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(Tenured Radical)

Saturday, March 11, 2006

Indiana University:
A Model of Public Higher Education
Almost Entirely Driven by a Basketball Team


From an Indiana newspaper:

...[T]he choice of basketball coach will determine not only the health of the men's basketball program, but of the entire IU athletic department--and to some extent the entire university--for decades to come.

…"At Indiana, basketball has been the driving force in terms of how much money has been generated," not only for the athletic department but for the university as a whole...

…There hasn't been much good news coming out of Indiana's athletic department recently. Three football coaches and three athletic directors in five years helped put the department in financial distress, and unrest has swirled around the men's basketball program since Bob Knight's firing in 2000.

It's difficult to draw a direct connection between those problems and overall giving to IU, in part because large, one-time contributions can skew the picture. But the university has seen annual contributions drop from $220 million in 2001 to $150 million in 2005.

Local IU alums say that for the giving tide to rise in Bloomington, the university must restore stability to the athletic department and the basketball program in particular.

…problems in the athletic department, particularly the basketball program, cast a pall over the entire university.

"The trauma around the whole Mike Davis situation detracts from what they're trying to do down there," said Stitle, whose family has attended IU for three generations. "It's always portrayed negatively. Never positively. I think that has a negative impact on the morale of the faculty and alumni."

"…Basketball is the lynchpin to everything at Indiana,” [comments one insider].