Semi-OT: What The Top Schools Spend on Basketball Recruiting.........
Kentucky is #1.......enjoy.
Kentucky Wins NCAA Basketball Title in Spending on Recruitment
2011-03-25 04:35:40.109 GMT
By Eben Novy-Williams and Curtis Eichelberger
March 25 (Bloomberg) -- The University of Kentucky, which is four wins away from an eighth college basketball championship, spent more on recruiting last year than any public university in the six biggest conferences in college sports.
Kentucky spent $434,095 in fiscal 2010. The University of Kansas was second with $419,228; and Florida third with $326,306, according to expense reports from 53 schools obtained through open-records requests. Private schools such as Duke University aren’t required to divulge the information.
Kentucky starts three freshman who score 60 percent of the team’s points. Last year, the Wildcats lost four first-year players to the National Basketball Association draft after being eliminated in the regional finals of the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament.
“Kentucky basketball is one of the most important things in our state and we are going to direct resources to ensure that it stays that way,” Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart said in a telephone interview.
The Kentucky basketball program’s spending comes as the state government is struggling to find a way to cover a $165 million shortfall for Medicaid, a federal-state program that provides health care to the needy. The basketball program doesn’t have a deficit: It had an operating profit of $5.2 million in fiscal 2010 on $16.8 million in revenue.
The only other team to make the final 16 of the tournament with three freshmen starters is Connecticut, which defeated San Diego State 74-67 last night to advance to the West regional final against fifth-ranked Arizona, a 93-77 winner over defending champion and No. 1 seed Duke. UConn’s freshmen combined to score 25 percent of the team’s points this season.
Biggest Winner
Kentucky’s starting freshman -- Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb -- are playing for a program that has won more games, 2,050, than any other Division I basketball program and has appeared in a record 51 NCAA tournaments. Barnhart said the team’s success compels the athletic department to dedicate resources to recruiting.
“There is an expectation that we continue to be in that group of schools that talks about championship performance,”
said Barnhart, 51. “We’ve got to match resources to expectations.”
On the other hand, Wisconsin spent the least ($57,397) on recruiting of public universities in the six biggest
conferences: the Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, Southeastern, Atlantic Coast and Pac-10.
Local Search
Wisconsin, a Big Ten school, spent the money on a recruiting effort that stayed local. Of the team’s 17 players,
15 come from Wisconsin or a neighboring state, including all four freshmen. The Badgers made it to the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament and lost to Butler University, a private school from Indianapolis, last night. Butler will face Florida in the Southeast regional final tomorrow after its 61-54 win over the Badgers.
Wisconsin associate head coach Greg Gard, who coordinates recruiting, said the Badgers are undaunted by big spenders such as Kentucky and Kansas. He said they recruit players from their region and develop them over a four-year college career.
“Most kids want to play where their family and friends can see them,” Gard, 40, said in a telephone interview. “So we recruit in our own backyard and have found a lot of great players who, with a little support, can turn into terrific players.”
Unlike Kentucky, which recruits players who are good enough to jump to the NBA in a year, many of Wisconsin’s recruits don’t develop until later. Gard said that gives the added benefit of keeping the team together.
Recruiting Budget
Kentucky’s recruiting budget includes accommodations for official visits, scouting, communications and traveling expenses, Barnhart said. There is no major airport in Lexington, Kentucky, and the team’s coaches traveled to Oregon, Florida, New York and Europe to recruit this year’s freshman class.
The Wildcats successfully recruited Turkish forward Enes Kanter, then the NCAA ruled him permanently ineligible to play because he was paid by a professional basketball club in his native country.
Knight, 19, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Jones, 20, of Portland, Oregon; and Lamb, 19, of New York, all top-rated players by recruiting site Rivals.com, are Kentucky’s three leading scorers this season. Knight was twice named the Gatorade High School Boys Basketball Player of the Year, joining LeBron James and Greg Oden as the only players to win the award multiple times.
NBA Draft First Pick
Last year, the Wildcats’ freshman point guard, John Wall, was chosen with the first pick of the NBA draft. He’s averaging
16.1 points a game for the Washington Wizards.
The professional success of last year’s freshman class helps Kentucky’s recruiting efforts, said Len Elmore, who played 10 years in the NBA and is the University of Maryland’s all-time leading rebounder.
“You have to have a marketing pitch,” said Elmore, 58, who is a basketball analyst for CBS. “John Calipari’s staff can say, ‘If you come with us, we will develop you into NBA material,’ and back it up with empirical evidence.”
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at +1-212-617-1262 or
I hope this comment doesn't spiral out of control, but I don't think this is the bad political stuff.
Re: the Medicaid part of the article, if an entity is spending a lot of money, but is turning huge profits (which 5.2m is to a basketball program) why even bring up the deficit? It just doesn't seem relevant to discuss costs of a net-moneymaker.
If the article said they were losing money while spending a record amount on recruiting, I think that would be a different story.
$434,000 on 3 kids? That's a lot of cash for some good recruits but doesn't look like they're world beaters. I wonder what the total recruiting budget for Florida is including basketball and football.
I was thinking the same thing. $434K on three kids is not very efficient spending. Obviously, I know they were chasing kids that they weren't able to land. Howeva,...
In comparison, football recruiting budgets must make this look miniscule.
Agree with the earlier post as well. Why complain about a basketball program at a public university, if they're turning a profit. Much like football schools, that $4.8M net profit probably goes a long way toward funding other varsity sports at UK.
John Belein recruits with pure wisdom and makes are recruiting costs non existent.
Interesting stuff, but you should probably link to this article instead of cutting and pasting the whole thing. Blockquote interesting passages, but posting all of it is breaking the law.