More Lesniak via Sargeant: "We're in the Big 10. We should act like it."

[Aggs]

http://www.nj.com/rutgersbasketball/index.ssf/2015/02/state_sen_lesniak_to_rutgers_pres_robert_barchi_ac.html


"Rutgers Athletic Director Julie Hermann has said her department is conducting a feasibility study to address all of the athletics facilities, but told NJ Advance Media earlier this week in a statement: "Building a training center for our basketball teams is one of our highest priorities and has been since I arrived.''
The feasibility study will presumably address the question of what upgraded facilities would cost, but Lesniak put the price tag at $30 million in his letter to Barchi.
"Refurbishing the current basketball facility and building a new practice facility for all 24 sports along with a restaurant and some retail will cost $30 million, half of which can be raised by private contributions,'' Lesniak wrote. "The other $15 million should be secured by borrowing against future Big10 revenues which escalate to $44.5 million annually in 5 years."

This post was edited on 2/26 2:46 PM by Aggs

 

[bac2therac]

Its a solid article. Hopefully Lesniaks numbers are accurate although I fear it would be more. Still the school should be able to raise half and then the rest comes from borrowing. I think the key here is that Lesniak and the NJ media is paving the way for it to be OKAY for RU to borrow and spend on athletics without the polticial and media backlash. Its a much better climate to do this then it was a few days ago.


I do like it was pointed out that TPs plan were too ambitious and would cost double...too many people I have seen just regurgitated how he had money and a plan but thing was nowhere near going forward

A couple of shots at Julie in the article..Im okay with it. I mean she has a job to do. Now is her shot. I think in general she had been quiet because she was muzzled by Barchi on this issue.

 

[DennisHajekRC84]

Imagine how much could be raised if Barchi would just step into a dunk tank before the games..add Steve P. and there's a cash flow..

 

[Sir ScarletKnight]

I could do without the mental image of them without a shirt on in a dunk tank.

 

[RUKeystone]

I know a lot of the fundraising for athletics is hush hush and behind the scenes but since Julie and Sarah have arrived here, have we received ANY big contributions to RU athletics outside of the unnecessary (at the time) raise in Flood's salary?

Is this the norm for schools that bring in a new AD and a fundraising arm? To me it seems very bizarre that we have not received a substantial donation to RU athletics.

How long has the baseball practice facility been proposed? Maybe I should be including that but STILL it's only a couple million for the particular project which is small in the grand scheme of things in college athletics.

 

[ruman]

Julie Hermann has the hammer now. She has to be aggressive. She cannot sit back. She has a powerfull ally. The time to make things happen is now. She's been here for nearly two years. Its time to gain a signature win. She also needs to work with and team with Senator Lesniak, and not get run over by him.

Ten years from now, when the revenues are rolling in, the ADs job will be much easier. That is a long way away. Get this done.

And anyone who has not let Lesniak know you support him, hop on it - twitter or email.

The Maryland game is a great opportunity to tell him you are with him
This post was edited on 2/26 4:23 PM by ruman

 

[Ole Cabbagehead]

Although the Sargeant article is going to be accepted because its what everyone wants to hear, this is utter nonsense. Lesniak has no business telling the school what it should be doing. I don't see him down in Trenton advocating for State funds to help the project get done. If he is not willing to do that, he should stay the hell out of it.

 

[RURM85]

He's an alum with an opinion just like everybody else on this message board with the exception of he has a political soapbox to make his opinions known publicly. He also is the Chair for the Economic Growth Committee. Good for him and I appreciate the effort. Hopefully our school's Admins will listen with an open mind.

 

[ruman]

Originally posted by Ole Cabbagehead:

Although the Sargeant article is going to be accepted because its what everyone wants to hear, this is utter nonsense. Lesniak has no business telling the school what it should be doing. I don't see him down in Trenton advocating for State funds to help the project get done. If he is not willing to do that, he should stay the hell out of it.

Things were so much better last Monday after the Court Club, when our AD basically said we had no shot at building anything basketball related for years. Yea, I wish he and Politi kept quite. Let us suffer in peace.

 

[Upstream]

Originally posted by Ole Cabbagehead:

Although the Sargeant article is going to be accepted because its what everyone wants to hear, this is utter nonsense. Lesniak has no business telling the school what it should be doing. I don't see him down in Trenton advocating for State funds to help the project get done. If he is not willing to do that, he should stay the hell out of it.

