#10: TCU has canceled upcoming women’s basketball games against Kansas State and Iowa State due to injuries within the program. Both games will result in forfeits for the Horned Frogs and will not be made up. Fans who purchased tickets to Wednesday's game against Kansas State may exchange them for tickets to any remaining home game based on availability. No refunds will be issued. (link)
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#9: The NCAA Board of Governors approved an updated version of the Mental Health Best Practices document that all member schools will be required to follow, effective August 1. The new iteration includes “emerging information about the intersection of mental health and sports betting, social media, corruption in sport, suicide contagion, and name, image and likeness. The document also details specific considerations for student-athletes of color, LGBTQ student-athletes, international student-athletes and student-athletes with disabilities.” The board also received an overview of the 2022-23 Campus Sexual Violence attestation process and final reporting of member schools' completion. Schools that fail to meet the NCAA policy are prohibited from hosting any NCAA championship competitions for the next applicable academic year (2024-25). The schools that failed to attest will be publicly listed on the NCAA's Campus Sexual Violence Attestation Form webpage by Feb. 15. Additionally, the board approved a $25M supplemental distribution to DI members. The funds will be disbursed in February. (link)
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#8: The moment we’ve all been waiting for… the 2025 edition of the NCAA Women’s Final Four logo is here and “highlights many of the iconic features and colors representative of Tampa Bay and the state of Florida.” Read: very ocean-themed. (link) |
#7: Alabama has hired Washington Football HC Kalen DeBoer. The Crimson Tide will pay the Huskies DeBoer’s $12M buyout. USA Today’s Dan Wolken provides more context: “Two things happened in the middle of Washington’s season. 1. They had an AD change. 2. DeBoer hired Jimmy Sexton. Washington tried to get the deal done for many weeks. I think now it’s safe to surmise that Sexton knew what was about to happen.” (link, link, link)
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#6: The Washington Post’s Jesse Dougherty and Emily Giambalvo calculate how much it would cost each school to join the new subdivision proposed by NCAA President Charlie Baker by counting the total number of athletes at each school that will play football in the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 or ACC next fall (as well as Notre Dame, Oregon State and Washington State). From there, the formula for the baseline annual payment is pretty simple: total number of athletes divided by two, then multiplied by $30K to estimate the minimum each school would have to spend to join the subdivision. Athletic department sizes vary widely, with Ohio State having the highest number of student-athletes (950) and Mississippi State having the fewest (363). As a percentage of revenue, Rutgers would pay the most at 9.8%, while the aforementioned Buckeyes would pay the highest total amount at $14.3M. Next is Michigan ($12.8M), Penn State ($11.9M), North Carolina ($11.6M), Cal ($11.2M), Rutgers ($10.8M), Notre Dame ($10.7M), Virginia and Stanford ($10.6M) and Boston College ($10.2M). More from the Post. (link)
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#5: Have a look: The Indianapolis Airport has constructed a full basketball court inside it to celebrate the NBA All-Star Game in Indy next month. Pretty neat. (link) |
#4: Audio has leaked of an emotional Alabama Football HC Kalen DeBoer telling his Washington players that he was leaving for Tuscaloosa. DeBoer says he “almost had a sick, empty feeling in my stomach when I heard what was happening across the country [in Tuscaloosa] because I knew in my heart that something probably would be coming this way. I hope you guys can just understand someday. I don’t expect you to understand right now, and if you do I appreciate it. I hope you understand at some point.” Full audio. (link)
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#3: LSU Women’s Basketball fans got the chance to dress like the Tigers’ flashy HC Kim Mulkey for the team’s SEC home opener against Missouri on Thursday night. Mulkey, who admits she would have preferred a marketing promotion centered around her players, quipped: “They better have lots of wrinkles, lots of gray hair ... and I guess sequins, right?” Missouri HC Robin Pingeton wished she had known about it sooner, saying she might have partaken in the festivities. The outfits and pictures do not disappoint. (link)
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#2: Louisiana Tech officially announces AD Eric Wood will depart for the Senior Deputy AD for External Relations and Business Development role at Ole Miss. President Jim Henderson will spearhead the national search for a new AD and has appointed AVP/Deputy AD/COO Mary Kay Hungate as Interim AD. Henderson: “In the coming weeks, we will develop a process to select the next athletics director, one worthy of the Bulldogs, the Lady Techsters, and the fan base that bleeds Tech Blue. Our best days are ahead of us." (link)
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#1: Ohio State officially introduces Texas A&M boss Ross Bjork as its new AD, and Bjork says of his decision to depart College Station for Columbus: “The bus for Ohio State athletics only stops maybe once, if any. And we can't control that bus schedule, we can't control when it pulls over, so the timing may not be ideal, but the stop is ideal for family and for family history. And if one move could be surrounded by all of this, this was it.” OSU President Ted Carter was asked about Bjork’s role in former Aggies Football HC Jimbo Fisher’s contract and subsequent buyout and said: “As you might imagine I pressed that question pretty hard. I had a lot of questions about that, and I'll just say right up front that Ross has owned it, as has the institution. Remember, these things don't just happen in a vacuum. Even though he was the athletic director, he wasn't the original hiring authority. Yes, he did give an extension, and that happens a lot. I experienced that myself at Nebraska. … Those that have been in the arena, those that have made those tough decisions, those who have been in it, they learn from that. Those are life lessons, and he'll bring that here. I don't expect we're going to get into any kind of decisions like that here at Ohio State. And if we have to make tough decisions whenever and however that'll be, it won't just be the athletic director making it. We have a wonderful board of trustees, and he's got an Office of the President. We're going to work collaboratively. So, to get back to your original question, he answered that question satisfactorily enough for me to make sure that I knew he would be able to work well here.” Collegiate Sports Associates assisted with the process. Full presser. (link)
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