WSU FOOTBALL
Washington State athletics seeking financial stability,
fundraising growth under first-year AD Pat Chun
UPDATED: Sat., Aug. 11, 2018, 7:09 p.m.
By Theo Lawson
Spokane S-R
Patrick Chun: First objective as Cougars’ new athletic
director is to ‘learn Washington State’
PULLMAN – Pat Chun’s first documented success in the
fundraising arena came in Columbus, Ohio, at Ohio State, where for a
decade-and-a-half he climbed the proverbial ladder from an unpaid intern in the
sports information office to an executive athletic director who drove the
Buckeyes to some of their most bountiful fundraising years in school history.
So, Chun will credit his alma mater for his start in
athletic administration and consequently, his baptism into the business of
fundraising.
But the Washington State athletic director, now six
months into the job, might say his persuasion skills – especially as they
relate to summoning money from others – were honed at a much earlier phase in
his life.
Born into a family of blue-collar Korean immigrants who
moved to northeast Ohio in pursuit of a better opportunity, Chun was forced to
start working in grade school and, back in a more lucrative age of print
journalism, he had a daily paper route.
“To be in grade school and to knock on people’s door,
collect money,” Chun said. “When someone new would move on, I’d have to knock
on the door, introduce myself to them and say I’m your new carrier. I think
growing up, having all those experiences, I would say I’ve always been learned
in a way in which I like people, I like relationships, I like learning about
people. I think everyone’s a sum of their life experiences, so for whatever
reason the sun of my life experiences put me in front of a lot of people and
put me in front of a lot of situations where you get to articulate and sell a
vision at the purpose of an institution.”
Chun is now applying those same traits on a much more
macro level to sell a product the athletic director himself is still getting
familiar with: Washington State Athletics.
WSU is close to raising the final dollars that would be
necessary for major baseball facility renovations.
“In a baseball term,” Chun said, “we’re definitely in the
ninth inning in terms of getting that thing finished.” It would help the
Cougars close a widening gap between them and their Pac-12 peers, especially
those in the Pacific Northwest.
“In the history of the Pac-12, we’ve always been in and
around the front seat,” Chun said. “The greatest baseball player in the history
of the Pac-12 is John Olerud – that is not debatable. We need to get our
program back to those levels and we have a coach in place we believe in.”
WSU needs approximately $9.5 million in private funds to
subsidize the baseball clubhouse and donors will have to fork over another $28
million to cover the costs of an indoor football practice facility – the next
capital project in the works – that would replace the archaic “bubble” adjacent
to Bailey-Brayton Field.
Some might say these are precarious times for an AD in
Pullman. On one hand, Chun desires to finish the job his predecessor Bill Moos
started, and continue to move the Cougars’ athletic facilities into the modern
age – no cheap endeavor. On the other, he’s dealing with a massive financial
shortfall that rivals any in the country.
But those agenda items, while pertinent, may not require
the same attention from Chun as the department’s crater-sized deficit, which is
projected to reach $85.1 million by the AD’s fifth year in office. WSU has set
in motion a plan to balance the budget by 2023, but even containing in it the
short-term could be tricky.
To do that, the school is counting on a few
non-guaranteed sources of revenue, like increased student fees, which need to
be approved by the Associated Students of Washington State University (ASWSU)
before granted, and a spike in men’s/women’s basketball ticket sales. Those
programs take a combined NCAA Tournament drought of 27 years – 10 for the men,
17 for the women – into the 2018-19 campaign and to entice students/fans to
attend home games at Beasley Coliseum, the school has often fallen back on
promotional efforts, rather than a successful on-court product.
Chun was partially responsible for three record
fundraising years at Ohio State – the athletic department generated $39 million
in 2010, $41 million in 2011 and $42 million in 2012 – but he cautions those
also went hand-in-hand with landmark seasons for the Buckeyes’ football and
men’s hoops programs.
“So that is a big piece of it and if you look at those
years, the vast majority of the sports weren’t winning,” Chun said, “but the
highest profile sports were competing in Final Fours and national championships
so that does matter, that is important.”
According to USA Today’s annual fiscal report of NCAA
Division I schools, WSU has increased its overall revenue in ticket sales, from
$5,532,126 in 2016 to $7,656,362 in 2017, in addition to contributions, from
$7,718,902 to $8,212,785, rights/licensing, from $35,207,583 to $38,045,924,
and student fees, from $818,961 to $1,571,828.
When the 2017-18 fiscal year closed, Chun, in a letter,
reported record donations to the Cougar Athletic Fund, with annual giving
revenue at $7.76 million and overall giving at $15.49 million. He believes WSU
is “geared up to do some things in fundraising that we may have not been
equipped to do in the past” and expects major movement “in the next 12 to 24
months.”
An external look at the department’s current financial
status may indicate a bleak reality, but Chun carries a more optimistic outlook
– and it’s not totally misdirected if you glance at the numbers.
Since Chun inherited his job six months ago, he’s spent
ample time shaking hands, forging relationships and immersing himself into the
school’s culture. And there have been more than a few lessons in “Becoming a
Coug 101” along the way.
One of those came at a mid-February “Night with Cougar
Football” function held in the Tri-Cities. At the door, attendees were given
lanyards to hold name badges and two drink tickets.
