Dave Paulsen

[GMUgemini]

Here are the A10 man's basketball expenses for last year's fiscal year, as reported to the federal government. The numbers largely represent staff salaries and benefits, value of scholarships, recruiting expenses, guarantees, promotional expenses, and fundraising costs. Travel expenses and other game-day expenses are excluded.

Saint Louis University . . . 6,938,168
University of Dayton . . . 6,381,117
Saint Joseph's University . . . 5,714,286
Virginia Commonwealth University . . . 5,534,460
Duquesne University . . . 5,098,908
Fordham University . . . 4,504,179
University of Richmond . . . 4,348,609
University of Rhode Island . . . 4,003,462
George Mason University . . . 3,733,732
St Bonaventure University . . . 3,506,624
University of Massachusetts-Amherst . . . 3,305,485
La Salle University . . . 3,269,966
George Washington University . . . 3,258,442
Davidson College . . . 2,950,767

St. Joes is paying two coaches. I don't know how much Martelli was making, but it was obviously seven figures since they jumped way up over their 2018 numbers.

 

[tblack33]

Here are the A10 man's basketball expenses for last year's fiscal year, as reported to the federal government. The numbers largely represent staff salaries and benefits, value of scholarships, recruiting expenses, guarantees, promotional expenses, and fundraising costs. Travel expenses and other game-day expenses are excluded.

Saint Louis University . . . 6,938,168
University of Dayton . . . 6,381,117
Saint Joseph's University . . . 5,714,286
Virginia Commonwealth University . . . 5,534,460
Duquesne University . . . 5,098,908
Fordham University . . . 4,504,179
University of Richmond . . . 4,348,609
University of Rhode Island . . . 4,003,462
George Mason University . . . 3,733,732
St Bonaventure University . . . 3,506,624
University of Massachusetts-Amherst . . . 3,305,485
La Salle University . . . 3,269,966
George Washington University . . . 3,258,442
Davidson College . . . 2,950,767

A little shy of a million of our dollars goes between Paulsen and Simpkins for reference.

 

[Pablo]

Interesting article about vcu - https://richmondbizsense.com/2019/03/18/vcu-athletics-budget-doubled-since-2011-final-four-run:

"vcu Athletics’ annual revenue has more than doubled in the last eight years, jumping from $16.3 million in fiscal year 2010 – the last fiscal year before the Final Four run – to $34.2 million in FY 2017, according to the most recent data available from the school.

Its expenses have grown at a similar rate, jumping from $16.8 million in FY 2010 to $33.5 million in FY 2017.

Per its FY 2017 data, student fees, which are part of the university’s annual tuition, provide the majority of vcu Athletics’ revenue at $19.9 million. Its next-largest revenue source is donations ($5.1 million), followed by licensing and sponsorships ($2.5 million) and men’s basketball ticket sales ($2.4 million).

Jeff Cupps, vcu’s senior associate athletic director, whose staff’s responsibilities include managing the business end of vcu Athletics, said increasing student fees is seen as a necessary evil to compete at a national level."

"According to data provided by vcu, the athletic portion of its student fee has risen an average of $33 each year since the 2011-2012 school year.

The student fee at vcu during the 2010-2011 school year was $558. In 2011-2012, it jumped to $610. The fee for the 2018-2019 school year is $827. The university has 31,076 students enrolled in 2019, compared with 32,303 in 2011.

Though the fees continue to rise, vcu Athletics’ reliance on that source of revenue is trending downward.

In 2010, student fees brought in $12.4 million, accounting for 76 percent of the department’s overall revenue. In 2017, the fees brought in $19.9 million, or 58 percent of vcu Athletics’ revenue."

"Another large revenue generator for vcu is alumni donations, which go mostly to the Ram Athletic Fund, not to specific teams. In 2017, alumni donated $5.1 million to vcu Athletics; in 2009, it was $464,000.

vcu Athletics does not often fundraise for specific sports. Instead, it pools all of its donations into a general fund that’s distributed to each sport as needed."

"The 2011 Final Four run put the school on the map nationally.

The next year, vcu announced it would be moving from the Colonial Athletic Association to the Atlantic 10 Conference, a move driven in part by the school’s desire to capitalize on the spotlight and learn from what it saw as miscalculations by then-fellow CAA school George Mason University, which had made a miraculous Final Four run of its own in 2006.

GMU joined the Atlantic 10 in 2013, but has made the NCAA tournament only twice since its Final Four appearance.

