletic.
Don't know what the other 21% of building will be used for.
But NJIT is also trying to make it a conference venue along with other types of events in order to bring in revenue .
So it might bring in a ;profit for the school and is more than building a basketball arena in order to join a conference.
I think of it more of , looking towards the future than being shortsighted and just building a basketball arena hoping that will gain conference affiliation.
$100 million for a 3,500 seat arena isn't that good of an investment, but for a mufti purpose center, not too shabby.
 
NJIT's bonding the extra 100 million dollars at cost of 50% increase in its total bonding level.Moody's said it downgraded its rating to negative.Also student fees make up over 90% of its athletic program currently.I doubt that the Atlantic Sun membership will help.While the arena can be used for many other things,the PRU center is a little over a mile away.
 
NJIT's bonding the extra 100 million dollars at cost of 50% increase in its total bonding level.Moody's said it downgraded its rating to negative.Also student fees make up over 90% of its athletic program currently.I doubt that the Atlantic Sun membership will help.While the arena can be used for many other things,the PRU center is a little over a mile away.
Thought Standard & Poor's downgraded NJIT's debt rating from A+ to A (which will cost NJIT more when it nereds to borrow for another project because that agency feels NJIT's financial outlook will suffer because of borrowing to build that facility
Moody kept NJIT at the A1 rating they had for NJIT before NJIT decided to add the $100 million debt going towards the multi purposs stadium.

I don't know if what NJIT is doing is a good idea, but commend them for being willing to take a chance on making the University better on the whole by improving itself in a needed area.
Basketball won't be paying off that debt, but renting it out for other venues might help more than we think and NJIT is a growing Research University that just spent $80 million to complete several building projects on its campus.
Sounds like NJIT is trying to do what it takes to be successful as an Academic institution and put it's athletic programs in a position to suceed.
 
Spending money when is not necessary is not a good idea.If Seton Hall can play its home games at the PRU so could NJIT.
 
Interesting article in today's SL (couldn't find a link) that says NJIT is the worst college when in comes to funding athletics through student fees -- 90% of their athletics funding comes from student fees and institutional support.
Of course the article was buried back on pages 27 and they still had to take a shot at RU saying that we have had the highest total $ in institutional support over the last 5 years.
 
Interesting article in today's SL (couldn't find a link) that says NJIT is the worst college when in comes to funding athletics through student fees -- 90% of their athletics funding comes from student fees and institutional support.
Of course the article was buried back on pages 27 and they still had to take a shot at RU saying that we have had the highest total $ in institutional support over the last 5 years.

http://www.nj.com/education/2015/11/njit_tops_college_sports_spending_rankings.html
 
Fort Myers,FL has a great airport - easy in-and-out on flights to/from Newark Liberty. Also, flights now available to/from Newark/Naples, FL. Retired and winter-ing in southwest Florida, I am a new season ticket buyer for FGCU after being wait-listed 2 years. Small arena (Alico Arena) great for watching games. As an FGCU ticket buyer, though, I give away my seats for most of the OOC games in November and December, which this season includes UMass and LaSalle. Season tickets at FGCU are cheaper than my season parking tag at the RAC; no charge for parking at FGCU. Rutgers baseball plays at FGCU this Spring, which I look forward to. Tremendous high school football in southwest Florida. It's just a matter of time before FGCU starts a football program and changes conference affiliation. Naples and Immokolee and Barron Collier high schools routinely sends players to Ohio State and Florida and Florida State and Miami.
 
Fort Myers,FL has a great airport - easy in-and-out on flights to/from Newark Liberty. * Also, flights now available to/from Newark/Naples, FL. Retired and winter-ing in southwest Florida, I am a new season ticket buyer for FGCU after being wait-listed 2 years. Small arena (Alico Arena) great for watching games. As an FGCU ticket buyer, though, I give away my seats for most of the OOC games in November and December, which this season includes UMass and LaSalle. Season tickets at FGCU are cheaper than my season parking tag at the RAC; no charge for parking at FGCU. Rutgers baseball plays at FGCU this Spring, which I look forward to. Tremendous high school football in southwest Florida. It's just a matter of time before FGCU starts a football program and changes conference affiliation. Naples and Immokolee and Barron Collier high schools routinely sends players to Ohio State and Florida and Florida State and Miami.
* Tell me more about this. Thought that airport was just for small planes and private jets?

Have they thought about playing "bigger" games at Germain?

And I thought the idea of FB was put way back on the backburner?
 
Funny how in the news report and their own website they don't mention what kind of aircraft is going to be used.

According to wiki they have 6 planes and they are those Bombardier-types...just a little bigger than some of the larger privates jets that fly out of Naples now.

AC is such much more convenient for our family but it would be nice if Spirit could get into Naples too.

Thank you for the info.
 
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