“My name badge kind of got flipped over and you could see
my drink tickets were still in there,” Chun said. “I just hadn’t used them yet
and this kind, older woman comes up to me, kind of grabs my arm, puts her arm
around me and says, ‘Hey new AD, I’ve got some advice for you.’ I’m like,
‘What’s that ma’am?’ And she says, ‘A real Coug uses all their drink tickets.’”
So, Chun’s still learning in some ways, but it didn’t
take him long to sense the devotion and spirit WSU alums carry – “not a
four-year proposition at our institution,” he described, “it’s a 40-year
proposition.”
“And as we get more people to invest in our cause,” Chun
said, “I believe we’re going to be able to do some special things and make the
next chapter in the history of our athletic program one of the greatest ever.”
::::::::::
WSU FOOTBALL
Gardner Minshew takes a step forward … and four other
reactions from Washington State’s first fall scrimmage
UPDATED: Fri., Aug. 10, 2018, 11:28 p.m.
By Theo Lawson Spokane S-R
After a rugged week of practice at Lewiston’s Sacajawea
Junior High, Washington State returned to a much more comfortable and familiar
setting Friday night for their first scrimmage of preseason camp. Here are five
reactions from the mock game held at Martin Stadium.
1. Quarterback tracker
Numbers don’t always tell the story, but they were a
pretty accurate reflection of how the three Cougar quarterbacks performed in
their first scrimmage action this fall. East Carolina grad transfer Gardner
Minshew completed 11 of 15 passes for two touchdowns and no interceptions,
redshirt junior Trey Tinsley was 12 of 19 with two touchdowns and an
interception while redshirt junior Anthony Gordon was 4 of 14 with no
touchdowns and no interceptions.
“I thought (Gardner) had the best scrimmage,” WSU coach
Mike Leach said. “I think Gardner looked real sharp. Missed some balls down
there, but other than that, he drove the group pretty well.”
Tinsley rebounded well after going 3 of 6 with a pick in
his first series to go 8 of 10 with two touchdowns in his second. “He had a
pretty good second series, I thought,” Leach said.
And finally, the coach’s thoughts on Gordon: “Gordon had
a tough day but he’s had a really good camp.”
Leach expects to shave the QB race to two by some point
next week: “We won’t (rep all three) all of next week,” he said, “we’re going
to sort it out some.”
The coach didn’t indicate who’d be left out, but the
numbers sure could be a hint.
2. Getting the Willies out
It was a productive night for members of the defense
named Will. Rush linebacker Willie Taylor III broke up two passes during
Gordon’s first series and Will Rodgers III, a Swiss Army knife on the D-line
who can play four different positions for the Cougars, broke through for a sack
on Gordon and was credited with another half-sack.
“All that goes back to, they had great summer workouts
and it’s carried over to the field,” defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys said.
“So, Willie (Taylor) is an extremely talented person, just needs more and more
reps, but he gets better every day.”
Claeys is unsure where exactly he’ll utilize Rodgers III
and noted that “we’ll take another week to experiment, we’ve got a few more
substitution packages we’ve got to get in next week and after the next
scrimmage we’ll try to make those decisions.”
And if both can find their way onto the field at the same
time, a nickname is imminent.
“They call him uncle Willie and I’m just Will,” Rodgers
III laughed. “Willie-Willie duo, that’s what (outside linebackers) coach Roy
(Manning) used to tell us – Willie-Willie duo.”
Patent pending.
3. Under pressure
Perhaps it was a good sign for both sides of the ball:
the defense totaled six sacks Friday evening, though none of them came against
the first-team offensive line. Hunter Mattox led the defense with two sacks,
playing primarily with the second unit, while Rodgers III (1.5), Hank Pledson
(1), Karson Block (.5), Kingston Fernandez (.5) and Myles Green-Richards (.5)
all pitched in.
The offensive line was penalized at least four times by
my count – primarily for false start infractions – but Leach was encouraged by
the play of his starters and was able to get his second unit some extended run.
“We were able to play with both groups, though, so I
thought that part was good,” Leach said.
4. Mr. Consistent
It was around this time last year when inside receiver
Brandon Arconado – a walk-on at the time – turned a few heads with his play in
one of these fall scrimmages. Arconado then worked his way into a reserve role
for the Cougars and caught a touchdown pass against Colorado. Among a deep and
talented group of receivers, the newest scholarship wideout was one of the most
consistent offensive players in Lewiston and he didn’t cool down when the team
returned to Pullman. Arconado finished the scrimmage with three catches, 57
yards and two touchdowns.
“It’s always nice to be here in the stadium, but just
like any other practice it’s just another day of practice,” Arconado said.
“Same routes, same catches, just trying to score.”
5. Oguayo, Moore to return soon
Leach provided an update on the situation involving
defensive linemen Nnamdi Oguayo and Derek Moore, who were each absent for a
good chunk of the practices in Lewiston. Oguayo, the high-motored junior
defensive end, has been absent each of the last five practices – including
Friday’s scrimmage – and Moore, a versatile junior who’s seen time on both the
D-line and at Rush linebacker, has missed each of the last four.
“They’re doing exactly what we want them to,” Leach said,
“and expect to see them shortly.”
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