(02-01-2020 09:37 PM)Boogie Woogie Wrote: Why no press? Evidently it's an auto win when we "havoc". Its all you heard about while McGrath was coaching;. Haven't heard a thing about it since he was let go. We haven't pressed. Bottom line is this team consists of freshman and sophomores and they don't know how to win yet. We're a bottom tier midmajor in a below average conference, and expectations should reflect as such. We're not a midmajor powerhouse and never will be. We've won 1 tournament game in the history of our average to below average history. Love the passion on this board though.
McGrath thought of us in the same manner, which is why he was never going to succeed here. OTH, Burke looks at UNCW as a CHAMPIONSHIP level school and believes he and our players have to live up to that.
A lot of people have looked at UNCW as a second rate school in the UNC system, and as a result we've remained a second rate school in the UNC system. Except now, we have a Chancellor who didn't know squat about UNCW until he applied for the job. He looked at UNCW and wondered how on earth we are a second rate school in the UNC system? He wondered why on earth we aren't the fastest growing school in the system? He wondered why on earth we weren't a research level university? He wondered why on earth we couldn't go to 25,000 students and still remain at a high academic level?
And because HE saw us as far more than WE saw us, we ARE the fastest growing school in the sytem. We ARE now deemed a research level school and he's attacking that every day to do more. We ARE moving and planning to get to 25,000 students with new dorms, new cafeterias, a $50 million dollar health and research building, plans to build a new library, and plans for more STEM degrees and research.
No, we're not Gonzaga of the east and may never be. But Gonzaga would have never become "Gonzaga" without a belief and a plan to get there. It's easy to talk about Trask and why we haven't upgraded. It's easy to talk about how we didn't capitalize on the Brownell years. But athletic departments are built entirely on student fees, donations, ticket sales, trips to the NCAA, etc. Money doesn't grow on trees for athletic departments.
One of our biggest financial barrriers has been the size of our student population. When I attended UNCW there were about 4,000 students. Last fall we enrolled 17,500 students. Compare that to ECU 28,962. JMU 21,297. Towson 22,284 Delaware 23,774 VCU 31,242 George Mason 35,000
Athletic fees for students is by far the biggest aspect of finances in a non P5 school like UNCW. ECU fees are $773 x 28,962 = $22,387,626.00 UNCW fees are $774 x 17,500 = $13,545,000. Imagine how much VCU brings in? How much George Mason brings in. And you wonder WHY VCU and GMU were able to make the leap to the next level when UNCW couldn't? If we increase to 25,000 students, our athletic department will have at least $6 million more in their budget or close to $20 million instead of $13 million. Do you think that could make a difference on all the things you've complained about?
What I can tell you is that the Chancellor at UNCW is passionate about having championship level athletics at UNCW. There are multiple ideas for improving/replacing Trask but donors have to buy in. And winning is a must for donors to buy in. This is the first time in the history of UNCW that there has been a set plan for GROWTH at UNCW. In the past we've just grown based on current demand. If any of you haven't been on campus in the past two years, go. You will honestly be shocked.