Riding Our Values Through the Eye of the Storm

To say it has been a tumultuous few months for the college sports would be a statement of the obvious or perhaps better said, an understatement.  And as my summer Horizon League travels have taken me from Green Bay to Cleveland, from Atlanta to Dallas and from Chicago to Washington, D.C., I have spoken with commissioner colleagues, former and current Directors of Athletics (in all NCAA Divisions), coaches, media members, college Presidents, executives from the Knight Commission and other affiliated college sports organizations, college trustees and current and former NCAA staffers.

Not surprisingly, there is a commonality regarding the problems currently facing our enterprise, but many disparate opinions on “what to do”.  The common themes seem to be along these lines (in no particular order):

1)    Many of the activities surrounding Division I men’s basketball and college football (as defined by BCS Football) have become disconnected from the values of higher education.

2)    In these two sports, third party influences (runners, agents, boosters, middle-men) have influence now, and some say, control recruiting.  These third parties have closer relationships with prospective and current players (and their parents) than our coaches.

3)    The NCAA enforcement system does not effectively address the third party influences and we have not caught enough chronic wrong do-ers on our own side.

4)    The overall enterprise, for most of Division I, is not financially sustainable, and the current economic environment has exacerbated the situation.

5)    There is a sense of urgency that "something must be done”

These important issues and this critical time gives me pause to think about our League in the midst of this turmoil.  Certainly, the national landscape is going to change and that change will impact the Horizon League.  But, what are the attributes of the Horizon League that will sustain us in these turbulent times?

Number One:
Our values.  We are a group of ten schools that believe in and live by a commitment to competition, learning, service, and personal accountability.  This is our glue and our connectivity to the collegiate model.

Number Two:
The people.  Our Chief Executive Officers, Athletic Directors, Senior Woman Administrators, Faculty Athletic Representatives, coaches, staff, and student-athletes are committed to our values, believe in our values and live by our values.

Number Three:
Our financial model is sustainable.  We neither over spend in athletics, nor do our athletic expenditures, over time, increase at an unacceptable rate.  This does not mean that we do not need to invest and reinvest in athletics, but athletics expenditures in the Horizon League are certainly not “out of control”.

Number Four:
Our competitive successes.  Back-to-back appearances by Horizon League member, Butler University, in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship game and a “top twenty-five” season by the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay women’s basketball team speak volumes about our commitment to national competition.  And, both of those teams were national leaders in graduation rates.

Number Five:
The HLN.  Our first to market, on line digital platform provides us an opportunity to tell our story to a worldwide audience, free of any demands regarding TV tip times or dates and allows us to cover each and every sport, and every story 24/7, 365 days a year.  And, we can do it affordably and without undue commercial influence from third parties.

So we have much to embrace.  Our charge and our challenge is to continue to live our values, to continue to do things right.  That test never stops.