Bryant basketball upgrades and other news

[SGreenwell]

Bryant keeps getting better and better in academia and athletics while URI is satisfied with being a good state university with average athletics. I can see why people are excited about Bryant. Let's hope that money being thrown at URI M&W basketball is the beginning of a commitment to be excellent and not just to return to mediocrity.

Considering its location, I'm surprised that Bryant doesn't invest in becoming a big-time hockey program - something that URI has missed the boat on,

In terms of aspirations, I want URI to be like Bryant.

Congrats to Bryant for upping their game which has nothing to do with URI.

Congrats to URI for acting Big instead of only thinking big. Both have great aspirations.

R72 you truly are the best and I mean that sarcastically.

The only thing you are right about is hockey but I understand why uri hasn’t gone d1 to this point and hope that 1 day they will.

You are correct - it has nothing to do with URI

This thread should not be in URI NCAA or BUST >>>>>> All Other College Sports

Forum description is "Talk about the men's team, upcoming opponents and news from around college hoop." Relevant portion bolded. That's also why the coaching changes thread, and games of the week thread, are generally in this forum. More to the point, this thread is accurately titled, and if you don't want to read about Bryant, you can just not click on it. Click the button for "Mark All Read" instead.

[Obadiah]

Why has Bryant been able to build some nice facilities in a short time while URI struggles to accomplish anything analogous as evidenced by the condition of Meade Stadium, the delays and scaled down version of the BB practice facility, the lack of permanent stands and other amenities at Beck Field, etc.??

Proper funding of any University can be viewed through two dimensions - the operating budget and the capital investment. On both scores the State's contribution to its flagship university is wanting. On the operating budget side of the equation, let me dramatize what I consider the shortfall by developing a model via privatizing URI. In no way am I suggesting making URI private, I am just using this model to illustrate the problem all the academic departments and athletics face at URI on operating issues.

In this privatizing model, I have fixed undergraduate enrollment at 14,000 with average tuition at $40,000. Using an incremental approach in the model's transition from public to private results in increased revenue to the school of $350 million. From that number I must subtract $75 million, which is the state's contribution to URI. I must also subtract about $10 million that the State contributes in yearly bond payments on new facilities. This produces a net of $265 million, which represents the level of underfunding at URI. I am not privy to similar data for UConn, but I am sure that this privatizing model applied to that school would produce a net closer to zero. The better funded a state school; the closer to zero is the net when using the privatizing model

Now think of what URI could do with an incremental $265 million - adding a few professors to the chemistry department, expanding the Physics Dept and adding a major in Astrophysics, adding M&W ice hockey, bolstering the marketing effort in athletics, and on and on!! You all have your own ideas on this I am sure. And that my forum friends is the basic problem at URI - not incompetence, or settling for mediocrity, or any of the other excuses.

In another post I will address the problem with capital investment at URI and its impact on athletics facilities

[ramster]

Chance to see Peter Kiss from Bryant in action today and tomorrow:



Teams and Schedules have been announced for the @3X3UHoops.

Peter Kiss will team up with Ty Flowers (LIU), Mike Okauru (UNCW) and Jalen Ray (Hofstra).

Game Schedule
4/1
3:15 PM ESPNU
4:45 PM
5:45 PM

4/2
9:10 AM
10:50 AM
12:10 PM

[reef]

Hopefully this is the end of Kiss college career I want him gone

[JimSidd]

Not sure about this, but I thought I had read earlier this week that, because there is prize money involved, only those who have declared their intention to pursue a professional career and not return to college are eligible to compete in the 3X3 tournament. Pre Covid, it was only for seniors who had exhausted their eligibility. I don’t know know if or how the extra Covid year may impact this.

[ramster]

Results of 1st day of 3x3U

https://www.turbostatsevents.com/site/2 ... Patriot_22

[ramster]

Congrats to Bryant for upping their game which has nothing to do with URI.

Congrats to URI for acting Big instead of only thinking big. Both have great aspirations.

R72 you truly are the best and I mean that sarcastically.

The only thing you are right about is hockey but I understand why uri hasn’t gone d1 to this point and hope that 1 day they will.

