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SBJ College: Wake's Wellman Nears End Of 27-Year Run


Big stakes here at SBJ for tomorrow night's Hurricanes-Capitals Game 7. Caps win, I owe John Ourand ’cue from Lexington, N.C. Canes win, he’s sending me crab cakes from Faidley’s in Baltimore.

Here’s what is cooking on campus.

 

LONGEST-TENURED P5 AD LOOKS BACK

Currie (r) will officially take over for Wellman on May 1
  • I asked Ron Wellman earlier today, “What’s your secret?" I wanted to know how Wellman lasted 27 years as Wake Forest AD when the national average is six and falling by the year. Turns out there’s no real secret. He pointed to two factors: getting the right people around you and working at a small, elite Baptist university where a win-at-all-costs approach isn’t required. “Winning is extremely important,” Wellman said. “But there are many other objectives we have in college athletics.”

  • Wellman, 70, is going into his last week on the job. John Currie, a Wake grad who first met Wellman when he was a student, will take control May 1. At that time, Oklahoma’s Joe Castiglione will replace Wellman as the longest-tenured AD in the P5, followed by UCLA’s Dan Guerrero, Kentucky’s Mitch Barnhart and Wisconsin’s Barry Alvarez.

  • It’s telling that Wake has had just two ADs in the last 54 years (Wellman and Gene Hooks each with a 27-year stint). The national trends are turning sharply the other way -- all because of the pressure to win. Wellman: “I worry about it, that our misplaced priorities are drawing us away from our educational values. Tenures are decreasing for one reason: they’re not winning enough.”

    LONGEST-TENURED POWER FIVE ADs
    EXEC
    SCHOOL
    STARTED
    TIME IN ROLE
    Ron Wellman
    Wake Forest
    1992
    26 years, 5 months
    Joe Castiglione
    Oklahoma
    1998
    20 years, 11 months
    Dan Guerrero
    UCLA
    2002
    16 years, 9 months
    Mitch Barnhart
    Kentucky
    2002
    16 years, 9 months
    Barry Alvarez
    Wisconsin
    2004
    15 years, 0 months
    OTHER D-I ADs WITH LONG TENURES
    EXEC
    SCHOOL
    STARTED
    DISTINCTION
    Walt Hameline
    Wagner
    1982
    Longest tenure in all D-I
    Lynn Thompson
    Bethune-Cookman
    1991
    Longest tenure at HBCU
    Marilyn McNeil
    Monmouth
    1994
    Longest tenure for female in D-I
    Kathy Beauregard
    Western Michigan
    1997
    Longest tenure for female at FBS level
    Gene Smith
    Ohio State
    2005
    Longest tenure for African-American
    at P5 conference
    Download the
    AD Tenures

ASSESSING THE "COLLEGE FREE AGENCY" ISSUE
  • It’s time to pump the brakes on the idea that we’re on the precipice of college free agency, as many football and basketball coaches would have you believe. One of the most powerful voices in college athletics took a different approach yesterday, saying that some of the focus on the front end of the transfer needs to go on the back end. What happens to the athlete after a transfer?

  • SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey is a self-admitted data junkie. He wants to see what the research shows before opening the floodgates for all athletes to have transfer rights without any restriction (a.k.a. college free agency). The transfer rule has evolved into one of the top college stories of the year, and Sankey is among the first execs at the top of the college athletics pyramid to address it from a research standpoint.

  • Speaking to a group of AP Sports Editors yesterday, Sankey said, “We assume the movement, the freedom, is healthy. I think we need to track the data to see when young people move from Campus A to Campus B for whatever reason. Are we assessing the right educational outcomes? Are they eligible? Are they graduating? We just don’t know that yet.”

  • Sankey said the current set of transfer rules are "just confusing.” The difficulty of balancing unrestricted player movement with the coaches’ ability to manage a roster will keep this issue alive for some time. Previous NCAA committees have been unable to find a solution that works for both sides. But college free agency? Not quite.


HOOPS PROGRAMS LOOK FOR ATTENDANCE FIXES

  • The college basketball season is in the rear-view mirror, but several schools are wasting little time in their efforts to reverse downward attendance trends.

    • The Las Vegas market was always competitive for entertainment, but now with a growing sports scene, UNLV is looking to step up its game. The Rebels are adding a new Courtside Club at Thomas & Mack Center, described as a "'high-end' social area to increase fan engagement. This comes after UNLV this past season dropped to 54th in men's hoops attendance across the nation, and fourth overall in the Mountain West. That's a concerning development considering the Rebels led the MWC just two seasons ago, when they were also 32nd in the nation. 

    • Even a blueblood program like Kentucky is not immune to some attendance concerns, and changes are coming to Rupp Arena next season. UK plans to cut prices for about 64% of seats in the upper level. There also will be a reduction of around 3,000 seats, which could make it tougher to retake the attendance throne from Syracuse.

    • Minnesota AD Mark Coyle was candid about the school reducing season-ticket prices for men's hoops, calling it a way to "get people to come back to our games." Coyle: "We’re trying everything that we can." The Gophers' attendance was down 10% this past season, dropping the school from 27th to 39th in the country in average gate.


SPEED READS

  • Georgia ended up drawing 52,630 for its spring football game at Sanford Stadium, which was "sparse compared to previous years" in part due to cold and rainy conditions. While it was the lowest attendance for G-Day since Kirby Smart arrived in Athens, the four highest totals in UGA spring history have come under Smart's tenure.The Dawgs also still ranked No. 6 among spring football crowds this year, behind Nebraska (85,946), Alabama (62,219), Ohio State (61,102), Penn State (61,000) and Clemson (60,000).

  • Penn State football took an unwanted turn in the spotlight today at the college basketball trial, with a witness for the government saying he paid top college football players in violation of NCAA rules from 2000-13.

  • Colleges are clearly getting more comfortable with beer being associated with their programs. N.CState is now collaborating with New Belgium Brewing for the debut of an “Old Tuffy” lager, complete with school marks. New Belgium has done something similar with Colorado State and an “Old Aggie” brew. For in-venue opportunities, look at the Fighting Illini, who joined a growing chorus of schools this past weekend and started selling beer at baseball games, with the expectation to do the same at football and basketball next season. Illinois AD Josh Whitman had a simple explanation for his school’s move, “The opportunity to purchase beer at our events was the number one request in a postseason survey of our football ticket holders.” 

    New Belgium Brewing will soon have beers tied to N.C. State (r) and Colorado State

     

DOING THE MATH

  • 133,000 -- Viewership for the NCAA women's gymnastics championship on ESPNU on Saturday night. It was the event's first year swapping the traditional Super Six format for a Final Four of schools. That's a 27% increase over last year's telecast in the same ESPNU window.


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Something on the College Beat catch your eye? A unique sponsor activation or fan engagement? A cool photo? Tell us about it. Reach out to either me (msmith@sportsbusinessjournal.com) or Austin Karp (akarp@sportsbusinessdaily.com) and we'll share the best ones. Also contributing to this newsletter is Thomas Leary (tleary@sportsbusinessdaily.com).