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Hartford Quitting Division 1

 
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Youth Coach



Joined: 23 Mar 2008
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PostPosted: 05/07/21 9:49 am    ::: Hartford Quitting Division 1 Reply Reply with quote

According to this Sports Illustrated article, the University of Hartford has voted to quit Division 1 and drop down to Division III by 2025.
pilight



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PostPosted: 05/07/21 10:31 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

They will surely be dropping some sports as part of this move



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purduefanatic



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PostPosted: 05/07/21 11:01 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

pilight wrote:
They will surely be dropping some sports as part of this move


I believe there is actually talk of them adding more sports. Without the scholarships, lower pay for coaches, etc, they are looking at ways to get more paying kids on campus and thus actually increasing money coming into the school. In reading a couple of articles, it appears attendance at Hartford has been dropping the last few years under this president while attendance at similar schools in Connecticut (Sacred Heart, Fairfield, etc) has actually risen. This all kind of came out of left field to most in the community as he had quietly commissioned a feasibility study and then the Board of Regents (most members appointed by him) voted to drop down. Apparently he has not once publicly acknowledged or recognized the men's basketball team that made their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance this year. This really smells kind of fishy the way it transpired. I wonder if we haven't heard the end of this.


ClayK



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PostPosted: 05/08/21 10:21 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

I think it's really interesting because Hartford is one of the few, maybe only, schools to move down from D1.

It could be that the new financial landscape -- in which boosters can pay athletes whatever they want to "endorse" their firm/products -- will start making other schools rethink the advantages and disadvantages of D1.

From an athlete/student perspective, setting aside the scholarship money (or partial), a D3 experience is in many ways much superior to D1.



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snzuluz



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PostPosted: 05/08/21 11:45 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

The article stated that they would save around 9.2 million dollars yearly...

Since NCAA Div. III cannot offer athletic scholarship that is a lot of money to use for general scholarships, adding sports, and other project throughout the school...to include adding new academic majors and hiring professors/staff/adjunct instructors...

After having coached on the NCAA Division III level as a head coach, I can honestly say that this level is really about the STUDENT - athlete...with the academics coming first!


purduefanatic



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PostPosted: 05/08/21 8:51 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

snzuluz wrote:
The article stated that they would save around 9.2 million dollars yearly...


There has been some others that have shown that the actual savings is really less than half that amount. Those numbers are the ones the President and his Board of Regents are putting out there. I have been in contact with a few friends that are familiar with the whole situation and there are lots of unhappy people. Much of what has put forth publicly by the university is a lot of misrepresentation.


Queenie



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PostPosted: 05/08/21 10:35 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Let's see how this plays out. Remember when New Orleans was planning to drop to D-III, then changed their mind and planned to go to D-II, and then didn't go at all? Booster money talks.



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summertime blues



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PostPosted: 05/09/21 12:31 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

I read on Deadspin that a number of the athletes were pretty angry about this move, since they were losing scholarship money, and had either entered the transfer portal or were planning to. This apparently included a majority of the men's basketball team, which had made the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. I really cannot blame them.



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purduefanatic



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PostPosted: 05/09/21 6:04 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

They are all pissed. But only one member of the men's team has entered the portal as of today (and he had actually told the coach before this announcement). Here is a GREAT 15 min podcast with Hartford men's coach, John Gallagher: http://lightscamerasports.com/lightscamerasports-pres-by-cht-with-john-gallagher-hc-univ-of-hartford-mens-basketball/

A couple of highlights:

1. March 19th - lost to Baylor in 1st Round of NCAA's, went back to hotel and a university official told him that the President and Board of Regents was dead set on going Div III. He didn't even have a chance to celebrate what they accomplished. By the way, the President of the University of Hartford has still not to this day congratulated him on getting the team to the tournament for the first time in school history. Let that sink in for a minute.

2. He talks about meeting with the team and that everyone has committed to come back next year to be the best team in the America East and go back to back champions.

He is a great interview and a very good coach. I feel really bad for all the athletes after getting completely blindsided like they did. The softball team posed for a photo with their uniforms on and the name "Hartford" was blocked out on all of them with black tape and captioned "We don't play for you @UofHartford".


Youth Coach



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PostPosted: 05/11/21 6:19 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

purduefanatic wrote:
The softball team posed for a photo with their uniforms on and the name "Hartford" was blocked out on all of them with black tape and captioned "We don't play for you @UofHartford".