You are correct - it has nothing to do with URI

This thread should not be in URI NCAA or BUST >>>>>> All Other College Sports

Forum description is "Talk about the men's team, upcoming opponents and news from around college hoop." Relevant portion bolded. That's also why the coaching changes thread, and games of the week thread, are generally in this forum. More to the point, this thread is accurately titled, and if you don't want to read about Bryant, you can just not click on it. Click the button for "Mark All Read" instead.

Good to know, especially the part about “news from around college hoop”. Much more general than I’d thought.

[ramster]

Why has Bryant been able to build some nice facilities in a short time while URI struggles to accomplish anything analogous as evidenced by the condition of Meade Stadium, the delays and scaled down version of the BB practice facility, the lack of permanent stands and other amenities at Beck Field, etc.??

Proper funding of any University can be viewed through two dimensions - the operating budget and the capital investment. On both scores the State's contribution to its flagship university is wanting. On the operating budget side of the equation, let me dramatize what I consider the shortfall by developing a model via privatizing URI. In no way am I suggesting making URI private, I am just using this model to illustrate the problem all the academic departments and athletics face at URI on operating issues.

In this privatizing model, I have fixed undergraduate enrollment at 14,000 with average tuition at $40,000. Using an incremental approach in the model's transition from public to private results in increased revenue to the school of $350 million. From that number I must subtract $75 million, which is the state's contribution to URI. I must also subtract about $10 million that the State contributes in yearly bond payments on new facilities. This produces a net of $265 million, which represents the level of underfunding at URI. I am not privy to similar data for UConn, but I am sure that this privatizing model applied to that school would produce a net closer to zero. The better funded a state school; the closer to zero is the net when using the privatizing model

Now think of what URI could do with an incremental $265 million - adding a few professors to the chemistry department, expanding the Physics Dept and adding a major in Astrophysics, adding M&W ice hockey, bolstering the marketing effort in athletics, and on and on!! You all have your own ideas on this I am sure. And that my forum friends is the basic problem at URI - not incompetence, or settling for mediocrity, or any of the other excuses.

In another post I will address the problem with capital investment at URI and its impact on athletics facilities

Obadiah,
Interesting comparison.
How can this situation be improved without going private?
How does URI compare to other State Universities in New England? State Universities in all 50 States?
How does President Parlange take this opportunity forward and to who?

Is a Bond Issue the only solution to upgrade facilities for other sports at URI?

[Obadiah]

I don't think going private is a feasible approach. Somehow URI must get a greater support commitment from the state and do this in a manner that does not appear as "whining". My hopes on this are not high given the fact that President after President has failed to impress upon the state's leaders the importance of URI to the state's economy and also its reputation. The salient point is if you rank states by support dollars for higher education on a per capita basis, Rhode Island comes in around #45 and it has been in this low position for more than three decades. Is the Governor proud of this ranking? Are the legislative leaders proud of this ranking? That's the question I would ask them.

Also I applied my privatizing model in a rough way to UConn because I do not have access to more precise data, but the model does show a net close to zero. But you don't need a model to tell you that because current support for UConn is about $408 million, but that figure is for Storrs and the regional campuses and I do not know the figure for Storrs alone. Logic indicates it is the bulk of the $408 M number and that it far exceeds Rhode Island's $75 million for URI.

Yep, bond issue is the only way other than revenue bonds or some asset protection funds. And, of course, philanthropy. But that is a whole other subject.

[rhodysurf]

Money from the state cannot be relied upon. Big research universities build themselves via 1. Athletics, 2. Research grants worth money (STEM wayyyyyy more than anything else). Money is pouring into the engineering department right now, that’s how you build industry around a school which is exactly what you need to subsidize development outside of the STEM parts of the school

[SmartyBarrett]

Stonehill is taking Bryant's place in the NEC.

[RF1]

Look for Stonehill to be a Ryan Center buy game in the coming years. Local with short trip/travel expenses and relatively cheap buy. Already have a history of playing them as a D2 team.

[rambone 78]

I think Parlange, from all we've seen so far, with the major commitments to the MBB and WBB programs, will try his best to convince state leaders to support these initiatives toward athletics.

