Two More Join Talley’s ‘Cats

Brian,

ESPN has been showcasing a debate for paying college athletes.  Obviously this is really driven by the overall revenue from football and men’s basketball.  Most comments out there suggest that a salary is probably unlikely but that a full cost scholarship is very much in play.  However they also say that a well majority of schools could not even afford a full cost.  With Villanova trying to get into Division 1 football, how do you think they could handle a pay for play scenario?  As a smaller but private institution are they financially ahead of some of the bigger, public institutions that are losing money left and right on their athletic departments?

Villanova might have to cut some non-revenue sports to do it, but it might be possible. I really haven’t seen any figure as to what those full-cost scholarships would cost a school. Most-likely that sort of scenario will be a real test for Villanova’s alumni and boosters.

As for the football aspect, the impact may not be very big. After a transition is over, the financial projections from playing in a major conference are pretty good and while the overall athletics budget will be bigger, so will revenue — which means that the actual profit/loss of the department might not be so different.

Don’t you need those non-revenue sports to be a full member of the Big East?

No. In fact, you only need 14 varsity sports (revenue + non-revenue) to be a member of Division 1 and 16 to be a member of Division 1-FBS according to NCAA rules. West Virginia, for example, fields only 17 varsity teams — Villanova currently has 24.

Also notable that Austin Calitro is always tweeting summer meeting and practice times for his high school teammates. You have to love that level of leadership and work-ethic.

That is a great point about alumni/boosters.  Most schools can get lucky and strike it rich with a hefty donation but you have to rely on pure numbers of alumni too.  A school like Ohio St, Michigan and Cuse can get large bundles of donations that some smaller schools can’t.  My father is a Nova Alumni and I haven’t really asked how excited he would be at the prospect of FBS football.  I’m guessing the classes for the past 10-15 year are definitely excited.

We’ve already seen so much conference switching action.  We are going to see more if some payment plan is agreed on.  

would be real nice to se these guys at PPL park!!~

Given the fact that I am rather positive that Villanova will continue to host at least the UDel rivalry at PPL Park if there is no move to FBS, I am sure that you will. The only thing that would stop them is injury or a late decision to sign elsewhere.

Brian, sounds like you may be trending bearish on the move to fbs.  Personally I see no reason for the BE to add a tenth team at this point in time. Down the road I see 12 teams, but Nova is certainly not a lock for one of the three remaining spots.

On Sunday at the Health Club, I was talking with a former pitcher of mine who gave up baseball to work out on weights the entire off season for Football….lol  
He is a rising junior offensive lineman (2013) who has Villanova, Delaware & Lehigh among his personal list but if his upcoming Fall season is as much a success as I think might be, there will be a lot of schools talking to him.   He is up to 265 lb with very little body fat.  The kid is a monster now and still getting stronger.   It will be interesting to watch how his junior year plays out this Fall and how it affects his recruiting prospects.   
I am sure glad his favorite Coach of all time was a Villanova alum….lol 

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Allentown Central Catholic QB  Brendan Nosivitch (2012) committed to South Carolina earlier this week but no word on his All State receiver  Kevin Gulyas (2012) from the returning PIAA AAA State Champions.   Gulyas is being recruited for Lacrosse AND Football and his sister just graduated from Villanova in 2010 as an  “All Academic” Volleyball player. 
http://blog.pennlive.com/westernpafootball/2011/03/recruiting_notes_allentown_cen.html  
http://articles.mcall.com/2010-12-15/sports/mc-central-gulyas-1215-20101215_1_harold-fairclough-bishop-mcdevitt-bubble  

6’0 180 lb Gulyas will probably be a a possession receiver at the next level with outstanding hands.   He has been making his rounds at Camps over the last few months but I don’t have numbers on his latest 40 time but he was 4.57 at 2011 NIKE Sparq Combine in Philly.     A lot of the schools following him (including Notre Dame) have not offered him yet as his size and speed is below that level but the kid impresses everyone with his hands.  His grandfather played for Kentucky and he has interest if they eventually offer him.    http://rise.espn.go.com/community/members/Buckeyes2147.aspx 

The Big East will almost certainly add a 10th team. The only question is whether or not an 11th and 12th are worth the growing pains they will cause.

I’m not particularly”bearish” on the upgrade at this point. If anything I am slightly “bullish” on the potential that a move will happen eventually, but it is by no means guaranteed. The fact that the trustees and administration were prepared to make the investment to do it is a big chip in favor of it happening. Insiders I have spoken to believe that it still will, and my understanding is that they haven’t stopped pursuing an invitation from the Big East at this point.

As for other schools, there is so much information and misinformation going around that it’s hard to really distinguish signal from noise right now.

The stadium issue boils down to this: Villanova can almost certainly get an agreement to build out PPL Park to 30,000 (or so) seats within a specified and reasonable amount of time. The Union may even be willing to pay for more of an expansion than we originally anticipated, if it means securing a long-term lease from Villanova. It is highly unlikely, however, that the stadium will be expanded to 40,000 or above. Capacity is a little bit of a red herring, however, since the ACC has two stadiums in the low-30k range and the Big East has a stadium in Cincy that seats only 35k — ticket revenue isn’t shared, so the benefit to the conference from more seats is indirect at-best.

Villanova also has to overcome the concerns of Rutgers (and perhaps others), who have to be concerned that the Wildcats could take interest away from their program in the South Jersey and Philly markets. They are pretty happy being the only game in town in and around New Jersey and don’t particularly want another major conference program in their backyard.

… and of course, none of it may matter if Texas A&M and the SEC decide to join forces. That move could cause more changes in the conference landscape and could find Villanova either hoisted to the highest levels of football or forever locked out of a power conference — depending on how the chips fall.

Barney …his favorite coach of all time has to be Jules Winnfield

Staten Island’s MLB Kenneth Coughlin has Villanova on his list. 

Being under 5’11, this MLB probably won’t be going to D-1A school so I can assume that Villanova, Delaware, Penn, Lafayette & Fordham are his really pursuers on the recruiting trail.   He put up some decent strength numbers at the Nike camp and he has been to several Individual Camps including Villanova & Delaware so the Coaches know who he is by now.   As a Linebacker & long snapper, he offers some versatility to the FCS schools that are recruiting him. 

http://villanova.scout.com/2/1087978.html 
http://hsnewyork.scout.com/2/1087445.html 

http://villanova.scout.com/a.z?s=441&p=8&c=1&nid=5719836