NCAAbbs

Money trouble

A hurdle for UTEP joining Conference USA might well be the initiation fee, said to be $1 million up front and another $1 million spread out creatively.

UTEP has dipped into boosters' pockets heavily of late. And if UTEP couldn't come up with a lot of money to at least tempt Gillispie to stick around, where will this new ante come from? Maybe from the discretionary funds overseen by President Diana Natalicio?

Don't get me wrong. I have nothing at all against UTEP. They are a fine institution with a nice athletic program.

If it were up to me, which it isn't, I'd like to see North Texas get the nod. Memphis "State" has a history with North Texas "State" -- we used to play quite often in the 70s. The head basketball coach at UNT is Johnny Jones who is still highly thought of by Tiger fans. Plus, North Texas really has a lot on the ball right now, not only regarding athletics, but the university is about to become its own system.

We'll see how it all pans out, though.

Well North Texas would have my vote!! Like you said they have lots going on, plus right there where TCU was located!!

North Texas doesn't have the facilities that UTEP has. NT can barely average 15,000 home attendance compared to 29,000 for UTEP. NT has to compete with all sorts of pro sports in the metroplex just like SMU and TCU do. UTEP is the only game in town. North Texas may draw a lot of students from the metroplex but they do not draw any fans from it to their athletic events. UTEP does and sits in a city of 800,000 in Texas and well over 1,000,000 just across the Rio Grande. NT may be up and coming, but they are not there yet. UTEP is.

If the only alternative to UTEP was north texas, I'd start a fundraiser to help the miners raise the cash.

Ironic photo of Bush and the Fireman.

I wouldn't expect the WAC to cut them any slack on departure fees, if there are any.

The WAC wasn't bothered with the loss of smu, rice and tulsa. After losing them, they'd probably pay us to take la tech.
But they don't want to lose utep.

Yep it's a favorite of mine. What I like about the guy is when he wants to say something he just spits it the fark out, you know? Like a man. Doesn't hide behind "irony" or any other such cryptic limp bullcrap.

I think that you are very correct on this matter. The WAC is more likely to give Tech a free out, but Benson is not going to help UTEP leave.


I think UTEP will probably be able to scrounge the money together when push comes to shove.

Hell, well let USF slide on fees. They still owe us a good bit of the proverbial phat cash from joining C-USA. Why don't we just let UTEP assume USF's payments and make USF promise to never bother us again? Agreed? Can I get an amen?

Benson is dead set against losing UTEP, in fact, I believe that he is in El Paso right now. I know that Bob Stull accompanied him to New York for the TV contract talks. He would all but throw us out to get the travel straight for the rest of the WAC. He would also do anything he can, if CUSA schools don't invite us, including help us get a travel partner, etc. In my opinion, he's not the best commissioner, but fair to Tech for the brief time we have worked with him.

UTEP is a good choice, but as I have said all along, they may not want this invite. That is yet to be determined. Unless someone has heard their president or Stull say that they do want to jump, I don't think it has been decided that they want to throw their hat in the ring(regardless what some sportswriters are saying in Orlando). Granted some AD's from the eastern schools has all but said it is a done deal, we have yet to hear that from El Paso. If it all comes down to us or them, then so be it. I know all but a handful of the Southern Miss folks would be happy. I could give a damn what the Herd thinks. I know I will miss playing the eastern WAC teams(it is nice to travel to DFW and Tulsa for games and I'll confess I have never been to El Paso for a game so I won't say how hard it is to get there).

DFIH

I'll let them join scott free if EVERY N. Texas and LA Tech poster is religated to the WAC and Sun Belt boards and never comes back to this place.

I think we let them and the rest "slide" in return for ESPN not cutting our TV deal.
Otherwise, it would be ridiculous and probably a violation of fiduciary responsibility to do so. Playing USF is worth zero to all but UCF (and they wouldn't have gotten those fees anyway)

Everythng is negotiable. For instance, CUSA could waive an immediate entry fee and take the money from TV, Bowl Appearances and NCAA Tourney appearances over time. I wouldn't see this as a barrier to UTEP getting in.

My opinion,

GS.

agree where there is a will there will be a way.

I am glad you explained the photo. I thought he was going to kiss him.

That so called "article" was garbage. Why didnt you post the link so the people here could read it for themselve? Oh, thats right, if you did they would realize that the sports writer is an untalented hack without any grasp of how things work. And if they read the article, your partial quote from a quasi opinion "article" would loose all of its intended impact.