[Obadiah]

Money from the state cannot be relied upon. Big research universities build themselves via 1. Athletics, 2. Research grants worth money (STEM wayyyyyy more than anything else). Money is pouring into the engineering department right now, that’s how you build industry around a school which is exactly what you need to subsidize development outside of the STEM parts of the school

If state money cannot be "relied' upon, then what is a state university. And your words, unintentional as they are, represent sort of a catch-22 thinking - "we can't give you the funds though you are a state school, and you can't raise tuition because as a state school, you need our approval and tuition must be kept affordable, but we can't give you more money though you are a state school, and you can't raise tuition....." and round and round we go.

Also, I don't know what STEM funds have to do with Athletics or the other parts of the school. The vast bulk of those are Federal funds which are restrictive in nature and URI still is on the hook for salaries and lab space for those researchers .

[Obadiah]

Look for Stonehill to be a Ryan Center buy game in the coming years. Local with short trip/travel expenses and relatively cheap buy. Already have a history of playing them as a D2 team.

if you have SOS issues, this is not the way to go.

[Rhody15]

Look for Stonehill to be a Ryan Center buy game in the coming years. Local with short trip/travel expenses and relatively cheap buy. Already have a history of playing them as a D2 team.

if you have SOS issues, this is not the way to go.

Hopefully we won't have SOS issues under Archie. Would make sense to buy Stonehill if the rest of the OOC is filled a few legit games. Even Hurley's last two years had easy games at home.

[SGreenwell]

Look for Stonehill to be a Ryan Center buy game in the coming years. Local with short trip/travel expenses and relatively cheap buy. Already have a history of playing them as a D2 team.

if you have SOS issues, this is not the way to go.

Hopefully we won't have SOS issues under Archie. Would make sense to buy Stonehill if the rest of the OOC is filled a few legit games. Even Hurley's last two years had easy games at home.

Yeah. To me, it's an issue if we're playing like, 5 to 10 teams of the Stonehill, Bryant, UMass-Lowell, etc. level of quality in a single season. I'm also of the mindset that I'd rather pay-to-play someone local who might put up a tiny bit more of a fight, than having Fairleigh Dickinson or another team with zero fan support come in. That's typically why I'd rather play Bryant than FDU or Long Island or Nicholls State.

[Rhody15]

After the seasons both programs just had, there's no chance Grasso comes to Kingston to play us right?

I'm guessing he's going to want us to come up to Smithfield to play and that's it.

He'll have that right after the season they just had, but Archie will also have the right to laugh and tell him thanks but no thanks.

I wouldn't hate playing there just this season though, they'll be tough again, especially if Kiss comes back.

[Big Rhody Guy]

Money from the state cannot be relied upon. Big research universities build themselves via 1. Athletics, 2. Research grants worth money (STEM wayyyyyy more than anything else). Money is pouring into the engineering department right now, that’s how you build industry around a school which is exactly what you need to subsidize development outside of the STEM parts of the school

Not to get too bogged down in the weeds with higher education funding here, but a medical and law school would go a long long way too. Not exactly the most realistic options but those are two big differences between us and some of the bigger spending schools out there.

[rhodysurf]

Money from the state cannot be relied upon. Big research universities build themselves via 1. Athletics, 2. Research grants worth money (STEM wayyyyyy more than anything else). Money is pouring into the engineering department right now, that’s how you build industry around a school which is exactly what you need to subsidize development outside of the STEM parts of the school

If state money cannot be "relied' upon, then what is a state university. And your words, unintentional as they are, represent sort of a catch-22 thinking - "we can't give you the funds though you are a state school, and you can't raise tuition because as a state school, you need our approval and tuition must be kept affordable, but we can't give you more money though you are a state school, and you can't raise tuition....." and round and round we go.

Also, I don't know what STEM funds have to do with Athletics or the other parts of the school. The vast bulk of those are Federal funds which are restrictive in nature and URI still is on the hook for salaries and lab space for those researchers .

That is not really true. Salaries and lab space for STEM are typically funded via grants and public private partnerships. If there are none, URI is not spending overhead on their salaries.

What I’m getting at is that none of these large public research universities rely on state funding to operate, that’s just not the way the game is played if you are actually a big player in either academia or athletics.

I’m also attempting to throw shade on Bryant, brynant is a small time business college that is and will never be on the same level as URI.

