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Summit backs off on schedule restriction
The Summit League has changed its mind on limiting men’s basketball teams to just one lower-level opponent in 2012-13. Instead, schools will be allowed to schedule two, same as recent years and still half the number allowed at the NCAA Division I level.
Conference coaches were in favor of sticking with two, largely because it’s just generally difficult to get home games without forking out stacks of cash.
Summit media relations director David Brauer cited three reasons for the reversal: The reduction in the number of league games from 18 to 16; balancing the number of home and road games in light of the entire league participating in BracketBusters; and the coaches have been doing a better job of scheduling in a way to help RPI.
South Dakota State, for one, agrees with the move and expects to take advantage of the break by scheduling two non-Division I clubs. That’s according to assistant Rob Klinkefus, who handles the Jacks’ scheduling.
Brauer said the issue will be revisited after the 2012-13 season, which also marks the beginning of mirror scheduling.
Terry Vandrovec also posts regular updates on his Twitter page.
Fundraising update
South Dakota State continues to move toward securing private funding for an indoor practice and human performance facility, according to athletic director Justin Sell. But the school won’t be in a position to announce any major gifts today, the last day of May.
Sell had previously stated that he hoped to be able to go public with news of a lead donation by the end of this month.
“We’re working with several donors and people who are interested,” he said. “We’re certainly making progress on that front. Some of that process takes time.”
Sell declined to get into too much detail beyond that.
“I want people to understand the responses we’ve gotten are very positive,” he said. “We’ve got to get a few more things put together, and hopefully we’ll be in a position to make an announcement in the near future in regards to moving it forward.”
And, now, my interpretation on this …
If the lead gift turns out to be one of the biggest in school history, as seems possible, there is organizing to do that goes well beyond the athletic department. That means copious amounts of red tape to clear.
If there’s still no news by October 10-11, when SDSU aspires to bring funding to the Board of Regents for building approval, then perhaps there’s more to it (i.e. something falling through). That’s the only unofficial timeline that really matters, and it’s five months off.
Terry Vandrovec also posts regular updates on his Twitter page.
Too Much TV: Haxton
This was the scene on Saturday evening in Tulsa at the end of the Summit League baseball tournament. Was there really any other way it could end?
Oral Roberts capped its remarkable run in the conference by winning its 15th baseball title in as many tries. This one was memorable because it was one of the few times the Golden Eagles lost so much as a single game in the double-elimination tournament.
That’s our topic this week on the Too Much TV podcast, ORU radio voice Geoff Haxton stopping by to recap the tourney and the Golden Eagles’ tenure, while also previewing their upcoming NCAA Division I tournament appearance.
Terry Vandrovec also posts regular updates on his Twitter page.
Tuesday Tidbits
Going with an all-baseball theme today:
On Monday, the field for the NCAA Division I baseball tournament was announced. SDSU faced two of the 64 qualifying teams during the regular-season: Oral Roberts and Creighton. The Jacks went 2-4 in those games, beating each club once.
The Summit League champion Golden Eagles (37-23) are the No. 4 seed in the Waco Regional and will take on host Baylor (44-14) in the tourney opener, while the Jays (26-28) – surprise winners of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament – are No. 4 in the L.A. Regional and will face UCLA (42-14).
Former SDSU pitcher Caleb Thielbar is pitching in the Minnesota Twins organization again this summer. The 6-foot, 200-pound lefty is 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 14 innings as a reliever for the New Britain Rock Cats in the Double-A Eastern League. He began the season with the Fort Myers Miracle.
Meanwhile, ex-Jacks standout Blake Trienen is in high-A ball with the Stockton Ports, an Oakland A’s farm club. The 6-4, 215-pound righty is 4-4 this season with a 4.18 ERA as a starter. He has struck out 46 batters in 56 innings.
Terry Vandrovec also posts regular updates on his Twitter page.
Salary updates
South Dakota State has 13 head coaches in charge of its 21 varsity sports. And six of them have completed one season or less in that role.
But this isn’t a post about turnover – it’s about money. Coaching salaries aren’t always made available to the media at the time of the hire, in part because things have to go through the Board of Regents before becoming official.
But everything seems to be caught up now through a State of South Dakota web site, the latest addition being wrestling coach Chris Bono. He’s scheduled to make a base of $75,000. That’s a decent bump from his predecessor Jason Liles, who was at $61,911.
