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SBJ College: Illini Go All-In On Josh Whitman


I’ll be in Atlanta on Saturday night to check out Georgia State’s redesigned football stadium in what used to be the Braves’ home, Turner Field. I’ve seen it before, but never on gameday.

Here is what's cooking on campus:

       

ILLINOIS REWARDS WHITMAN WITH THREE-YEAR EXTENSION

  • Every time I scroll through the headlines in college sports, it seems Illinois AD Josh Whitman is announcing another major gift. Whitman, a former NFL tight end who became the Illini’s AD in 2016, has quickly earned a reputation as one of the nation’s best fundraisers, and his relentless approach has brought a much-needed energy to the Champaign campus, evidenced by the football team’s resurgence. The university’s board rewarded Whitman today with a three-year extension through June '24 that increases his base pay from $668,561 to $750,000.

  • Those close to Whitman say the 2018 SBJ "Forty Under 40" recipient is a smart, hard-charging leader who looks like he could still play. Whitman has struck a chord with Illinois’ biggest donors, spinning tales from his playing days or speaking from the heart about his plan to turn around his alma mater with equal effectiveness. When he says, “We will win,” it’s convincing.

  • Just this week, Whitman collected a $5 million gift for the Ubben Basketball Complex renovation and they’re nearing completion on a new $80 million football center next to Memorial Stadium that will be a game changer. Whitman has secured 20 gifts of at least $1 million as well as a school-record $20 million donation and a $15 million naming-rights gift for the football center.

  • Only those closest to the Illini in 2016 knew about Whitman when he was hired as the youngest AD (37) in the Power Five. At the time, his only AD experience had come at D-III schools. But he has thoroughly erased any doubts in his first three years there.


FCS POWER JAMES MADISON STRIKES BIG DEAL

  • James Madison Univ. is one of the flagship schools in the NCAA’s FCS division. The Dukes won the football national championship in 2016-17 and appeared in the title game the following year. Consistent success in football and a generous $51 million annual budget make JMU look like a school that plays in the highest division -- the FBS. But the school has resisted the temptation to move up, choosing instead to play big fish in the smaller pond.

  • That debate is sure to come up again after JMU secured a 15-year multimedia rights agreement today with Learfield IMG College. The school didn’t release financial specifics, but the deal is believed to carry an annual guarantee of more than $1 million, which would put it on par with many FBS guarantees in the Group of Five, about twice what the Dukes were making before. Dan Gale of Leona Marketing Group consulted with JMU.

  • That begs the question: Does this deal validate the school’s decision to stay put or does it make officials think they could have gotten even more as an FBS member? AD Jeff Bourne, in his 20th year at JMU, says the right conference affiliation has not made itself available to entice the Dukes out of FCS. “Our mission is to win championships and we’re very happy where we are,” Bourne said. For a school to attract those kinds of numbers playing FCS football, “it’s very encouraging.”

        

D-III RIVALS LOOK TO POST RECORD ATTENDANCE AT METLIFE

  • I’ll leave you with one last nugget from SBJ’s package on college football rivalries and the trophies that go to the winner. MetLife Stadium will be the site Saturday for the NCAA D-III showdown between Ithaca and Cortland. The two rivals will be playing for more than the coveted Cortaca Jug. They expect to make history by playing in front of a crowd of 45,000, which would be the highest attendance ever for a D-III game. The previous mark of 37,355 was set at Target Field in 2017 by St. John’s and St. Thomas universities.

  • Ithaca-Cortland, a rivalry that has been contested 77 times previously, also goes by the name of “The Biggest Little Game in the Nation.” The Cortaca Jug, named after the two schools that sit 21 miles apart, was introduced as a trophy to the winning squad six decades ago, making it one of the most enduring trophies in the country. The New York chapter of the National Football Foundation is hosting the game at MetLife as part of its 150th season celebration.

  • Even officials at both schools find it surreal that two D-III schools are playing in an 82,500-seat stadium that hosted the Super Bowl five years ago. But the game began to feel more real when 19,000 tickets were sold in the first three days they were on sale. That’s when the two schools knew they were on their way. Now, for one chilly Saturday afternoon, a pair of D-III schools will take center stage in one of the NFL’s most iconic stadiums.

  • Ithaca Journal columnist Rob Centorani's story on how Ithaca AD Susan Bassett and Cortland AD Mike Urtz helped bring the game to MetLife is also worth a click.

 

SPEED READS

  • Nebraska AD Bill Moos landed two high-profile coaches in Scott Frost and Fred Hoiberg in his first two years in Lincoln. Now all he can do is patiently wait for the turnarounds to come. The football program in Frost's second season is at risk of not being bowl eligible, while the men's hoops team has stumbled to an 0-2 start under Hoiberg (including a 19-point loss to UC-Riverside). Moos during an appearance on KLIN-AM said, "We need to be patient and let these programs take their course." But ESPN.com's Hallie Grossman writes under the header, "Is Nebraska Football Too Far Gone, Even For Scott Frost?"

  • Today marks the eight-year anniversary for Bubba Cunningham at North Carolina, and the AD has weathered an eventful period in the Tar Heels' history, to say the least. Cunningham in 2011 became UNC’s first AD without direct ties in 36 years. Over his tenure he has been charged with rebuilding the athletic department's reputation after multiple NCAA investigations. Two years ago he joined SBJ Publisher & Executive Editor Abe Madkour and myself for a podcast on his challenging times in Chapel Hill.

  • ESPN's Todd McShay agreed with the NCAA's decision to suspend Ohio State DE Chase Young two games after he accepted a loan last year from a family friend. McShay, appearing on the "College Football Live" podcast, said, "We always bang on the NCAA for a lot of good reasons. But in this case I think it makes sense. He made a mistake." But The Athletic's John Hayes took issue with the quality of opponents OSU will face in Young's absence: "Chase Young out for Maryland/Rutgers and back for PSU/Michigan. Doesn’t pass the smell test, sorry."

  • The James Wiseman saga at Memphis is far from over. The expected No. 1 overall pick in next year's NBA Draft formally withdrew his lawsuit against the NCAA today, and it appears a settlement over his eligibility is soon to follow. Wiseman was initially ruled ineligible over a payment from now-Memphis coach Penny Hardaway to Wiseman’s mother in the summer of 2017, well before Hardaway took over the Tigers. What's unclear is what that settlement will look like. The Memphis Commercial Appeal's Mark Giannotto has the most concise breakdown of the situation here.


THROWBACK THURSDAY

  • This week 11 years ago, SBJ broke the story that ESPN would outbid incumbent Fox for the old BCS media rights and move the championship game and affiliated bowls to cable. While such a move wouldn’t be a big deal now, it was a major story in 2008. My colleague, John Ourand, described it as a “seismic shift” in sports television. The BCS became the largest sports property at that time to take all of its games to cable.

 

Enjoying this newsletter? We've got more! Check out SBJ Media with John Ourand on Mondays and Wednesdays for insights into all the latest news around the world of sports media. Also check out SBJ Football from Ben Fischer on Friday afternoons.

Something on the College beat catch your eye? Tell us about it. Reach out to either me (msmith@sportsbusinessjournal.com) or Austin Karp (akarp@sportsbusinessjournal.com) and we'll share the best of it. Also contributing to this newsletter is Thomas Leary (tleary@sportsbusinessdaily.com).