Well done JMU! This says a lot more than just offering COA. It shows that our admin CAN change. Doesn't look great for Alger, but it does show he is willing to make a reasonable decision. The admin isn't as stubborn as I feared.

There's hope for the future.

We got one right, Good on King & Bourne.

I am not surprised football was excluded, that is the right thing to have done too (now).

At least JMU offered an athletic move that can be perceived as something besides small time.

Come on Big12, shake things up again.

I will attend more bball games this year, feeling a bit better.

Exciting news. Glad strong philosophical differences didn't get in the way of common sense (eventually).

Great move my the JMU administration. I have been critical in the past but certainly will give credit when it is due. I know that there has been a bit of a sea change in Harrisinburg. I believe this is just the beginning of positive news on the athletic front.

My position has always been that academically JMU is outstanding. Unfortunately, outside of the EAST coast it is relatively unknown. Athletics is our best advertising. Well done, Messrs. Alger, Bourne and King.

Yes! This is the best news of the day!

Great news, FINALLY!

This should have happened 6 months ago at minimum.

It's like congratulating someone for replacing the brakes on their car.

The future of JMU sports has a pulse. Woo hoo!! <---- real excitement, not sarcasm.

I was afraid that the treading of water would have us drifting out to sea. There is a lot of work needed by all alumni and I hope a strong campaign to raise more money will now succeed.

This is needed for basketball to be competitive and to justify building a new arena.
Step 1 - check.
Step 2 - let's raise some Convo money.

I am happy that Jon Alger decided to change his stance on COA. He may not respond anymore, but we know he is getting the critical messages and, at least in this case, was willing to admit he was wrong.

Don't jilt JMU Nation. They will turn on you like a rabid wolf.

The whole COA discussion got me thinking a bit as to what the costs would be for COA for all sports. Went to the Web and looked up the number of scholarships that are allowed for the sports that are played at JMU. JMU sponsors 6 sports for men and 11 for women. The COA for the 28 mens and womens basketball scholarships (13 men, 15 women) was announced at a cost of $125000. This works out to a cost per scholarship of about $4465.

Men

Football (FCS) 63
Baseball 11.7
Golf 4.5
Tennis 4.5
Soccer 9.9

Total (excluding MBB) 93.6

Women

Softball 12
Lacrosse 12
Field Hockey 12
Tennis 8
Soccer 14
Golf 6
Volleyball 12
Swim/Diving 14
Cross Country/Track & Field 18

Total (Excluding WBB) 108


Total scholarships for all mens and womens sports excluding MBB and WBB is 201.6. Total scholarships including basketball would be 229.6. Since JMU fully funds all sports scholarships these would be the actual numbers each year give or take a few. At a per scholarship cost of $4465 each the total for COA for all sports in addition to MBB and WBB would be $900,144 per year. Adding the COA for basketball of $125000 would bring the total COA for all sports to $1,025,144 per year. Not a small chunk of change.

So as we can see the COA for all sports would require a considerable increase in donations. Starting with MBB and WBB is a good move as that is where we are seeing the biggest impact from other schools in recruiting. I would think that as time goes by and funding raising for COA increases we will see other sports added.

Interesting numbers to say the least.

Hope everyone finds this of some interest.

Brian

Great news.......Lets get busy recruiting.

Eureka!

I'm assuming that this is considered income for the student athlete and it's taxable? Is it tax exempt?

(06-17-2016 08:33 PM)Potomac Wrote:  I'm assuming that this is considered income for the student athlete and it's taxable? Is it tax exempt?

I think it's treated as a scholarship. So they get the regular scholarship, plus the extra money.

(06-17-2016 09:09 PM)bridgeforthduke Wrote:  

(06-17-2016 08:33 PM)Potomac Wrote:  I'm assuming that this is considered income for the student athlete and it's taxable? Is it tax exempt?

I think it's treated as a scholarship. So they get the regular scholarship, plus the extra money.

Okay thanks. Scholarships never hit a players bank account though?

And now Alger breaks his silence. He did a brief interview with the DNR and Sunderland asked some great and pointed questions.

While his answers were not forthright at least he finally stopped ignoring the issue publicly. I think it was his first media interview regarding COA in the 9 months since he dropped his faux pas letter aligning JMU athletically with Elon, VMI etc.

Thank God the dark ages are behind us.

(06-18-2016 07:09 AM)Hart Foundation Wrote:  Thank God the dark ages are behind us.

Eh I wouldn't go that far. I'd say we're seeing a slightly gray shade of color in a tunnel of complete darkness.

It is a pretty big deal that Alger finally publicly commented on something related to athletics. Hopefully that opens the door for further discussion/public comments on FBS, etc. This is a spring board.

I wouldn't really call it an interview with Alger. He replied to an email because he refused to be available by phone. And his quote is BS. He says that the reason we didn't do it 9 months ago when he wrote his letter is because we didn't have the resources to do so. Of course we did.

If you read between the lines- regarding Alger changing his stance on COA (against COA in the letter he signed- now JMU is committing to COA) he said what changed was that there was a way to commit to COA without raising student fees. He's a lawyer so he knows his words can be used against him. Fair to say if full fledged COA doesn't involve raising student fees (i.e. comes from private donations) JMU will adopt it?

I think the clear path now for JMU athletics is to fund raise for the new Convo with the COA momentum behind us. Once that is funded the fund raising can go towards preparing for COA across the board and FBS football. I know someone did the math on COA and it's approx. $1M more. What needs to be calculated is the added cost for more full scholarships in FBS football and if that would require sponsoring an additional woman's sport to comply with Title IX. By the time JMU has reached that point I think the conference landscape will have shifted where the cost for travel in moving into a new conference will be similar to cost for travel today in the CAA and the additional TV revenue/guaranteed game revenue could help lower the reliance on student fees and comply with the Cox ruling.

This has all been planned out already. I think the number (outside of the Convo funding) is probably in the $3M range in terms of private donations in order to get to FBS and COA for all sports. When that happens JMU will be a top 50 athletics program (facilities, support, on field success, etc.) to go with being a top 50 academic institution. IMO that goal is 5-10 years out and very viable.