KeaneyBlue - The URI Basketball Forum

I would expect some details to be floated soon. Hopefully the entire contract PDF will be made available to media as it was previously.

Great news!!

ATPTourFan wrote:I would expect some details to be floated soon. Hopefully the entire contract PDF will be made available to media as it was previously.

It's a public document. State has no choice but to release it.

Good news. Even though we know this means nothing as far as how long Dan will stay here, it means more improvements for the program, which we will find out soon, I assume. It should also help in the short term as far as recruiting goes, especially for the all important "18 class.

This is very good no matter how you look at it. Consistency is key. Future players see a commitment from the school and coaching staff and it gives them confidence. Glad the wait is over.

#LockHimUp

no improvements to the program according to Koch, program is at its limit budget wise.

Oh my good news I think

I feel like they have brought things up to a limit of what the program was capable of budget-wise the past 5 years.

Now its winning a stronger crowd and NCAA trips. Things like that will pump some money in there.

Then if they want to build things or go for bigger things than operating budget they could look to fund raising initiatives that are creative. A donor or multiple donors will match so much money given up to a point. That kind of thing.

I wonder if they couldn't do that sort of thing with the state(Raise 250k-1m and the state matches). Gina seems open to ideas if she is paying for a plan to fix Meade. I feel like that signals she is open to ANYTHING.

Uri does wear Rhode Island on their chest. Lots of advertising in the tournament for the state.

Iggy1979 wrote:

ATPTourFan wrote:I would expect some details to be floated soon. Hopefully the entire contract PDF will be made available to media as it was previously.

It's a public document. State has no choice but to release it.

The PDF is in the article now.

very excited we can now keep building !

I like how Koch did add the following wording for ignorant Rhode Islanders:

The state is responsible for a small portion of his compensation thanks to its 9 percent contribution to URI’s general operating budget — the school is charged with generating the remainder.


The state's portion of Hurley's total compensation is however actually much less than 9% as much of it is directly tied to non state revenue sources.

Congrats, Coach!!!

RF1 wrote:I like how Koch did add the following wording for ignorant Rhode Islanders:

The state is responsible for a small portion of his compensation thanks to its 9 percent contribution to URI’s general operating budget — the school is charged with generating the remainder.


The state's portion of Hurley's total compensation is however actually much less than 9% as much of it is directly tied to non state revenue sources.

RF1, I was thinking the same thing. We can point that out when those "Highest paid state employee" crap comes rolling around again.

RF1 wrote:I like how Koch did add the following wording for ignorant Rhode Islanders:

The state is responsible for a small portion of his compensation thanks to its 9 percent contribution to URI’s general operating budget — the school is charged with generating the remainder.


The state's portion of Hurley's total compensation is however actually much less than 9% as much of it is directly tied to non state revenue sources.

yup, made the point before that Dan is actually a net positive to the state financials. He pays far more in state taxes than the portion of his income the state pays

RF1 wrote:I like how Koch did add the following wording for ignorant Rhode Islanders:

The state is responsible for a small portion of his compensation thanks to its 9 percent contribution to URI’s general operating budget — the school is charged with generating the remainder.


The state's portion of Hurley's total compensation is however actually much less than 9% as much of it is directly tied to non state revenue sources.

Can't wait for the "state can't afford this " spin from friartown.

Let's go get those 18 and 19's locked up!

Very important to get the avg attendance to 6k ???

Seawrightspostgame wrote:I feel like they have brought things up to a limit of what the program was capable of budget-wise the past 5 years.

It's a little disappointing not to have additional programmatic improvements specified in this latest revision, but the above comment is accurate. I think credit should go to all involved- to Dan for being realistic about the situation and to the school for having made the previous commitments along the way. The quotes about the positive working relationship among all parties are not just lip service, and the collective thinking is very much yes, last year was great... the program is again a legitimate one, let's keep it going. And, people may get tired of hearing it, but buy tickets, donate money, support in whatever way you can if this program's important to you and you are able.

