The Morning Dish – Saturday, September 13th
Tide Extension: Alabama head basketball coach Mark Gottfried received a five-year contract extension yesterday, which raises his annual salary to $800,000 ($150,000 base) plus incentives. A sixth year would be added if Gottfried wins 19 games this season. Gottfried, the Tide’s coach since the 1998-99 season, has taken the squad to back-to-back NCAA appearances in 2002 and 2003, and won the NIT in 2001. Equally important is that all of Gottfried’s seniors have graduated, and Alabama players have won 15 Academic All-SEC awards in his time in Tuscaloosa.
Sloan Staying: Baylor’s board of regents yesterday voted to keep school president Robert Sloan in office after several ex-board members and the faculty senate voted for his ouster. The vote tally was 31-4, so at least one of the five regents that called for the vote earlier in the week had changed their mind. In addition to the scandal in the men’s basketball program over the summer, Sloan had been accused of creating a climate of fear on campus where an administrator could be fired for disagreeing with him or his 10-year plan, called “Baylor 2012”, to make the school the top Christian research school.
Tar Heel Foot: North Carolina junior center Sean May has been cleared to resume basketball activities, following January foot surgery. May, who suffered a hairline fracture of his left fifth metatarsal during practice in December, had the bone completely break in a game December 27th against Iona. Though he returned for an ACC Tournament game, he shut it down afterwards, as the bone had not completely healed. May was the Tar Heels’ fourth-leading scorer with 11.4 points and 8 rebounds per contest in 10 games.
Coaches Sue Government: The College Sports Council, a coalition of college athletics coaches, has sued the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress. The coaches are suing because they claim that the GAO used flawed data in a 2001 report on the growth and elimination of teams, specifically in regard to Title IX issues. The report is used to enforce Title IX, usually forcing schools to eliminate programs to cut or limit men’s teams in order to become compliant, which would then become suspect if the data in the report is indeed flawed. The suit, filed in federal district court, also wants the Education Department to clarify their enforcement practices of the law.
The Cowboy Way: Wyoming board of trustee members yesterday approved a plan that would boost the school’s competitiveness in major sports and would renovate the school’s football stadium. The school proposes to spend an additional $3 million on recruiting and marketing, in addition to $18 million in War Memorial Stadium renovations, including construction of an indoor football and soccer practice facility and tennis courts. Both men’s and women’s hoops programs would benefit specifically from the recruiting and marketing increase, as they are among the school’s most visible programs. The measure is expected to be formally voted on today.
