WSU men’s basketball
Aztec
pipeline: Ex-Washington State point guard Malachi Flynn becomes third Cougar in
8 years to leave for San Diego State
UPDATED:
Mon., May 7, 2018, 3:45 p.m.
By Theo
Lawson Spokane S-R
PULLMAN –
Malachi Flynn offered up some surprising news the final week of March when
Washington State’s starting point guard announced he’d be leaving the Cougars
with two years of eligibility remaining.
Flynn’s
actual destination shouldn’t be as much of a surprise.
On Monday,
Flynn, who just completed his sophomore season with the Cougars, announced he’d
complete his career at Mountain West power San Diego State, which has only
missed out on the NCAA Tournament twice since 2010. Flynn will have to sit out
one season per NCAA rules, but will have two years of eligibility remaining.
The sunny,
sandy shores of San Diego have been a popular landing spot for Cougar
basketball players that have elected to leave the Palouse for one reason or
another.
Flynn
becomes the third WSU player in eight years to leave for the Aztecs, joining
former guard Xavier Thames, who left in 2010, and center Valentine Izundu, who
got his release from the Cougars in the spring of 2016 after a lengthy dispute
with the school that surrounded Izundu’s recruitment and potential tampering
allegations by SDSU.
A native
of Tacoma, Flynn averaged 15.8 points per game and 4.3 assists per game as a
sophomore and started 30 of the 31 game he appeared in after logging 30
appearances and 30 starts as a true freshman.
It’s
possible Flynn piqued SDSU’s interest long before he decided to leave the
Cougars. One of his productive games came in the early stages of the season
against the Aztecs in the championship game of the Wooden Legacy at Cal State
Fullerton. Flynn scored 24 points on 7-of-16 shooting and 6-of-11 from 3-point
range to lead the Cougars to a 93-86 win. He also had five rebounds and six
assists, compared to just one turnover, in the game.
According
to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Flynn, upon announcing his decision to
transfer, was contacted by a number of high-profile schools including Baylor,
Texas A&M and Creighton. The Spokesman-Review previously reported that
Gonzaga showed interest in the former Bellarmine Prep star, but GU’s interest
cooled off late in the process and Flynn never visited the school.
At
Gonzaga, he would’ve been set up to become the Bulldogs’ starting point guard
in two years. He’ll have a similar opportunity at SDSU, where Devin Watson is
entering his senior season as the Aztecs’ floor general, leaving the position
open in 2019-20.
The former
Cougars have had mixed success on the Pacific Coast. Thames was only a
part-time starter when he arrived at SDSU, but left as a two-time All-Mountain
West selection who earned the conference player of the year award 2014. Thames
also took the Aztecs to three NCAA Tournaments (2012-14).
Izundu
grad transferred to SDSU in 2016, but even getting his release from WSU was a
rocky process. WSU coach Ernie Kent initially denied Izundu’s transfer
initially because he claimed the Aztecs had contacted his player before the
season was over – essentially, an act of “tampering.” After a WSU committee
heard, and subsequently rejected, Izundu’s appeal, Kent lifted the restriction
and allowed the center to contact SDSU.
Izundu
played 16.9 minutes per game in his lone season with the Aztecs and scored 2.5
ppg to go with 3.3 rpg. SDSU then failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in
2017.
Flynn is
one of five non-seniors to have left the Cougars since the end of the 2017-18
season. Two more scholarship guards, Jamar Ergas and Milan Acquaah, have also
announced plans to transfer, and it’s expected that previously suspended junior
KJ Langston won’t be back next year. Walk-on guard TJ Mickelson has also left
the program.
Standout
junior forward Robert Franks declared for the NBA Draft without an agent, but
reportedly wasn’t invited to the NBA Combine, which could increase his chances
of returning to the Cougars next season.
::::::::::::::::::
NCAA
basketball
Group:
NCAA reforms should go further amid FBI hoops probe
Mon., May
7, 2018, 2:45 p.m.
By Aaron
Beard, Associated Press
The Knight
Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics supports recent reform proposals to the
NCAA amid a federal corruption investigation into college basketball – but
wants the NCAA to do more.
The
commission suggests changing the NCAA’s governance structure and additional
financial regulations regarding coaches or school employees receiving outside
income from apparel companies. The Knight Commission issued its proposals
during its spring meeting Monday in Washington, roughly two weeks after the
committee led by former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice issued
recommendations to overhaul the NCAA.
“It’s an
open question if the NCAA can restore public confidence in its ability to be
stewards of big-money college sports,” said Arne Duncan, the commission
co-chairman and a former U.S. Secretary of Education. “To do so, it will need
to embrace far more sweeping and deep-seated reform than ever before.”