Since he is a season ticket holder for basketball I don't have a problem with him expressing an opinion like anyone else. And while I don't like political interference, Lesniak doesn't seem to be interfering so much as setting political acceptability for Rutgers to borrow.


Note that Lesniak is not advocating that the state pay for basketball facilities. Nor is he advocating that Rutgers increase institutional support to pay for basketball facilities. He is advocating that Rutgers secure 50% of the revenue from Athletic donations and the other 50% through Athletic borrowing. That's not really too different from what anyone inside Rutgers has looked at. The problem is still coming up with the 50% from donations.

 

[JPhoboken]

Originally posted by Upstream:

Originally posted by Ole Cabbagehead:

Although the Sargeant article is going to be accepted because its what everyone wants to hear, this is utter nonsense. Lesniak has no business telling the school what it should be doing. I don't see him down in Trenton advocating for State funds to help the project get done. If he is not willing to do that, he should stay the hell out of it.

Since he is a season ticket holder for basketball I don't have a problem with him expressing an opinion like anyone else. And while I don't like political interference, Lesniak doesn't seem to be interfering so much as setting political acceptability for Rutgers to borrow.


Note that Lesniak is not advocating that the state pay for basketball facilities. Nor is he advocating that Rutgers increase institutional support to pay for basketball facilities. He is advocating that Rutgers secure 50% of the revenue from Athletic donations and the other 50% through Athletic borrowing. That's not really too different from what anyone inside Rutgers has looked at. The problem is still coming up with the 50% from donations.[/B]

If Rutgers pledged it would put up half the money, and had a solid plan that the fans, and Rutgers Leadership was committed to, it would have something to take to donors. Right now, we have no plan, no leadership and no commitment. THis is not a recipe to get donations.

 

[Scarlet Shack]

Bac initial post nails it

 

[RUPartisan]

Originally posted by JPhoboken:

Originally posted by Upstream:

Originally posted by Ole Cabbagehead:

Although the Sargeant article is going to be accepted because its what everyone wants to hear, this is utter nonsense. Lesniak has no business telling the school what it should be doing. I don't see him down in Trenton advocating for State funds to help the project get done. If he is not willing to do that, he should stay the hell out of it.

Since he is a season ticket holder for basketball I don't have a problem with him expressing an opinion like anyone else. And while I don't like political interference, Lesniak doesn't seem to be interfering so much as setting political acceptability for Rutgers to borrow.


Note that Lesniak is not advocating that the state pay for basketball facilities. Nor is he advocating that Rutgers increase institutional support to pay for basketball facilities. He is advocating that Rutgers secure 50% of the revenue from Athletic donations and the other 50% through Athletic borrowing. That's not really too different from what anyone inside Rutgers has looked at. The problem is still coming up with the 50% from donations.[/B]

If Rutgers pledged it would put up half the money, and had a solid plan that the fans, and Rutgers Leadership was committed to, it would have something to take to donors. Right now, we have no plan, no leadership and no commitment. THis is not a recipe to get donations.

Bingo! Leak some artist renderings and put up some kind of fund me website that people can watch their money going towards an actual visible goal.

 

[ruman]

Should go back to Pernetti's drawing from 2 years ago. They were great

These still work

 

[RUJMM78]

I'm afraid come March 15,2015 when the season is over for Rutgers the discussion about facilities will slowly disappear.The mantra at Rutgers for far too long is that problems that need addressing are put in a file folder with the hope that concerns will disappear over time.Its 24 years and counting for mens basketball and the inattention continues.

 

[bac2therac]

Originally posted by ruman:
Should go back to Pernetti's drawing from 2 years ago. They were great

these are RAC renovation pictures...TP's project was an overambitious pipe dream with no money. He trotted a whole bunch of different drawings but they were not plausible really for $30 million and it was said his project would cost double. Where are the practice facility pictures from Tim because the RAC is fine with the recent upgrades Julie made. There was a reason that Tim's project didn't get off the ground.

 

[ruman]

But he built the practice facility into the RAC. That was a great idea.

But no worries. Its Julie's job to get us a practice facility - in the near term, not 8 years from now

Job #1
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[bac2therac]

only if she is given the go ahead is it on her, if BOG and Barchi still refuse to borrow then its out of her hands

 

[TonyLieske]

Originally posted by bac2therac:

only if she is given the go ahead is it on her, if BOG and Barchi still refuse to borrow then its out of her hands

Right, because MBB fans aren't allowed to donate. Only way to pay for anything is via borrowing it.