[Obadiah]

I understand your point, but there is very little corporate money going into URI research and that is true of many universities. Corporate funding in dwarfed by Federal dollars. I know that very well because I was involved in getting a $100K research project in engineering for my company and that funding was peanuts compared to some federal grants. Also, research projects don't generally fund salaries and lab space, maybe lab equipment and the stipends of grad students. Just ask Dr. Snyder about that point.

Also, I beg to differ, state money is critical to operation of all state universities. See how they complain when it is cut from time to time. URI is underfunded in comparison to other states and I see that in data all the time. Just recently I came across that Central Connecticut State gets $150 million in state funds last year. And on the capital investment side they have a nice parking garage. Guess the reception URI got when they surfaced the idea years ago for the need of a parking garage!! Listen, I'm just trying to be practical and get an extra $5-10 million for the school while some are dreaming of a long range project like a medical school.

[rhodyrudder]

After the seasons both programs just had, there's no chance Grasso comes to Kingston to play us right?

I'm guessing he's going to want us to come up to Smithfield to play and that's it.

He'll have that right after the season they just had, but Archie will also have the right to laugh and tell him thanks but no thanks.

I wouldn't hate playing there just this season though, they'll be tough again, especially if Kiss comes back.

Not sure Bryant is feeling like Duke.
I know you didn’t say that, but they’re still in a 1-bid league.
And they still need buy games in the OOC.
They don’t give a rats ass about SOS.
They just want $.
Not telling us or PC or anybody that they won’t play anywhere but Smithfield Middle School.

On the other hand, 20 years ago when the RC was built we said we would never again play Brown away.
That didn’t last long.
Can’t imagine us ever playing in Smithfield, but I’ve been wrong before. And they are building a new cage.

But i certainly don’t think we’re going there in ‘22.

[Jersey77]

Thought I would just add this to the thread,
Good for Grasso, he already added 4 transfers including 3 from the A10: Kenney (LaSalle), Kabimba (GM), and of course Walker (URI).
He also added PG Chauncey Hawkins who led St. Francis (Brooklyn) in scoring 16 pts and assists 4.4.

[SGreenwell]

Moved a Bryant scheduling post to this thread, out of the URI one. Also renaming this thread, so that it can serve as the "general" Bryant basketball information thread going forward.

[theblueram]

Shouldn't this be in the All Other College Sports thread?

[SGreenwell]

Shouldn't this be in the All Other College Sports thread?

As of late, we've been keeping the other men's college basketball threads in here. They can kind of "fit" in either forum. I don't know. A couple years ago, I moved the UMass thread to the All Other College Sports thread, and maybe the UConn one is in there too, because people were annoyed that it was in the "NCAAs or Bust" section. But I think now, it's probably more appropriate to have all of the college men's basketball threads in this forum.

[RF1]

Bryant typically plays several road buy games against higher profile schools most years. It has played at places such as Clemson (2021) Houston (2021), Cincinnati (2021), Syracuse (2020), UMass (2020), Maryland (2019), Rutgers (2019), Iowa (2018), and URI (2018) in recent seasons.

URI has not regularly been on its schedule since it went D1 as it is believed URI will not agree to playing Bryant in Smithfield. It is open to buy games in Kingston but Bryant has looked elsewhere as it can get much bigger paydays. The game between the teams this past season at the Ryan Center was a one off game that was part of a tournament.

[ATPTourFan]

When action slows down here, this thread will move to the All Other College section with a ghost left behind.

[ATPTourFan]

[Ramfan22]

I’m not the only one who saw this

[ATPTourFan]

Waiting for Red to appear in 5…4…3…2…1…

[4Diffs]

Too funny! Also, there is that pesky team to the South of Rhode Island, UConn that would beat Bryant by 20 points. Let's pump the brakes on how good Bryant was this year, they got blown out in a 16 vs. 16 game and should have lost in the Semi's at home in their conference tourney if not for some home cooking. They had a nice season in a terrible league and reached the NCAA tournament. Good for them. I am not that convinced that Rhode Island or Umass were not better. I know shoot me, but we did beat them by 20 earlier in the year (I know no Kiss, it was early, we sucked later on, I get it).