The rest of the relative newcomers and their wages, which are public record:
Phil McDaniel, volleyball: $65,500
Dave Schrage, baseball: $60,000
Kim Aggabao, softball: $50,000
Megan Rossiter, equestrian: $50,000
Michael Engdahl, tennis: $37,000
At first, I was surprised to see that McDaniel was making more than Schrage given the difference in experience in sports of similar stature. But volleyball certainly brings in more ticket revenue than baseball.
Also, Engdahl runs two teams (men and women), although that still comes out to far fewer student-athletes than in say, equestrian.
As for updates on the top earners in the department:
Justin Sell, athletic director: $160,000
Aaron Johnston, women’s basketball: $157,358
Scott Nagy, men’s basketball: $150,000
John Stiegelmeier, football: $141,000
Based on the numbers available from the Google machines, not even the legendary Pat Summitt was out-earning her football and men’s basketball counterparts at Tennesse prior to retiring. Johnston is in very select company, for whatever that’s worth.
Terry Vandrovec also posts regular updates on his Twitter page.
Staying put, paying off
On Monday, Colorado State announced Ryun Williams as its new women’s basketball coach, meaning the University of South Dakota will be in transition mode coming off a third-place finish in the Summit League regular-season standings. The Coyotes were already going to be challenged by losing three standout starters.
Fourth place UMKC - the conference tourney runner-up - is in the same spot with Candace Whitaker accepting a job as an assistant at Oklahoma State. Also gone are seven seniors.
Oral Roberts, No. 2 in the most recent regular season and the champion of the two before that, is leaving the Summit League for the Southland Conference in addition to losing coach Jerry Finkbeiner to Utah State.
Yes, sticking around at South Dakota State should pay off again for Aaron Johnston – and that’s not a reference to his $157,358 base salary.
The Jackrabbits have won the last four Summit tournament titles and three of five regular-season crowns since joining the conference. And now their primary challenger (Oral Roberts), the only other D-I program in the state (USD) and the upstart Roos are facing changes.
Sure, those changes could pay off in the long run. For example, UMKC seems to have done very well in landing Marsha Frese, the associate head coach at Northern Illinois and sister of Maryland coach Brenda Frese. Likewise, USD isn’t going to fall off the face of the earth. Hardly.
It’s just that SDSU already has a step on the pack, and now its primary competition could be running in place for a bit. After weathering the tumult of the NCAA Division I transition, Johnston and the Jacks have unrivaled stability
That doesn’t mean that SDSU is going to waltz through the Summit for four more years. But it sure can’t hurt in terms of retaining Johnston and/or staying on top without interruption whenever his tenure comes to an end.
Terry Vandrovec also posts regular updates on his Twitter page.
Oletzke moves on
The Aaron Johnston coaching tree grew Wednesday, women’s basketball assistant Chad Oletzke being introduced as the new coach at Illinois Springfield, an NCAA Division II school in – you guessed it – Springfield, Ill.
A Minnesota native, Oletzke spent three seasons with the Jackrabbits, helping them win three Summit League tournament titles and one regular-season crown. Before that, he was the head coach at a junior college in Wyoming, experience that Johnston figured would benefit the SDSU staff.
So was this the plan all along, that Oletzke would be in Brookings only until landing another head coaching gig? Not necessarily.
“I entered SDSU with a real open mind, whether it was to stay as an assistant with AJ or somebody else – I was open to that as well as exploring head-coaching opportunities,” he said. “I thought it was an overall good opportunity to come back (to the area).”
As for UIS, the interestingly named Prairie Stars went just 20-59 the last three seasons under visiting coach Marne Fauser. (A visiting coach is like a long-term interim, basically). But Oletzke likes that the school has a new facility, is centrally located within its conference and is based in a city that reminds him of Sioux Falls. Plus, he’ll reportedly earn $44,600 in his first season, up from $35,000 with the Jacks. (Related note, remaining SDSU assistants Emilee Thiesse and Katie Falco earned $48,000 and $45,500, respectively, in 2011-12, according to the Open SD site.)
Oletzke becomes the second former Johnston assistant this spring to land a head coaching gig, following North Dakota’s Travis Brewster.
What does Johnston think of the loss? It’s hard to say because he’s out of the country on vacation. But Oletzke said he was aware of the situation prior to taking off, and has been in contact via email.
Terry Vandrovec also posts regular updates on his Twitter page.