'I don’t want anybody to take this the wrong way, but we saw their Final Four run and said, "Hey we need to do anything we can to continue the momentum from that Final Four run,"' Cupps said of GMU.

'That meant trying to keep our head coach, moving to a higher-level conference if the opportunity arises and building a basketball practice facility so we can really take advantage of that brief period of time that was so exciting,' he said, adding that he believes GMU is now heading in the right direction."

 

[tblack33]

Interesting article about vcu - https://richmondbizsense.com/2019/03/18/vcu-athletics-budget-doubled-since-2011-final-four-run:

"vcu Athletics’ annual revenue has more than doubled in the last eight years, jumping from $16.3 million in fiscal year 2010 – the last fiscal year before the Final Four run – to $34.2 million in FY 2017, according to the most recent data available from the school.

Its expenses have grown at a similar rate, jumping from $16.8 million in FY 2010 to $33.5 million in FY 2017.

Per its FY 2017 data, student fees, which are part of the university’s annual tuition, provide the majority of vcu Athletics’ revenue at $19.9 million. Its next-largest revenue source is donations ($5.1 million), followed by licensing and sponsorships ($2.5 million) and men’s basketball ticket sales ($2.4 million).

Jeff Cupps, vcu’s senior associate athletic director, whose staff’s responsibilities include managing the business end of vcu Athletics, said increasing student fees is seen as a necessary evil to compete at a national level."

"According to data provided by vcu, the athletic portion of its student fee has risen an average of $33 each year since the 2011-2012 school year.

The student fee at vcu during the 2010-2011 school year was $558. In 2011-2012, it jumped to $610. The fee for the 2018-2019 school year is $827. The university has 31,076 students enrolled in 2019, compared with 32,303 in 2011.

Though the fees continue to rise, vcu Athletics’ reliance on that source of revenue is trending downward.

In 2010, student fees brought in $12.4 million, accounting for 76 percent of the department’s overall revenue. In 2017, the fees brought in $19.9 million, or 58 percent of vcu Athletics’ revenue."

"Another large revenue generator for vcu is alumni donations, which go mostly to the Ram Athletic Fund, not to specific teams. In 2017, alumni donated $5.1 million to vcu Athletics; in 2009, it was $464,000.

vcu Athletics does not often fundraise for specific sports. Instead, it pools all of its donations into a general fund that’s distributed to each sport as needed."

"The 2011 Final Four run put the school on the map nationally.

The next year, vcu announced it would be moving from the Colonial Athletic Association to the Atlantic 10 Conference, a move driven in part by the school’s desire to capitalize on the spotlight and learn from what it saw as miscalculations by then-fellow CAA school George Mason University, which had made a miraculous Final Four run of its own in 2006.

GMU joined the Atlantic 10 in 2013, but has made the NCAA tournament only twice since its Final Four appearance.

'I don’t want anybody to take this the wrong way, but we saw their Final Four run and said, "Hey we need to do anything we can to continue the momentum from that Final Four run,"' Cupps said of GMU.

'That meant trying to keep our head coach, moving to a higher-level conference if the opportunity arises and building a basketball practice facility so we can really take advantage of that brief period of time that was so exciting,' he said, adding that he believes GMU is now heading in the right direction."

f**k I hate them.

 

[GMUgemini]

I don't hate their success, I hate TOC for effing up the hire after letting L walk...absolutely the worst hire he could have made. We could have been on a similar trajectory after 2011 if we had an administration that had its crap together.

(p.s. I still believe 2006 happened at a time when we just didn't have the infrastructure in place to really capitalize on it the way vcu did -- the 2011 season was a completely different ball game though).

 

[GSII]

Merten f**ked this up.

 

[gmujim92]

Merten f*cked this up.

No question about it. A colossal blunder in every way imaginable.

 

[FreeGunston12]

Merten f*cked this up.

Can someone educate me again as to why he gets the lionshare of the blame instead of TOC, BOV, etc?

It always appeared from the untuned/young eye at the time that he was all about the basketball program.

 

[GMUgemini]

Can someone educate me again as to why he gets the lionshare of the blame instead of TOC, BOV, etc?

It always appeared from the untuned/young eye at the time that he was all about the basketball program.

According to TOC, Merten refused to let TOC do dedicated fundraisers for basketball, specifically the basketball practice facility we announced post-Final Four. Then, he didn't authorize TOC to match Miami's offer, and was late in even telling him he could bump L's salary to $1 million (which was still 250k short of what Miami offered). By the time TOC called L, L was basically on the plane to Miami.