Care to bet there's repercussions for that?
Ex-Ref



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PostPosted: 05/11/21 8:11 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Youth Coach wrote:
purduefanatic wrote:
The softball team posed for a photo with their uniforms on and the name "Hartford" was blocked out on all of them with black tape and captioned "We don't play for you @UofHartford".


Care to bet there's repercussions for that?


Watch the school photshop the name back in. Wouldn't that piss off the players??

I'm not sure that there is much for the school to gain by reacting to it. Ignore it and it will (maybe) quickly go away . React to it and it will be ALL OVER social media in seconds and the school will probably not look good.



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FrozenLVFan



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PostPosted: 05/11/21 8:29 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

purduefanatic wrote:
pilight wrote:
They will surely be dropping some sports as part of this move


I believe there is actually talk of them adding more sports. Without the scholarships, lower pay for coaches, etc, they are looking at ways to get more paying kids on campus and thus actually increasing money coming into the school. In reading a couple of articles, it appears attendance at Hartford has been dropping the last few years under this president while attendance at similar schools in Connecticut (Sacred Heart, Fairfield, etc) has actually risen. This all kind of came out of left field to most in the community as he had quietly commissioned a feasibility study and then the Board of Regents (most members appointed by him) voted to drop down. Apparently he has not once publicly acknowledged or recognized the men's basketball team that made their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance this year. This really smells kind of fishy the way it transpired. I wonder if we haven't heard the end of this.


I don't find it odd that a mediocre private non-profit school with declining enrollments, 5K undergrads, annual cost of $60K, graduation rate of 59%, and only modest endowment is trying to realign its priorities and bottom line. Whether some of the maneuvering was fishy is a different issue. The big picture most likely eclipses any considerations regarding the basketball teams.


purduefanatic



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PostPosted: 05/11/21 8:38 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

FrozenLVFan wrote:
purduefanatic wrote:
pilight wrote:
They will surely be dropping some sports as part of this move


I believe there is actually talk of them adding more sports. Without the scholarships, lower pay for coaches, etc, they are looking at ways to get more paying kids on campus and thus actually increasing money coming into the school. In reading a couple of articles, it appears attendance at Hartford has been dropping the last few years under this president while attendance at similar schools in Connecticut (Sacred Heart, Fairfield, etc) has actually risen. This all kind of came out of left field to most in the community as he had quietly commissioned a feasibility study and then the Board of Regents (most members appointed by him) voted to drop down. Apparently he has not once publicly acknowledged or recognized the men's basketball team that made their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance this year. This really smells kind of fishy the way it transpired. I wonder if we haven't heard the end of this.


I don't find it odd that a mediocre private non-profit school with declining enrollments, 5K undergrads, annual cost of $60K, graduation rate of 59%, and only modest endowment is trying to realign its priorities and bottom line. Whether some of the maneuvering was fishy is a different issue. The big picture most likely eclipses any considerations regarding the basketball teams.


The point is, the school under the current President failed to do anything in the past few years to boost enrollment and is now finding itself in the current predicament. Read some articles, esp the one from this past weekend in the Hartford Courant that contained quotes from previous staff, including former president of the school. This never had to happen. And the circumstances under which it has occurred make it that much worse from a public standpoint especially. Many still believe this does not need to happen and there are many ways to right the ship. The fact remains that the current President of the University of Hartford has done nothing but bring that school down. Notice he hasn't said boo...I think that speaks volumes. He is not a leader.


NoDakSt



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PostPosted: 05/11/21 8:49 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

A similar scenario playing out at Eastern Washington University. The talk ranges from dropping down to DII or lower or cutting football (FCS). The Eagles have been mainstays in the FCs postseason tourney and the MBB team almost upset Kansas in the Dance. Since that time the men’s basketball coach has excepted employment the University of Portland, several in the men’s basketball team have entered the transfer portal, the women’s basketball coach has been fired (performance-based), and the men’s soccer coach Contract renewed. Rumors abound especially with regards to a secret feasibility study that was conducted by the previous president who was Let go last year (And who passed away last week)


purduefanatic



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PostPosted: 05/17/21 10:50 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

An excellent article from their former athletic director, Pat Meiser. She was well-respected and a pioneer as one of the first female athletic directors.

https://ctmirror.org/category/ct-viewpoints/the-not-so-spun-truth-about-the-university-of-hartford/


ClayK



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PostPosted: 05/18/21 9:21 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Interesting ... it's not as if the administration doesn't know about these numbers, or how little they'll actually save, so it's curious as to why they would want to take the PR hit.

Must be more to this story ...



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