The Rice
committee’s recommendations included ending the “one-and-done” NBA rule,
overhauling the enforcement process to handle complex cases of potential rules
violations and creating a certification system to regulate agent conduct.
Rice’s
Commission on College Basketball formed in October , a few weeks after federal
prosecutors announced they had charged 10 men – including assistant coaches at
Arizona, Auburn, USC and Oklahoma State along with a top Adidas executive – in
a fraud and bribery scandal.
The case
involves hundreds of thousands of dollars in alleged bribes and kickbacks
designed to influence recruits on choosing a school, agent or apparel company.
It has entangled schools such as Kansas, North Carolina State, Louisville and
Miami , among others, though prosecutors withdrew a criminal complaint in
February against one of the defendants.
Among its
proposals, Rice’s committee had recommended the NCAA restructure its Board of
Governors – made up of college presidents or chancellors – to add at least five
outside members to bring more independent voices into leadership.
Separately,
the Knight Commission wants at least six independent members on the 24-person
Division I Board of Directors, also made up of school representatives. It also
wants “more stringent” approvals and disclosures for income from apparel
companies. That includes prohibiting athletics employees from having a contract
contingent on players using the company’s products, a right the commission
instead reserved for the schools themselves.
The Knight
Commission, formed in 1989 to support “the educational mission of college
sports,” also seeks to have public disclosures of the outside income – both for
public and private schools – received by university employees from the apparel
companies.
The
commission heard from several people during its Monday meeting, including: NCAA
chief legal officer Donald Remy, ESPN analyst Jay Bilas, St. Joseph’s coach
Phil Martelli and Kylia Carter – the mother of Duke one-and-done forward
Wendell Carter Jr.
Remy said
the NCAA groups are working to have legislation based on the Rice commission’s
recommendations ready to present in August and adoption in time for next
season.
“There
were no stakeholders who should not have been put on alert as the commission
report was read,” Martelli said. “We are not here to rebuild college
basketball. We’re here to create a new model. And if you’re not in, you’re
out.”
Bilas, a
frequent NCAA critic, said the Rice commission didn’t address the amount of
money flowing through the game and a “failed concept of amateurism” that
instead should compensate athletes with more than an education.
“When I
pull back the layers, the problem that I see is not with the student-athlete,”
Carter said. “It’s not with the coaches and the institutions of higher
learning. But it’s with a system – like the only system that I have ever seen
where the laborers are the only people that are not being compensated for the
work that they do while those in charge receive mighty compensation.
“The only
two systems where I’ve known that to be in place is slavery and the prison
system. And now I see the NCAA as overseers of a system that is identical to
that.”
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
WSU
tuition to increase 2 percent
Board of
Regents approves tuition hikes, capital and operating budgets
Moscow
Pullman Daily News May 7, 2018
Resident
students at Washington State University can expect a 2 percent increase in
tuition next academic year.
The WSU Board
of Regents approved an increase of up to 2 percent in tuition rates for
resident undergraduate students at their regular meeting Friday on the WSU
Spokane campus. The move will bump tuition from $9,530 to $9,720.
Resident
doctor of pharmacy students can also expect an increase in tuition, from
$19,990 to $21,900 and non-resident students can expect an increase from
$36,644 to $38,664.
Resident
students in the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine will see an increase in
tuition from $35,000 to $37,240, while resident College of Veterinary Medicine
students will see an increase from $23,358 to $24,994, and non-resident
students will see an increase from $56,588 to $60,550.
The
regents also passed the university's proposed 2019-2021 operating and capital
budget requests, the latter of which includes $174.7 million in new projects.
Some of
those projects include phase two of construction on a $36.4 million Global
Animal Health Building, $4.9 million for construction of STEM teaching labs and
building infrastructure design, $10.5 million for predesign/design and
construction of a Pullman life/physical sciences building, $9.8 million for
design and construction of a student collaboration space and $9.6 million for
STEM Drive to 25 renovations.
The
operating budget request includes approximately $14.4 million for medical
education at the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, as the college increases
from 60 to 80 students, $38.8 million for faculty, staff and graduate student salaries
and $2.3 million for maintenance and operations of new buildings.
The
regents also discussed a law passed by the Washington State Legislature in
March that requires regents to review and approve the intercollegiate athletics
budget each year, before expenditures.
Expenditures
more than $250,000, which are not included in an approved budget, must be
authorized in advance, and the regents must approve a plan on how a deficit may
be reduced if one exists at the end of the year.
The budget
requests will be submitted to the Washington Legislature.