Now it's up to Dan to keep the train rolling, to increase attendance and add more NCAAT money to the program.

That will also increase donations.

The school has done all that it can to this point.

Does anyone have a link to the pdf or details of the last contract?

Wonder why it took so long to sign this, considering that basically nothing was added in terms of pay and program improvements?

And URI got larger buyout provisions....

Rambone78 is right

Time to win

They already have and are poised to keep doing it. Time for the fans to support this team without reservation

rambone 78 wrote:Wonder why it took so long to sign this, considering that basically nothing was added in terms of pay and program improvements?

And URI got larger buyout provisions....

Maybe they've been trying to get and hoping to get improvements and realized it wasn't happening so might as well not wait any longer to put pen to paper

RhowdyRam02 wrote:They already have and are poised to keep doing it. Time for the fans to support this team without reservation

Dan, team and administration delivered.

Your move, Rhody fans.

More giving, more winning.
More attendance, more winnning.

I love URI basketball as much as anyone. Not all of us are in a position to donate money. I go to as many games as I can. I do nothing else for myself where money is involved. That's all I can do. All this talk about it's up to us makes me feel guilty.

Billyboy, we do what we can. We buy season tickets, but we can't afford to give beyond that. If we could afford it, we would.

ATPTourFan wrote:

RhowdyRam02 wrote:They already have and are poised to keep doing it. Time for the fans to support this team without reservation

Dan, team and administration delivered.

Your move, Rhody fans.

More giving, more winning.
More attendance, more winnning.

We've seen time and again that we're tough to beat at home when we get a good crowd. After this year there is no excuse other than weather and students being off campus to have less than 6000 fans at conference games. And I'm being generous.

Billyboy78 wrote:I love URI basketball as much as anyone. Not all of us are in a position to donate money. I go to as many games as I can. I do nothing else for myself where money is involved. That's all I can do. All this talk about it's up to us makes me feel guilty.

Nobody's calling out individuals, but as a collective, this fan base needs to do more. Do what you can personally and try to get others interested in URI

I agree that it starts with attendance. Need to start selling out the building and getting this momentum really going. If we start constantly start selling out the building, additional donations and better recruits will come.

Here I go again. The team had far too much talent to have to win the A10 tournament in order to get into the NCAA tournament. They were every bit as good as Oregon, a 3 seed. I give Dan all the credit there is to give for being able to recruit such a talented team. It will be interesting to see if the success translates into more revenue for URI from all sources. There is significant head room for Dan to improve as a head coach. If you make the dance, you deserve a contract extension.

Rhody72 wrote:Here I go again. The team had far too much talent to have to win the A10 tournament in order to get into the NCAA tournament. They were every bit as good as Oregon, a 3 seed. I give Dan all the credit there is to give for being able to recruit such a talented team. It will be interesting to see if the success translates into more revenue for URI from all sources. There is significant head room for Dan to improve as a head coach. If you make the dance, you deserve a contract extension.

The selection committee said that we would have been in if we had lost to VCU in the final.


The fans should do more, but we can only do so much. The rest is up to the team.
If we bomb next year then that will destroy a lot of what we've built.
If we can be good. Get to the tournament again.
Get good 18' 19' recruits and then play well in 18'-19' then we will be where we want to be.
The fans will be there.
Especially with our blue collar identity. It's attractive.

We are definitely on the way up. I think the big dance appearance gets the monkey off our back and leads us to dominate or at least be top 3 for the next 5 to 7 years

In this world of social media we can each do a lot to help the team without having to write a big check.

Getting the word out is a huge expense to our program. Maybe we could create a campaign / competition to "Refer a friend" with the ticket office.

Something like this. Push a message every way you can for free that says... "Hey if you've never bought season tickets or URI mini plan you should check this out. For just $50 you can get 4 nights of great basketball. Use my name when you call in for tickets and we will get $20 each to use at the Mews before a game!"

Winner gets a plaque awarded at halftime as biggest promoter and upgraded seats for the PC game?!?

The exact content of course could be better but you all get the idea.