 

[ruman]

A good AD finds ways to make things happen. They influence decision makers. If she is simply doing the bidding of the BOG, and has zero say on the outcome, then she is not be effective at her job. She's required to make things happen, particularly here. Cant simply play the victim card.

She's been here two years. Its time for a signature accomplishment. Importantly, she's got others important people trying to help the effort.now.

If we wait 10 years to invest in basketball, then regarding the sport she's Grunniger, Mulchahy and Pernetti all over again.




This post was edited on 2/27 10:22 AM by ruman

 

[bac2therac]

Originally posted by TonyLieske:

Originally posted by bac2therac:

only if she is given the go ahead is it on her, if BOG and Barchi still refuse to borrow then its out of her hands

Right, because MBB fans aren't allowed to donate. Only way to pay for anything is via borrowing it.

right just like football fans weren't allowed to donate and had to pay for it with bonds instead of themselves..same situation...why is the current AD being held to a different standard now

 

[ruman]

right just like football fans weren't allowed to donate and had to pay for it with bonds instead of themselves..same situation...why is the current AD being held to a different standard now

Because being an AD is a completely different job then it was 20 years ago. You are primarily a fund raiser. I wonder if Grunniger ever raised a dollar in his time here. It is not a great job - I wouldn't want to be an AD in the environment.

But to be a good one, you have to force the issue. Get people in authority to do what's right and what you want them to do - not what is easy.

 

[ru66]

I'm not so sure lesniak does'nt want both barchi and herman gone

 

[TonyLieske]

Originally posted by bac2therac:

Originally posted by TonyLieske:

Originally posted by bac2therac:

only if she is given the go ahead is it on her, if BOG and Barchi still refuse to borrow then its out of her hands

Right, because MBB fans aren't allowed to donate. Only way to pay for anything is via borrowing it.

right just like football fans weren't allowed to donate and had to pay for it with bonds instead of themselves..same situation...why is the current AD being held to a different standard now

Because they found out that it was a huge mistake...?

You know the old saying, two wrongs don't make a right.

 

[rutgersguy1]

Originally posted by ruman:

right just like football fans weren't allowed to donate and had to pay for it with bonds instead of themselves..same situation...why is the current AD being held to a different standard now

Because being an AD is a completely different job then it was 20 years ago. You are primarily a fund raiser. I wonder if Grunniger ever raised a dollar in his time here. It is not a great job - I wouldn't want to be an AD in the environment.

But to be a good one, you have to force the issue. Get people in authority to do what's right and what you want them to do - not what is easy.

I don't think much is different. It's always been about hiring the coaches for the 2 main sports and fundraising. It's never been easy to fundraise here and it's not just an athletic department thing, it's a school wide thing as we can see from our endowment compared to other schools of our profile.

Force the issue? If you're boss is saying we have to let go of such and such many people in your department because of company wide cuts and poor economic conditions how much can you force the issue and say no you can't. At best you might get some minimal concession certainly nothing on a large scale.

The frustration is completely understandable but the resurrection of this athletic including the basketball program is a long term project for anyone in the AD's chair whether it be JH or anyone else. Especially when we don't have the high level of achievement to possibly facilitate things to move a little faster. I don't know how one expects decades long neglect/ineptitude to be remedied so quickly regardless of the B10 or not. Did Louisville find itself where it is after 2 years? No it took a decade or so and they have a lot more unified support than we ever have.



This post was edited on 2/27 11:27 AM by rutgersguy1

 

[bac2therac]

Originally posted by ru66:

I'm not so sure lesniak does'nt want both barchi and herman gone

oh yes so he could put the incompetent Tim Pernetti back in

 

[rutgersnyc]

Re: Not likely

It has gone on too long, we are too poor, no one cares. Iona, Manhattan, Fordham, St. Peters, St. Francis, Rider, Monmouth, NJIT, Siena, etc. etc. all have arguably better teams this year. Virtually every team In the BE and A10 have better facilities. It is so embarrassing it is unthinkable for a 250 year old flagship university. But so is 3 lost decades of futility. Where is that $200 million god father???

