...in men's basketball. And it doesn't have much to do with Kenny Payne. There's been no reason for optimism since Pitino was abruptly and prematurely canned.
It's all about where U of L wants to go with men's basketball, or more precisely, where they don't want to go--or don't care. It's about the lack of urgency as thousands of fans fall off the radar. ...Justifiably so as coaching abominations become the norm along with the embarrassing losses. And it's about not having money to do what needs to be done like building baseball practice facilities and buying out coaching misfires.
I generally present financial info as it becomes available and not wait for context like we now have with men's basketball. But the finances show how hopeless the situation is with this particular sport. The way in which men's basketball has systematically been DEFUNDED the last several years completely explains why there's no rush to deal with Kenny Payne. (Nor obviously is there the money...) A bad coach in men's basketball is now the standard for that sport, and how can you form any other conclusion?...
2018 is the year in which the men's basketball budget maxed out, so I didn't randomly choose that date. The difference now in how basketball is being supported financially and other key sports at U of L is striking, if not ridiculous. There's nothing close for comparison.
I also want to go back prior to 2018, and not simply to show how much funding there was for these sports under the prior regime. That would be the obvious takeaway, but it's not my primary focus here. What I want to point out is that men's basketball prior to 2018 was not OVERFUNDED so that, for example, the new regime was simply compensating for the way Jurich & Pitino were money rolling basketball. Far from it...
Men's basketball funding was slightly behind the other sports then as well. But that probably makes some sense. The difference was slight, and let's face it...if ANY sport got the lion's share of money and attention at U of L historically, it was men's basketball. Those seven years, however, funding was 30% higher than inflation. So there's no argument like there is now that we were starving that sport.
There's no hope for men's basketball when your administration is showing this degree of indifference to how the sport is being financially supported. We don't have the money in basketball or the desire to be better than Kenny Payne or to pay what it takes to get rid of him...
It's all about where U of L wants to go with men's basketball, or more precisely, where they don't want to go--or don't care. It's about the lack of urgency as thousands of fans fall off the radar. ...Justifiably so as coaching abominations become the norm along with the embarrassing losses. And it's about not having money to do what needs to be done like building baseball practice facilities and buying out coaching misfires.
I generally present financial info as it becomes available and not wait for context like we now have with men's basketball. But the finances show how hopeless the situation is with this particular sport. The way in which men's basketball has systematically been DEFUNDED the last several years completely explains why there's no rush to deal with Kenny Payne. (Nor obviously is there the money...) A bad coach in men's basketball is now the standard for that sport, and how can you form any other conclusion?...
2018 is the year in which the men's basketball budget maxed out, so I didn't randomly choose that date. The difference now in how basketball is being supported financially and other key sports at U of L is striking, if not ridiculous. There's nothing close for comparison.
I also want to go back prior to 2018, and not simply to show how much funding there was for these sports under the prior regime. That would be the obvious takeaway, but it's not my primary focus here. What I want to point out is that men's basketball prior to 2018 was not OVERFUNDED so that, for example, the new regime was simply compensating for the way Jurich & Pitino were money rolling basketball. Far from it...
Men's basketball funding was slightly behind the other sports then as well. But that probably makes some sense. The difference was slight, and let's face it...if ANY sport got the lion's share of money and attention at U of L historically, it was men's basketball. Those seven years, however, funding was 30% higher than inflation. So there's no argument like there is now that we were starving that sport.
There's no hope for men's basketball when your administration is showing this degree of indifference to how the sport is being financially supported. We don't have the money in basketball or the desire to be better than Kenny Payne or to pay what it takes to get rid of him...
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