Congrats on the contract Coach! Looking forward to the father son camp next month!

rambone 78 wrote:Now it's up to Dan to keep the train rolling, to increase attendance and add more NCAAT money to the program.

That will also increase donations.

The school has done all that it can to this point.

Yes, he's well compensated to run a program with a certain overall level of success. No one has higher expectations than he has for himself and for whatever program he's running, but nothing exists in a vacuum. The university says it's done all it can. That may very well be true, but it still puts the program behind conference rivals. My main point is that there are 11 young men returning on this team who brought the fans some things they've been wanting for almost 20 years, and it would be great to acknowledge that in a tangible way and support them in whatever ways you can.

Since I can't [yet] get to many games....I've increased my donations at least twice over the last year, and made another during the URI "Day of Giving"......like URI, that's all I can do, for now.

As for the day of giving, I heard they raised 140K....not bad, but I thought they would do better.

It's going to take a LOT of winning along with increased attendance, etc.....to get Rhody to VCU's budget level.....just a fact as that school sells out every game and the school itself is much larger than URI....which translates into a much larger donor base.

Billyboy78 wrote:I love URI basketball as much as anyone. Not all of us are in a position to donate money. I go to as many games as I can. I do nothing else for myself where money is involved. That's all I can do. All this talk about it's up to us makes me feel guilty.

You shouldn't feel guilty at all. Personally, I think there are more worthwhile causes to donate to like the Jimmy Fund or Doctors Without Borders, not URI athletics.

With that said, who and what people choose to donate to is their choice and people shouldn't be pressured into giving to the program if they can't afford and/or don't believe in it.

Yes, it's great to have our team successful and buying tickets and attending games gives support financially and vocally. But, if you can't do that, that's alright too. Just cheer the team on.

Sweep The Leg wrote:

Billyboy78 wrote:I love URI basketball as much as anyone. Not all of us are in a position to donate money. I go to as many games as I can. I do nothing else for myself where money is involved. That's all I can do. All this talk about it's up to us makes me feel guilty.

You shouldn't feel guilty at all. Personally, I think there are more worthwhile causes to donate to like the Jimmy Fund or Doctors Without Borders, not URI athletics.

With that said, who and what people choose to donate to is their choice and people shouldn't be pressured into giving to the program if they can't afford and/or don't believe in it.

Yes, it's great to have our team successful and buying tickets and attending games gives support financially and vocally. But, if you can't do that, that's alright too. Just cheer the team on.

Yes, all of that is very true. Just don't bitch if they can't keep up with the top of the conference, just be happy with whatever they do.

Should our expectations be tempered with the news that URI has done all they can budget wise?

Should this "Gonzaga of the East" talk end up just smoke and mirrors?

Can URI realistically even dominate it's own conference, seeing that others have more resources and likely always will?

These are legit questions to ask, are they not?

What should we expect going forward? Can we recruit well enough to stay consistently really good?

Should we expect several years of NCAAT invites in a row, as Dayton and VCU have done? Or should we expect say 2 out of every 4, with maybe an NIT thrown in.....

What say you? Personally, reality says that's more likely to happen in the long run. Dan and co. will of course give it their best shot......and the same for whoever follows him.

Iggy1979 wrote:Does anyone have a link to the pdf or details of the last contract?

2017 Contract Extension Link (pdf is there)
http://www.providencejournal.com/sports ... -24-season

2016 Contract Extension
http://www.providencejournal.com/sports ... -extension

While a new contract is no guarantee that a coach will not leave, it is worth noting that the buyout provisions should Hurley decide to leave, have been strengthened:

URI benefits in the form of increased buyout amounts through the life of the deal. The school would be entitled to a maximum payment of $1.5 million after the 2017-18 or 2018-19 seasons, $1.2 million through the following three seasons and $500,000 through the final two if paid in equal monthly installments. Lump sum payments of $1.25 million, $1 million, $850,000, $700,000 and $500,000 could be made to terminate the contract through the first five years. Hurley’s previous buyout called for $1.2 million in 2017-18 and 2018-19.