[ATPTourFan]

There’s more funny in there…

[RhowdyRam02]

Yeah, typical PC fandom. Most of the PC fans that post here are the outliers

[steveystuds06]

I know most of you hate on Grasso but this dude keeps impressing me. He just landed one of the hottest names in college basketball… We need to see the final roster before we predict who’s the better team next year but I’m starting to get a little jealous.

[RhodyKyle]

There’s more funny in there…

Some of these troll repsonse made me laugh. Twitter isn't always a cesspool.

[reef]

I know most of you hate on Grasso but this dude keeps impressing me. He just landed one of the hottest names in college basketball… We need to see the final roster before we predict who’s the better team next year but I’m starting to get a little jealous.

Jared G is certainly winning this off-season it seems

[Billyboy78]

Probably has a Geography degree from Providence College.

[Rhody72]

State institutions with excellent D1 athletic programs do not need or use State funding to support their athletic programs. Also, no athletic scholarship money is included in URI's athletic budget. Athletics can be a money making operations for excellent athletic programs. The carping about State funding is irrelevant with regard to URI athletics.

[SmartyBarrett]

[Billyboy78]

Bryant just offered Connor Swider, Cole's younger brother. He's in 9th grade.

[Billyboy78]

Bryant just offered Connor Swider, Cole's younger brother. He's in 9th grade.

He's already 6'4" and growing.

[NHRamFan]

Grasso will be the first to make an offer to an in-utero prospect. He'll say: "It's all in the genes."

[ATPTourFan]

Moving thread out of NCAAs or Bust.

[Obadiah]

State institutions with excellent D1 athletic programs do not need or use State funding to support their athletic programs. Also, no athletic scholarship money is included in URI's athletic budget. Athletics can be a money making operations for excellent athletic programs. The carping about State funding is irrelevant with regard to URI athletics.

You overly generalize and your words lack the proper precision. Your first sentence becomes more accurate when it defines the schools with excellent D1 programs as those that participate in FBS football and of the 115 schools in that category only about 30-40 show revenues that exceed expenses. The vast majority of D1 schools,as well as D2 and D3, subsidize their athletics programs. Institutional support for athletics has to increase when there is a shortfall in the revenue-expense equation. if it doesn't the school falls behind its peers who make the commitment.

Also, in your generalization you do not make a distinction between operating revenue/expense and capital investment. As just one example, I was a Massachusetts resident when Mullins Center was built and I never voted on that facility because in that state public higher ed investment is done though an established legislative committee and not through an election. Mullins was 100% financed by the state. The Ryan Center was financed via revenue bonds which requires legislature approval rather than general obligation which must be approved in a general election. The RI legislature in approving the revenue bonds did not cover the full cost of the facility requiring that URI raise $15 million in private funding. In retrospect, this $15 million could have been better directed towards the URI endowment and this lack of perspective by the legislature is one reason why the URI endowment trails all NE state. Any random trip though the internet to compare URI to equivalent institutions on facilities shows this under funding and to say this is irrelevant to URI athletics is mind boggling in ts lack of perspective and benchmarking.

Another pattern is seen in comparing tuition & fees of all 50 flagship universities where you find the New England states (ex Maine) have by far the highest tuition/fees. In the West where public support is far greater, tuition is made more attractive. When your funding is weaker then you have to resort to more tuition increases. You see this same pattern within NE, Vermont has the highest tuition cost and the lowest state support. Maine has the lowest tuition and the highest per capita state support.

[Rhody72]

Also, in your generalization you do not make a distinction between operating revenue/expense and capital investment. As just one example, I was a Massachusetts resident when Mullins Center was built and I never voted on that facility because in that state public higher ed investment is done though an established legislative committee and not through an election. Mullins was 100% financed by the state. The Ryan Center was financed via revenue bonds which requires legislature approval rather than general obligation which must be approved in a general election. The RI legislature in approving the revenue bonds did not cover the full cost of the facility requiring that URI raise $15 million in private funding. In retrospect, this $15 million could have been better directed towards the URI endowment and this lack of perspective by the legislature is one reason why the URI endowment trails all NE state. Any random trip though the internet to compare URI to equivalent institutions on facilities shows this under funding and to say this is irrelevant to URI athletics is mind boggling in ts lack of perspective and benchmarking.