:::::::::::::::::::;
Pac-12
takes a victory lap in announcing record revenues. But should it?
Originally
published May 4, 2018 at 11:13 am Updated May 4, 2018 at 11:14 am
For the
first time, the Pac-12's revenues topped $500 million. But the $30.9 million
payouts to its schools still lag far behind other Power Five conferences.
By Jon
Wilner
San Jose
Merc News
The Pac-12
on Thursday announced the basics of its finances for the 2017 fiscal year, a
shift in policy by the conference that was hooked to a record revenue haul.
For the
first time, Pac-12 annual revenue topped $500 million.
Also for
the first time (and not coincidentally, I’m sure): The conference announced the
revenue figure in a news release that included a comment from the chair of its
CEO Group, USC president Max Nikias.
In the
past, Pac-12 revenue figures have been made public only through the mid-May
release of its federal tax documents, which include line-item breakdowns of
certain revenues and expenses, employee salaries, Pac-12 Networks income, etc.
The 990s
for FY17 are not yet available, but the conference opted to release the
headline-grabbing revenue number in advance, during its spring meetings in
Scottsdale, along with a comment from Nikias:
“The
strong financial performance recorded by the Pac-12 Conference provides
valuable resources to our universities to support our educational and athletic
goals, including opportunities for the over 7,000 student-athletes competing on
our Pac-12 campuses.”
The
revenue figure — $509 million, which includes Pac-12 Networks revenue —
represents a 4 percent increase over FY16, according to the conference.
The news
release also provided a detailed account of the increase in revenue over the
course of the current Tier One deals with ESPN and Fox.
“For the
four-year period since 2012-2013 when the Pac-12 began its media rights
agreements with ESPN & Fox and launched the first and only member-owned
conference network, annual member distributions have increased by 63% ($228M to
$371M) and annual total revenues have increased by 53% ($334M to $509M total
revenues). The compounded annual growth rate for member distributions and total
revenues over the four-year period was 13% and 11%, respectively. The ESPN and
Fox deals signed in 2012 resulted in more than four times the annual revenue of
the prior Pac-12 media deals.”
So
… What does it all mean?
The key
number isn’t the $509 million in revenue but the $371 million that was
distributed to the campuses — the conference’s primary mission, after all, is
to serve the schools.
That $371
million breaks down to $30.9 million per school.
That’s an
8 percent year-over-year and a tad higher than the latest Hotline estimates of
$30.5 million per school.
How does
that compare to other Power Five conferences?
Not all
that well.
Two
conferences have already reported their FY17 numbers:
The SEC
distributed $41 million per school, while the Big 12 sent $34.3
million to its campuses.
The Big
Ten and ACC have yet to report, but count on the former being far closer to the
SEC than the Pac-12.
There are
three additional pieces of context to consider:
1. The Big
12’s per-school payout ($34.3 million) does not include the Tier Three (i.e.,
local) media rights.
While the
conference’s average annual Tier Three revenue is skewed because of The
Longhorn Network, the majority of campuses are believed to generate at least $1
million (net) from local media deals.
Add that
to the revenue figure, and Big 12 schools are over $35 million for FY17.
The Pac-12
uses a different structure: Because the conference owns the Tier Three rights,
that income is included in the reported distribution figure.
2. The
Pac-12’s average payout is typically a gross number, in that it does not
include the costs associated with buying the Tier Three rights from previous
stakeholders (IMG, Learfield, etc).
While the
conference handles the transactions, the schools are on the hook for the
buyback costs. That amount, withheld from the paychecks sent to the campuses,
is not included in the distribution figure the conference reports in its 990s.
For
example, an Arizona official told the Hotline last spring that the Wildcats
have $1.5 million withheld annually from the buyback of their Tier Three
rights.
Factoring
that figure into the FY17 numbers just released, Arizona’s net from the
conference would be closer to $29 million than $31 million.
That
situation doesn’t apply to all schools, however, because the local media
contracts were different in amount and duration when the conference pooled its
rights.
3. If we
subtract the amount sent to the Pac-12 campuses from the revenue figure, we’re
left with $138 million in expenses.
That’s a
whopper of a total compared to other Power Fives but includes the enormous
costs of operating the Pac-12 Networks, which show 850 live events annually
across seven feeds.
Exactly
how much the Pac12Nets generated in FY17 should be available in the 990s, and
campus sources believe approximately $2.7 million of the total distribution
figure (per school) is from the networks.
Pac12Nets
expenses, long a source of curiosity on the campuses, have never been
disclosed.
Note: The
Pac-12 is expected to release its tax filings in the coming weeks. The Hotline
will report the relevant figures.
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