Baylor President Linda Livingstone announced $65M-80M in "university cuts" for the FY beginning June 1, and that construction "is on hold" for the school's new $130M basketball pavilion and practice facility, scheduled to open in fall '22, according to Chuck Carlton of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. Baylor AD Mack Rhoades said that it was "too early to know how the ultimate timeline on the basketball pavilion would be impacted." Charlton notes Baylor was "currently meeting with architects for the new facility with groundbreaking scheduled" for Q1 of '21. Rhoades said, “For us, nothing has changed in that we’ll continue with the design phase" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 4/15). In Houston, David Barron notes all other major capital improvement projects at Baylor "will be postponed" as well. The Ferrell Center, Baylor's current basketball home, was "scheduled to be renovated for volleyball, acrobatics and tumbling when the new arena was completed" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 4/15).
MORE CUTS LIKELY COMING: In Waco, John Werner notes the Baylor athletic department will "look at ways to make budget cuts in accordance with the university’s plan to reduce operating costs." Rhoades said that he "doesn’t expect to reduce staff positions at this point," although he admitted employee pay cuts are "things we're having to talk about.” Werner notes Rhoades and his staff also will "look at Baylor’s recruiting budget for sports across the board to see if expenses need to be cut" (WACO TRIBUNE-HERALD, 4/15).