RhowdyRam02 wrote:

Sweep The Leg wrote:

Billyboy78 wrote:I love URI basketball as much as anyone. Not all of us are in a position to donate money. I go to as many games as I can. I do nothing else for myself where money is involved. That's all I can do. All this talk about it's up to us makes me feel guilty.

You shouldn't feel guilty at all. Personally, I think there are more worthwhile causes to donate to like the Jimmy Fund or Doctors Without Borders, not URI athletics.

With that said, who and what people choose to donate to is their choice and people shouldn't be pressured into giving to the program if they can't afford and/or don't believe in it.

Yes, it's great to have our team successful and buying tickets and attending games gives support financially and vocally. But, if you can't do that, that's alright too. Just cheer the team on.

Yes, all of that is very true. Just don't bitch if they can't keep up with the top of the conference, just be happy with whatever they do.

Someday, maybe you will have financial troubles while at the same time trying to help pay for your children's college education. Sorry, my kids come first. I assume you're much younger than I. There was a time when I was in great shape financially too. Shit happens. Things change.

RhowdyRam02 wrote:

Sweep The Leg wrote:

Billyboy78 wrote:I love URI basketball as much as anyone. Not all of us are in a position to donate money. I go to as many games as I can. I do nothing else for myself where money is involved. That's all I can do. All this talk about it's up to us makes me feel guilty.

You shouldn't feel guilty at all. Personally, I think there are more worthwhile causes to donate to like the Jimmy Fund or Doctors Without Borders, not URI athletics.

With that said, who and what people choose to donate to is their choice and people shouldn't be pressured into giving to the program if they can't afford and/or don't believe in it.

Yes, it's great to have our team successful and buying tickets and attending games gives support financially and vocally. But, if you can't do that, that's alright too. Just cheer the team on.

Yes, all of that is very true. Just don't bitch if they can't keep up with the top of the conference, just be happy with whatever they do.

And you will never hear that bitching from me. This team has been in an underdog conference (with same small flashes of greatness) since I've been watching in 1983-84 as a kid. I don't expect us to keep to a level of a P5 school.

I only bitch about poor coaching and poor play.

It's all about disposable income....if you don't have it, you can't donate it.

Priorities. Donating to URI is a luxury imo....it's important, but paying your bills is much more so.

rambone 78 wrote:Should our expectations be tempered with the news that URI has done all they can budget wise?

Should this "Gonzaga of the East" talk end up just smoke and mirrors?

Can URI realistically even dominate it's own conference, seeing that others have more resources and likely always will?

These are legit questions to ask, are they not?

What should we expect going forward? Can we recruit well enough to stay consistently really good?

Should we expect several years of NCAAT invites in a row, as Dayton and VCU have done? Or should we expect say 2 out of every 4, with maybe an NIT thrown in.....

What say you? Personally, reality says that's more likely to happen in the long run. Dan and co. will of course give it their best shot......and the same for whoever follows him.

Resources aren't the sole determination in how you do, but it's pretty close. If we're 4th or 5th in the conference in resources, then it would be hard to expect us to be the Gonzaga of the East or expect tournament berths every year if we're fairly evaluating the program. At that point you probably are looking at the tournament every 2 out of 4 years or so. Which is ok if you're committed to being 4th or 5th in the conference, no higher or lower. But again, we can't complain that we're not the Gonzaga of the East or going to the tournament every year if we're not giving our program those type of resources. For a while now we've talked about the expectations of the program based on our coach and roster. But if we're going to fairly evaluate our program top to bottom, we have to include other things as well. Attendance, facilities, donations, support from the administration. I think we do a lot of things well and we have the potential to do all of this pretty well.

Our attendance will never be top in the league, but if we average over 6k a night then we're going to be really damn tough to beat at home and there's a lot of teams in our conference that can't match our 6k no matter what due to their facility constraints. That's a nice chunk of money many people on here can give every year to the program that will help set us apart from the bottom of our league that costs significantly less than your monthly cable bill.