TOC screwed up the post-L hire, though, that's all on him.

 

[Pablo]

We all know that mistakes were made. IMO, the question now is what must be done to replicate the sustained support for athletics that vcu and some other A10 schools receive from their administration, students, alumni, and community? And, how does Mason overcome any inherent advantages these schools have over Mason?

 

[gmujim92]

We all know that mistakes were made. IMO, the question now is what must be done to replicate the sustained support for athletics that vcu and some other A10 schools receive from their administration, students, alumni, and community? And, how does Mason overcome any inherent advantages these schools have over Mason?

First step is getting away from this “education on a budget” mindset and raise student fees to vcu’s level. That would generate millions of dollars in new revenue.

From a marketing and admissions perspective, Mason would get a lot more bang from having a winning basketball team than by saving students a couple hundred bucks a year in fees on a $100,000 degree.

 

[Pablo]

An interesting article about vcu's planning for its current basketball practice facility, which raised most of the estimated $25 million cost through private donations - https://localtvwtvr.wordpress.com/2014/03/11/vcu-basketball-complex/:

"RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) - Getting the nation's top high school basketball players to commit to your school is one of the fastest ways to build a powerful college basketball program. Having a state-of-the-art training and practice facility is one of the best ways to attract that talent."

"'From a recruiting perspective, I think if our fans saw what a lot of programs have, and programs that our fans think we should beat every single time we take the court, it's really important for us to have this building,' vcu Director of Athletics Ed McLaughlin said.

In addition to practice courts for both the men’s and women’s basketball teams the 60,000-square foot building will have locker rooms, coaches offices, strength and conditioning areas, players lounges, laundry and equipment room, a video suite and a players dining room, according to the university."

"The university said $14.5 million of the building's estimated $25 million cost was raised through private donations making this the 'single largest private fundraising project in vcu Athletics history.'

The remaining $10.5 million was acquired through 'non-state funding,' according to vcu.

'We aren’t using any new university fees for this project,' vcu Executive Associate Athletic Director Glenn Hofmann told RichmondBizSense.com. 'Any university fee revenue that we are getting currently we are reallocating to some extent to the practice facility.'"

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

First step is getting away from this “education on a budget” mindset and raise student fees to vcu’s level. That would generate millions of dollars in new revenue.

From a marketing and admissions perspective, Mason would get a lot more bang from having a winning basketball team than by saving students a couple hundred bucks a year in fees on a $100,000 degree.

To be fair, for years you said the first step was having a dedicated practice facility.

This would apparently be the second step.

 

[GMUgemini]

To be fair, for years you said the first step was having a dedicated practice facility.

This would apparently be the second step.

I think step one is actually a Purge-like campaign to kick all the NIMBYs out of Fairfax. Promise this will happen, and I'll totally vote for you for the alumni board.

Step two, would be to convert that section of Roberts Rd. that runs adjacent to the campus into a row of iniquity with strip clubs, bars, and late night eateries catering to drunken college students.

 

[mkaufman1]

Oh good we hit the “mason didn’t do enough post final four” part of the offseason. When can we talk about mason football

 

[Falco]

First step is getting away from this “education on a budget” mindset and raise student fees to vcu’s level. That would generate millions of dollars in new revenue.

From a marketing and admissions perspective, Mason would get a lot more bang from having a winning basketball team than by saving students a couple hundred bucks a year in fees on a $100,000 degree.

We finally agree on something!

 

[sleeperpick]

Oh good we hit the “mason didn’t do enough post final four” part of the offseason. When can we talk about mason football

