Men’s coach responds to concerns about tournament fee
O’Shea also addresses other issues involving team
By Nick Claussen
Athens NEWS Associate Editor
March 24, 2008
Ohio University men’s basketball coach Tim O’Shea explained Friday how and why the team is paying for postseason tournament expenses, and stressed that he sees the program as being fiscally responsible.
His remarks followed a story in last Thursday’s Athens NEWS that raised questions about the $60,000 (minus gate receipts) that OU had to pay to host the College Basketball Invitational first-round game last Tuesday.
An OU Faculty Senate officer said Saturday, however, that while the Bobcats may have the money to pay for this game, it’s still a good example of the funding problems he sees in the Athletics Department at a time when the university as a whole is looking for ways to save money.
On Friday, O’Shea also discussed a wide range of other issues, including why it’s so hard to win on the road in the Mid-American Conference, how he feels about living and working in Athens, and the fan support his team receives.
Tonight, the men’s basketball team will play in Peoria, Ill., in the second round of the inaugural CBI tournament. The Bobcats won their first game Tuesday when they hosted Brown University at the Convocation Center. The university had to agree to pay $60,000 to the Gazelle Group (which runs the tournament) to hold the game in the Convo, as all host schools are paying $60,000 per game. Part of that funding goes toward paying the travel expenses of the visiting teams. The expense was defrayed somewhat by the $10 per head gate receipts; the listed attendance was 1,169.
After seeing the Athletics Department eliminate four sports last year because of budget and Title IX issues, and then operate this year with a budget deficit that isn’t expected to be corrected until 2011, some people on campus raised concerns when they saw this new expense to host a third-tier tournament game.
O’Shea explained, however, that immediately after receiving the tournament invitation, he scheduled a game for next season that will more than pay the $60,000 fee for the CBI game.
Because funding is limited for the basketball team, compared to many other colleges, O’Shea made a commitment several years ago to schedule one or two “buy” games each year, he said. He stressed that he does not have to schedule these games, but does so to help with Athletics Department funding.
In the “buy” games, schools with more funding for athletics invite teams from smaller conferences to come play in their gymnasiums. The home schools guarantee the visiting teams will receive a large amount of money from ticket sales, he said.
During the 2007-2008 season, for example, OU received $70,000 for playing at the University of Maryland and $65,000 for playing at the University of Kansas, O’Shea explained. The bigger schools generally assume they will win these games, but the Bobcats have received large checks and also won several of these games in recent years, including this year’s victory at Maryland and wins in previous years over schools such as the University of North Carolina.
“We kind of upset the applecart there,” O’Shea said.
He then uses this funding to pay for special trips or projects, such as the CBI game and part of the expenses for traveling to Hawaii for a tournament this past season, he said. The Bobcats have only “bought” two games in O’Shea’s seven years, paying for Yale University and Cornell University to play in the Convocation Center. It was difficult to find a school to come to Athens for the game that Cornell played in December 2007, he added.
Several teams in the Mid-American Conference, including Kent State University, regularly pay for other schools to play on their campuses, O’Shea said.
For the 2008-2009 season, the Bobcats already had one buy game scheduled, playing in a tournament at the University of Louisville where they were guaranteed to receive $60,000, according to O’Shea. After learning about the CBI game, he said he scheduled a second buy game against Xavier University. OU will receive $80,000 for playing in that game, he said.
It’s not difficult to schedule “buy” games, O’Shea added, because OU is in the Top 100 in the RPI (rating percentage index) system. Other teams want to bring them to their gyms to play them and hopefully receive ratings points for the game, he said.
OU could conceivably schedule 10 of these games every year to make a lot of money, he said, but that wouldn’t be feasible because the difficult schedule could cause more losses and hurt the team. O’Shea said he brings in money to support his program, and also does everything he can to help his team win.
As for the CBI tournament, O’Shea said it made sense to pay to host the game, in large part because it was finals week and he did not want to force the players to travel.
Also, because the MAC just gets one team into the NCAA in most years, and only gets one or two teams into the National Invitational Tournament, he felt the CBI was an excellent opportunity for his team to get postseason experience that is difficult to come by in the league. The games will benefit the players and help the program grow, and they’re all paid for through the scheduling he is doing for next year, the coach said.
“We’re not a financially irresponsible group down here,” O’Shea said.
JOE MCLAUGHLIN, CHAIR of the OU Faculty Senate finance and facilities committee, said he knows O’Shea and thinks he has done a good job with the program, but has concerns about the Athletics Department taking on this extra expense.