You fail to mention that UMASS did not want the Mullins Center to be built and it was forced upon them to honor a late State legislator for whom the Center is named. UMASS did not want to take on the operating cost for this facility. It happened at a time when UMASS was losing faculty because their pay was not competitive and it was viewed as a financial drain. Mullins would have never been built if the State didn't fund it at 100%. URI proposed the "Convocation" Center to a reluctant legislature and a supportive Governor Almond.

[theblueram]

Also, in your generalization you do not make a distinction between operating revenue/expense and capital investment. As just one example, I was a Massachusetts resident when Mullins Center was built and I never voted on that facility because in that state public higher ed investment is done though an established legislative committee and not through an election. Mullins was 100% financed by the state. The Ryan Center was financed via revenue bonds which requires legislature approval rather than general obligation which must be approved in a general election. The RI legislature in approving the revenue bonds did not cover the full cost of the facility requiring that URI raise $15 million in private funding. In retrospect, this $15 million could have been better directed towards the URI endowment and this lack of perspective by the legislature is one reason why the URI endowment trails all NE state. Any random trip though the internet to compare URI to equivalent institutions on facilities shows this under funding and to say this is irrelevant to URI athletics is mind boggling in ts lack of perspective and benchmarking.

You fail to mention that UMASS did not want the Mullins Center to be built and it was forced upon them to honor a late State legislator for whom the Center is named. UMASS did not want to take on the operating cost for this facility. It happened at a time when UMASS was losing faculty because their pay was not competitive and it was viewed as a financial drain. Mullins would have never been built if the State didn't fund it at 100%. URI proposed the "Convocation" Center to a reluctant legislature and a supportive Governor Almond.

Who the F cares. The state of RI is paying $2M for our head coach and $750K for assistants. Not donors, not the endowment. The State. Deal with it.

[Rhody72]

Who the F cares. The state of RI is paying $2M for our head coach and $750K for assistants. Not donors, not the endowment. The State. Deal with it.

That would be nice if it was true. You must believe in the Easter Bunny,

[steviep123]

Also, in your generalization you do not make a distinction between operating revenue/expense and capital investment. As just one example, I was a Massachusetts resident when Mullins Center was built and I never voted on that facility because in that state public higher ed investment is done though an established legislative committee and not through an election. Mullins was 100% financed by the state. The Ryan Center was financed via revenue bonds which requires legislature approval rather than general obligation which must be approved in a general election. The RI legislature in approving the revenue bonds did not cover the full cost of the facility requiring that URI raise $15 million in private funding. In retrospect, this $15 million could have been better directed towards the URI endowment and this lack of perspective by the legislature is one reason why the URI endowment trails all NE state. Any random trip though the internet to compare URI to equivalent institutions on facilities shows this under funding and to say this is irrelevant to URI athletics is mind boggling in ts lack of perspective and benchmarking.

You fail to mention that UMASS did not want the Mullins Center to be built and it was forced upon them to honor a late State legislator for whom the Center is named. UMASS did not want to take on the operating cost for this facility. It happened at a time when UMASS was losing faculty because their pay was not competitive and it was viewed as a financial drain. Mullins would have never been built if the State didn't fund it at 100%. URI proposed the "Convocation" Center to a reluctant legislature and a supportive Governor Almond.

Who the F cares. The state of RI is paying $2M for our head coach and $750K for assistants. Not donors, not the endowment. The State. Deal with it.

Since the state contributes only a small percentage to URI’s budget then the state only pays for a small percentage of the coaches salaries.

[Obadiah]

You fail to mention that UMASS did not want the Mullins Center to be built and it was forced upon them to honor a late State legislator for whom the Center is named. UMASS did not want to take on the operating cost for this facility. It happened at a time when UMASS was losing faculty because their pay was not competitive and it was viewed as a financial drain. Mullins would have never been built if the State didn't fund it at 100%. URI proposed the "Convocation" Center to a reluctant legislature and a supportive Governor Almond.

Who the F cares. The state of RI is paying $2M for our head coach and $750K for assistants. Not donors, not the endowment. The State. Deal with it.

Since the state contributes only a small percentage to URI’s budget then the state only pays for a small percentage of the coaches salaries.

Precisely. Also since parents of students contribute over 40% of URI's revenue intake, then you could say they should have a greater say than the State with its paltry 14% contribution. Just saying!