That’s the problem with 90% of our fan base. Living in the past off of glory or mishaps. Probably fine if we were still in CAA and EVERYONE would think paulsen is a decent coach because he coaches and recruits at about that level. But to those of us that don’t give a shit about the Mason Final 4 last (I was 13-14) we need to move on. The fact that over 75% of our season ticket holders (my estimation) are over 40 also proves that people love the glory days (one tournament) that made Mason legit. Move the f on. Who cares that TOC and Merten blew it. It’s done and over with move on. It’s also crazy that the people with the opinions that Mason totally screwed up and people should be held in low regard are the same ones that love the mediocrity we currently are faced with. We aren’t this lowly CAA team that needs to win the conference tournament each year to make the tournament and win a game or too. We are far passed that (whether we should have moved up conferences nonwithstanding). Go get a coach that can actually coach to the talent of the team and one that can recruit better. The future monetary support will come to Mason grads that make a lot more today post grad than they did in in the early 2000s. People of my age demographic don’t support the team because they are horrible to watch most of the time and because the basketball team was mostly horrible when they were in school. “But sleeperpick why do you even care if you hate the state of the program so much And bitch about everything ” -probably jim or the failed high school coach on this board. I care because this is my school (shockingly 50% of these boards can’t say that) and because I see the potential in a talent rich area with a college that is no longer up and coming. We are here and hopefully with some winning and some university support (praying this new president gives a f**k about basketball) we will turn into a vcu level of support. If not I will probably stop paying to watch garbage and save some money. If they do turn it around I guarantee we see an uptick in donations. Donations have gone down 2 straight years. Covid and the state of the program are not going to help changing that next year. I love the school and I love Mason basketball. Just because I don’t think everything is rainbows and butterflies when we are mediocre or flat out suck does not mean I don’t support the program. My dad donates quite a bit to Providence College and not everyone supports Cooley but we damn sure respect how well he does in a situation considerably worse than the largest public school in Virginia that resides in one of the richest counties in America. Their arena is sponsored by Dunkin Donuts and we got ours sponsored for pennies by a regional bank. It makes 0 sense. I personally think the entire athletic department should be put out to pasture. This school needs a change and rebirth to get to the potential I and many others think it could have.

 

[mkaufman1]

That’s the problem with 90% of our fan base. Living in the past off of glory or mishaps. Probably fine if we were still in CAA and EVERYONE would think paulsen is a decent coach because he coaches and recruits at about that level. But to those of us that don’t give a shit about the Mason Final 4 last (I was 13-14) we need to move on. The fact that over 75% of our season ticket holders (my estimation) are over 40 also proves that people love the glory days (one tournament) that made Mason legit. Move the f on. Who cares that TOC and Merten blew it. It’s done and over with move on. It’s also crazy that the people with the opinions that Mason totally screwed up and people should be held in low regard are the same ones that love the mediocrity we currently are faced with. We aren’t this lowly CAA team that needs to win the conference tournament each year to make the tournament and win a game or too. We are far passed that (whether we should have moved up conferences nonwithstanding). Go get a coach that can actually coach to the talent of the team and one that can recruit better. The future monetary support will come to Mason grads that make a lot more today post grad than they did in in the early 2000s. People of my age demographic don’t support the team because they are horrible to watch most of the time and because the basketball team was mostly horrible when they were in school. “But sleeperpick why do you even care if you hate the state of the program so much And bitch about everything ” -probably jim or the failed high school coach on this board. I care because this is my school (shockingly 50% of these boards can’t say that) and because I see the potential in a talent rich area with a college that is no longer up and coming. We are here and hopefully with some winning and some university support (praying this new president gives a f*ck about basketball) we will turn into a vcu level of support. If not I will probably stop paying to watch garbage and save some money. If they do turn it around I guarantee we see an uptick in donations. Donations have gone down 2 straight years. Covid and the state of the program are not going to help changing that next year. I love the school and I love Mason basketball. Just because I don’t think everything is rainbows and butterflies when we are mediocre or flat out suck does not mean I don’t support the program. My dad donates quite a bit to Providence College and not everyone supports Cooley but we damn sure respect how well he does in a situation considerably worse than the largest public school in Virginia that resides in one of the richest counties in America. Their arena is sponsored by Dunkin Donuts and we got ours sponsored for pennies by a regional bank. It makes 0 sense. I personally think the entire athletic department should be put out to pasture. This school needs a change and rebirth to get to the potential I and many others think it could have.

always much respect.

 

[Walter]

I think step one is actually a Purge-like campaign to kick all the NIMBYs out of Fairfax. Promise this will happen, and I'll totally vote for you for the alumni board.

Step two, would be to convert that section of Roberts Rd. that runs adjacent to the campus into a row of iniquity with strip clubs, bars, and late night eateries catering to drunken college students.

Maybe not strip clubs, but this is actually a really good idea. The appeal of the school would drastically increase by having a restaurant and bar district within a short walking distance from campus.

 

[GMUgemini]

Maybe not strip clubs, but this is actually a really good idea. The appeal of the school would drastically increase by having a restaurant and bar district within a short walking distance from campus.

The strip clubs were for Jollay's benefit...but absolutely it would.