We'll probably never have the top facilities in the league, but as long as we keep modernizing the Ryan Center and make improvements to secondary facilities, again we should be no worse than middle of the pack.

We have an administration that's very supportive of the team. Unfortunately we thought the $400,000 a year for 6 years was all money we could add to what we were doing and it appears that much of it is going back to the URI Foundation because they covered us the last couple of years. But guess what, if our attendance goes up and we make the tournament again this year, we won't need to pay back the URI Foundation for gate receipts they've been covering to keep Hurley. So that's money we can reinvest in our program.

Attendance and being an active fan is key. Fact not opinion. Don't wait until December to see how we do against PC. Buy the season tickets and use the payment plan they offer. Can't do that, get the biggest partial plan you can. Can't do that, pick out the games you can. Get your kids and grandkids tickets to URI for Christmas and their birthday and give the gift of a family day out at the Ryan Center. Send out a Facebook message to get other people to come with you to the games. Don't buy that t-shirt at a concert, buy the URI shirt and where it everywhere. Those are all things almost all of us can do. You don't need to be Tom Ryan to help this program.

Some years rankings of budgets are skewed by capital projects being counted.

Often there isn't an apples to apples comparison.

In high level football it is common knowledge the dollar figure of a school's recruiting budget or things like that narrowed down. Here, at our level it doesn't seem we have that information or that information compared against our conference.

I would like to see it spelled out what the dollar figure of each operation and then compared against the conference.

Recruiting budget. (UTennesse football 1.3m highest yearly average) (also highest average recruiting $$ per win being 231k/per win in that period)

Training table.

Blah Blah

Things like that.

It isn't fair to compare URI's budget 2 months removed from the first tournament trip in 20 years to schools that have strung together success in the tournament over the past 10 years at an elite level. So VCU's budget is 2m more? They have earned that money on the court, not with cold calling alums for donations.

Here's something else you can do to support the program: visit the program's sponsors and make it clear you're patronizing them because of their sponsorship. That's the kind of thing that makes those sponsorships more valuable, which means more money coming in from corporate partners.

Here are the list of corporate sponsor hotels: http://static.psbin.com/7/w/mnhvwbmjiac ... rtners.pdf

A few of those specifically mention a discounted rate if you mention a phrase that indicates you're a URI fan.

Here are the corporate sponsor restaurants: http://static.psbin.com/j/j/0uuxt92u4o6 ... rtners.pdf

Again, you don't have to be Tom Ryan and no one is asking you to stop paying your bills or quit your job. If you're doing the best you can no one is complaining about what you're doing. But there are things we can all do to help out.

Generating interest in the program with family, friends, coworkers, etc is a free way to make a big impact. We have to sell out the Ryan night in and night out, that's the biggest impact anybody can make outside of a major and I do mean major donation. Perception is king in college basketball. Sell outs are a must.

CT Rhody wrote:Generating interest in the program with family, friends, coworkers, etc is a free way to make a big impact. We have to sell out the Ryan night in and night out, that's the biggest impact anybody can make outside of a major and I do mean major donation. Perception is king in college basketball. Sell outs are a must.

then they need to do all they can to limit the # of weekday night games, and the ones we do have need at minimum a 7:30 tip.

for the majority of fans in the Providence area it is basically impossible to make it to Kingston in time for a 7pm tip.

leave work at 5 and with traffic you get home between 5:30 and 6
need to eat dinner, spend time with the family, change, etc, so leave at 6:30
the drive from Providence down 95 at that time is a crawl at best, you're looking at a solid 45-75 minutes to get to the Ryan.
puts you in your seat between 7:15 and 7:45

guess what, doesnt matter how good the team is or how much of a fan you are, most are not going to do all that to go see them play East Buttf*ck State in the OOC. Especially if the game is on TV.

Hell even the Dump doesnt get more than 50% full for the PC OOC squash games against the little sisters of the poor and its in the middle of Providence.

Fun note from Koch's article...URI and PC had nearly identical % capacity attendance this year (67.5% for us, 68.4% for them)