 

[RUJMM78]

Re: Not likely


The practice facility that the athletic director is pushing is more a village for athletes built near the football stadium not a separate practice facility adjacent to the RAC for the basketball teams.The reality is that the RAC would still need renovations based on the negative comments regarding the visiting team dressing rooms and there certainly is a need for additional rest rooms to just name a few areas that need upgrading.

 

[derleider]

Originally posted by Aggs:
http://www.nj.com/rutgersbasketball/index.ssf/2015/02/state_sen_lesniak_to_rutgers_pres_robert_barchi_ac.html


"Rutgers Athletic Director Julie Hermann has said her department is conducting a feasibility study to address all of the athletics facilities, but told NJ Advance Media earlier this week in a statement: "Building a training center for our basketball teams is one of our highest priorities and has been since I arrived.''
The feasibility study will presumably address the question of what upgraded facilities would cost, but Lesniak put the price tag at $30 million in his letter to Barchi.
"Refurbishing the current basketball facility and building a new practice facility for all 24 sports along with a restaurant and some retail will cost $30 million, half of which can be raised by private contributions,'' Lesniak wrote. "The other $15 million should be secured by borrowing against future Big10 revenues which escalate to $44.5 million annually in 5 years."

This post was edited on 2/26 2:46 PM by Aggs

Maybe instead of concocting fan-fic plans for a new RAC he should be busy convincing his colleagues not to cave on Christie's request to cut direct funding for RU again (down to 1989 values).

 

[MORRISCOUNTY]

I do not care if you are a Republican or a Democrat or an Independent, Lesniak just said what every person on this site has been saying forever.

The Pols in Trenton have very little passion for Rutgers and it shows.

How can these people wake up in the morning and not realize that the state is currently home to Princeton and Rutgers, a Major Ivy League school and a new member to the Big 10?

2 original Colonial Colleges that could be a huge economic engine in this state that are located 20 miles apart.

Trenton is as visionless as I have ever seen. Good for Lesniak, at least one Pol seems to care.

 

[ru66]

WE SHOULD BE EMAILING HERMAN ALSO

 

[bac2therac]

Yes we should

 

[RUskoolie]

Julie has a herculean task with a lot of neglected sports programs but people need to be realistic. In our best athletic fundraising year at Rutgers, we raised about 9 million that year in private donations. Julie wants a 60-80 million dollar athletes village that will upgrade the entire department with one check. I never see that being done with private money. I will be very impressed if we raise the 3 million for the baseball/softball practice facility by next year with all private money.

It's impossible to go from raising 9 million per year to a number that large in one year. Lesniak is right to put pressure and you should put your political affiliation aside in this case and be happy someone in Trenton cares.

In our case I do think we should get creative and borrow against future guaranteed revenue. To wait 6 years until we put a shovel in a ground for MBB is a total death sentence. This program is ranked in the 200-300s in D1 hoops, which is why I don't get THAT upset when we lose to a St. Peters. We aren't that different there.

 

[ru66]

where does this $60-80 million number come from??

 

[ruman]

where does this $60-80 million number come from??
---------------
Yup. Have heard this for at least one year. Where is the "athletes village?"

 

[ruman]

where does this $60-80 million number come from??
---------------
Yup. Have heard this for at least one year. Where is the "athletes village?"

 

[ruman]

If we wait 6-8 years, there's an excellent chance that it will be another AD that builds the darn thing

 

[bac2therac]

Not really because the bog is judging Julies job based on reducing the subsidy

 

[rutgersguy1]

Originally posted by ruman:
If we wait 6-8 years, there's an excellent chance that it will be another AD that builds the darn thing

And if it is so what? I don't care which AD gets it done just that it gets done eventually and that we're on a path towards it. Like I've said this is a long term project no matter who's in the AD chair. Unless some angel falls from the sky that's just the way it is. Our athletic department from basketball to the other sports have been fairly miserable for a long time and it's not going to be fixed over night. Our finances are going to improve and whether it's JH or the next AD, it will get done but probably just not as quick as everyone wants it.

 

[ruman]

If much of the thinking I see here was in place years ago, we would have never rebuit the RAC in the first place or rebuit the football stadium in the early 90's. We should have joined the Patriot League. And that would be a position I would respect.

But to join the Big Ten and then do nothing on the basketball side to compete, seem dishonest to me. It's taking the Big Tens money but not trying to compete. If the Big Ten had stated that building the practice facility was requirement to join the league, we would have agreed to it. That's how it should treated now. All the rest of the athletic infrastructure can wait for 5-10 years.