In the same "article" when the idiot was talking about he 5/8 rule claims "It was put in to spread out the talent". No one with any common believes that the NCAA actually enacted the 5/8 rule for that purpose. It may have been a benificial side effect of a bad rule but it was not the intended purpose. That alone shows that Muench is either uninformed or an idiot.

How does the fact that Gillispie left UTEP for Texas A&M indicate they could not afford the entrance fee for CUSA? That is an asinine conclusion. Coaches dont leave for bigger schools in bigger conferences on the basis of money alone. And there are no CUSA schools that could hope to compete in a bidding war with a major BCS program when push comes to shove.

I will do what you should have.



<a href='http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/sports/joemuench/20040425-110083.shtml' target='_blank'>http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/spor...25-110083.shtml</a>

Sports Sunday, April 25, 2004
Joe Muench
Former UTEP recruit may be going to Kansas

Joe Muench
El Paso Times

Joe Muench


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Some alternative thinking on UTEP basketball recruiting, among other snippets:

Fans are led to believe prize recruit Alex Galindo was granted a release from his UTEP scholarship because of the coaching change. No Billy Gillispie and/or Sergio Rouco, no UTEP. Galindo would have been UTEP's most heralded recruit ever. He's a top-100 prospect.

But wait. Since he won't be following Gillispie to Texas A&M or Rouco to Florida International, Galindo will have new coaches no matter where he goes.

So is there a different reason he dissed UTEP, after professing his love for El Paso, UTEP and the Latino culture?

One school that has caught Galindo's interest is Kansas, coached by Gillispie's mentor, Bill Self. If Galindo picks Kansas, that's a sock to the stomach of UTEP fans.

Meanwhile, it only sounds good that rescinding the 5/8 recruiting rule will help UTEP. It would open more scholarship holes this recruiting season. Under 5/8, UTEP would have a maximum of 10 scholarships next season, three short of the NCAA's maximum 13.

But here's why rescinding 5/8 would hurt UTEP. More of the elite players would fit on the rosters of the top-25 teams, leaving the other schools with thinner pickings.

The 5/8 rule says a school may recruit no more than five players in a year and no more than eight over two years. It was put in to spread out the talent. Now, when a big school loses young players to the NBA, they cannot be replaced. If the rule is rescinded, schools like Duke and Kansas always can have the maximum 13 players on scholarship.

There's a good chance the 5/8 will be rescinded this week. The NCAA Division 1 Management Council voted unanimously last week to repeal the rule. Now it needs a final NCAA stamp.

Bound for Washington

Yes, of course UTEP Athletics Director Bob Stull will take the University of Washington AD job, if offered. He was the Huskies' associate AD for development the two years before joining UTEP in 1998. He was an assistant coach at Washington from 1975-84 under now- retired legend Don James.

It's logical that James could be a middle man in a deal, just as it's believed Gillispie had a middle man between himself and Texas A&M. That way Gillispie wasn't fibbing late last season when he said he had not been contacted by A&M. James attended a UTEP spring football practice recently.

Money trouble

A hurdle for UTEP joining Conference USA might well be the initiation fee, said to be $1 million up front and another $1 million spread out creatively.

UTEP has dipped into boosters' pockets heavily of late. And if UTEP couldn't come up with a lot of money to at least tempt Gillispie to stick around, where will this new ante come from? Maybe from the discretionary funds overseen by President Diana Natalicio?

UTEP is C-USA's best fit for a Western Division that also would include: SMU, Rice, Tulsa, Houston and Tulane. Other candidates are North Texas and Louisiana Tech.

Nobody cares about North Texas in the Dallas area. It's easier for teams to fly into El Paso than to reach Louisiana Tech, which is 70 miles from the airport in Shreveport, La. UTEP outdraws both schools in football and basketball. And in El Paso, UTEP is the No. 1 sport. North Texas is far down the list in Dallas-Fort Worth. Louisiana Tech is way out in the pine trees.

Joe Muench may be reached at jmuench@elpasotimes.com; 546-6381.

Maybe C-USA should have shown more interest in the MAC schools. Well, I guess LaTech isn't a bad choice.

Marshall, Memphis, UAB, ECU, UCF & USM won't allow LA TECH

And their poor facilities