#10: The majority of the top 20 university endowments (as identified by a February NACUBO report) saw returns under 5%. According to Inside Higher Ed’s Josh Moody, Harvard, which has the largest single-institution endowment in the nation, saw a 2.9% return in FY23, bringing the total to $50.7B. Still, Harvard CFO Ritu Kalra says the school is not immune to broad economic pressure. “Inflation has been persistent in every arena—wages, supplies, construction costs—and is not yet behind us. Interest rates are higher than they have been in decades, which adds to our costs and puts pressure on the broader financial markets. Going forward, we will need to watch the pace of operating expense growth, which was nearly double this year’s revenue growth. That was purposeful this year, but that level of growth is not sustainable over the long run.” Outside the top 20, several universities posted strong returns, including Wisconsin (10.5%), Nebraska (9.8%), Illinois (9%) and Syracuse (8.6%). (link); Full endowment returns tracker from Pensions & Investments. (link)
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#9: Boise State provides a behind the scenes look of its Football HC search before a selection has been made. Can’t think of many other search processes that have featured the travel & meetings associated with such a high-profile search before the announcement of a new leader. In the video, Broncos AD Jeramiah Dickey outlines why the facilities in Boise stack up well against the rest of the Mountain West, says the last 48 hours have been “very productive.” Senior Assoc. AD for Athletics Personnel Services & Chief of Staff Heather Berry, Vice President for University Advancement and Assoc. AD/Strategic Communications & Business Development Mike Walsh are assisting Dickey. (link); Interestingly, Boise has also setup a dedicated webpage to keep fans updated about the search with more video content. Also looks like Collegiate Sports Associates is the search firm of record judging from the videos. (link)
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#8: Seton Hall Men’s Basketball HC Shaheen Holloway and Wagner HC Donald Copeland both apologize for their behavior in the postgame handshake line. Holloway: “I take full responsibility for that. I like Donald. I respect him. He’s a good person, a good player and a good coach.” Copeland: “I am embarrassed. I want to apologize to my team for what went on. I have a ton of respect for Sha. He’s a competitor, I’m a competitor, too. That’s part of what went on. It’s unfortunate what happened for him and me. … But I want to coach my team from start to finish.” The Pirates won the game, 72-51. (link)
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#7: More from USA Today, which has published a database of football AC salaries that shows Clemson OC Garrett Riley as the nation’s highest paid AC with total pay of $2.05M, followed by Washington OC Ryan Grubb ($2M), Ohio State DC Jim Knowles ($1.95M), Georgia Co-DC Glenn Schumann ($1.9M), and Oklahoma OC Jeff Lebby, LSU DC Matt House, Ole Miss DC Pete Golding, Alabama OC Tommy Rees and Alabama DC Kevin Steele ($1.9M). Full list. (link)
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#6: Army West Point unveils its football uniforms for the Black Knights’ matchup with Navy. Inspired by the “Dogface Soldiers” of the 3rd Infantry Division during the opening phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the tan uniforms feature the 3rd Infantry Division patch on the sleeve, Rocky the Bulldog on the helmets, and “ROTM” on the pants in recognition of the division’s nickname, the Rock of the Marne. Also, they are awesome. Have a look. (link)
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#5: Navy has unveiled its “Silent Service” uniforms for this year’s showdown with Army West Point. “Selected to honor the USS MASSACHUSETTS (SSN 798) — the ninth ship of that name in service of the United States, dating back to the earliest days of the Continental Navy. The USS Massachusetts will be the 25th Virginia-class nuclear submarine to enter U.S. Navy service and will reside in Groton, Conn., after commissioning. … Each helmet is hand-painted with the right side depicting a Virginia Class Submarine underwater and the left side depicting Navy’s customary Navy anchor with the submariner pin integrated into it with color-changing pragmatic paint. The front flex panel depicts a color-changing radar, which is used on submarines to find their target. The front decal of the helmet says ‘Navy,’ while the back decal says ‘Silent Service.’” It never gets old saying this: Awesome. Every single year. (link, link)
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#4: The FCS Championship field is set. As the top eight seeds, respectively, South Dakota State, Montana, South Dakota, Idaho, Albany, Montana State, Furman and Villanova receive first-round byes. (link); Stats Perform’s Craig Haley notes Drake, Mercer and North Carolina Central are making their first appearance in the field. (link); Mercer, Chattanooga, Sacramento State and Youngstown State were the last four teams in, and Eastern Illinois, UT Martin, UC Davis and Holy Cross were the first four teams out. (link)
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#3: USA Today released a database of the country’s highest-paid strength coaches. Michigan’s Ben Herbert and Oklahoma State’s Rob Glass lead the way at $1M, followed by Ohio State’s Mickey Marotti ($882K), Iowa’s Raimond Braithwaite ($760K) and Florida’s Mark Hocke ($750K). Full database. (link)
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#2: Tulane officially announces Northern Iowa AD David Harris as the Green Wave’s next AD. Harris: “My career began supporting the academic pursuits of student-athletes and it has always been important to me to find a place that combines world-class academics with a pursuit of excellence in all of its athletic endeavors. President Fitts is committed to the well-being, academic achievement and lifelong success of Tulane’s student-athletes and continuing to build an athletics program that matches the university’s nationally renowned research and academics.” Harris will officially take over on January 3. (link)
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#1: There is one type of video on the Internet that will never get old. No further description, just watch what happened at North Texas’ volleyball senior day. (link) |
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