“The first concern has to do with the fact that the Athletics Department, their budget is a mess,” McLaughlin said. The department has a deficit that is close to $1 million, even after cutting the four sports last year, he said.
“They’re overextended,” McLaughlin said. He added that he understands that the department knows where the money is coming from to pay for this tournament game, but that it would be better to use any extra funding to address other budget problems.
“It seems to me when extra money comes in, you take care of your house,” he said, adding that extra funding could go toward reducing the budget deficit.
When the federal government sends out the tax refund checks that are intended to stimulate the economy in May, for example, McLaughlin said the responsible thing for people to do will be to use that extra money to pay down their credit card debts or pay extra on their mortgages.
“They’re taking it and going to Vegas,” McLaughlin said about the OU Athletics Department spending its extra money on the tournament game. He added that department officials likely see the tournament as an investment that will give the university exposure, help with recruiting, and provide other benefits.
“I do think that the administration and the deans have been doing some responsible things this year,” McLaughlin said.
Work on the five-year academic plan has shown responsible budgeting, he said, and some good decisions have been made by OU President Roderick McDavis and William Decatur, vice president for finance and administration.
“But when it comes to athletics, it seems like prudence goes out the window,” McLaughlin said. The Athletics Department is allowed to run a deficit, and the rest of the university has to pay for it, he added.
“Paying those bills is not allowing us to improve on academic quality,” McLaughlin said.
He noted that he received several e-mails from other faculty members upset about the university spending an extra $60,000 on this tournament.
“Actions speak louder than words here,” McLaughlin said.
O’SHEA ALSO discussed several other issues on Friday, including explaining why it can often be more difficult to win on the road in the MAC than in many of the larger conferences.
Bobcat fans often complain about the men’s basketball team’s relative lack of success away from the Convocation Center, and O’Shea agreed it would be great to win more games on the road.
In conferences like the MAC, though, the talent level is generally fairly even, and the home teams usually have the advantage because they’re playing in their gyms in front of their fans, he said. Teams with outstanding players who thrive in pressure situations, such as Kent State University’s Al Fisher, the MAC Player of the Year, however, can push their teams to win consistently on the road, he said. Most teams in the conference do not consistently win their road games, he pointed out.
Ohio was close to winning most of its road games this season, and lost several to teams such as the University of Toledo, Bowling Green State University and the University of Akron in games that were decided in the final seconds, he said. If those games had gone the other way, Ohio’s road record would have been much better this year, he added.
In major conferences like the Big East, the talent level is not as even between the top and bottom teams, so the top teams often don’t have as tough a time winning on the road, he said.
The schools in the major conferences often can also buy several home games each year, which helps them gain confidence playing at home and helps their overall records, he added.
“I really enjoy the support we receive,” O’Shea said about the fans in the Convocation Center. The fans turn out for the games and are very vocal, he said.
Asked about the people who complain that O’Shea does not want to be in Athens or does not win enough, O’Shea said that part of that is coming from the “serial complainers.” Part of that is also due to the fact that former head coach Larry Hunter was from Athens, and many people remain upset that he was fired. O’Shea, however, said he’s happy to be the Bobcats’ coach and enjoys living here.
“I’ve been here for seven years,” he said. “I’m happy.” He has been the head coach here longer than most other MAC head coaches, and is proud of his accomplishments.
He would like to get his team into the NCAA tournament more often, but said he’s proud that the team went to the tournament in 2005. Fans should want the team to get to the NCAA tournament every year, and he is glad they are so passionate about the Bobcats.
He said he’s also proud of the academic success his teams have had, pointing out that the team had the highest Graduation Success Rate in the MAC in 2007.
“With Leon (Williams) and Bubba (Walther) on target to graduate this spring, we are looking forward to reporting that 24 out of 25 seniors who have expired their eligibility with us have earned their degree during my seven-year tenure,” O’Shea said.
He added that he wants his teams to expect to play in postseason tournaments, and this year’s success will help reinforce that, he said.
If the Bobcats win tonight’s CBI game at Bradley University, they will play on the road again Wednesday. If they win that game, O’Shea said, they will play in the three-game championship series (or two games if one team wins the first two). That series will begin on Monday, March 31, and continue on April 2 and April 4 (if necessary). If the Bobcats make it to the championship series, they would likely play their home game on Wednesday, April 2, O’Shea said.
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