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News Nuggets, 05.25.04
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Rice brushes off consultant, recommits to big-time sports

HOUSTON — Rice University, the smallest NCAA Division I-A school, will remain in the top tier of college athletics, school officials said last week.

"We unanimously concluded that in today's world, Division I-A remains the best place for Rice," said Bill Barnett, chairman of the private Houston school's board of trustees.

The board at the 2,800-student school earlier this month released a 104-page report from a management consulting firm that examined athletics and suggested options that included everything from remaining in Division I-A to eliminating sports.

At the time, the board said it favored keeping the university in the NCAA's highest level of sports even though Rice faces an annual $10 million athletics budget deficit.

"Certainly, many supporters of athletics have declared their readiness to increase giving," Barnett said. "We also will be looking at all other ways to increase revenues and reduce costs."

The report from McKinsey & Co. noted there were no easy options, but identified four as viable: remain in Division I-A and work to improve fund-raising and athletic performance, move to Division I-AA and drop football scholarships, transfer to Division I-AAA and end football altogether or switch to Division III and eliminate all athletic scholarships.

The report made no recommendation but dealt favorably with the I-AAA option.

By quitting football, McKinsey said Rice could cut $3.4 million from its annual shortfall. That also would allow Rice to improve its overall athletic grade-point average but would not "completely eliminate all of the tensions between athletics and academics at Rice," according to the report.

Barnett said the switch to Division I-AAA was considered but Rice couldn't find a suitable conference to join.

School President Malcolm Gillis noted that Rice athletic teams won Western Athletic Conference titles last weekend in track, baseball and tennis. The Rice baseball team is the defending NCAA champion.

"When you think of the future of athletics, think of the past," he said. "Think of the immediate past."

The Owls have staked their future on joining a new, higher-profile league, accepting an invitation to bolt the WAC for Conference USA in 2005-06.

"There will be a lot more efforts to attract more fans, merchandise tickets better, save money and work out deficiencies," Barnett said. "We will try to advance on all fronts but fund-raising and deficit reduction is a very significant part of it."

Rice's athletic graduation rate has been among the highest in the country and Bobby May, the Rice athletic director, has said the university should remain in Division I-A. However, the school's Faculty Council has been critical of Rice athletics financially and academically.

At Rice, the non-athlete GPA is 3.3, the McKinsey study found. Rice football players average 2.7, slightly less than the non-football athletes at 2.9.

Other "less attractive options" offered by the report include moving to Division II or Division III except in baseball, moving everything to Division II, switching to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, or dropping formal athletics entirely.

Bulls lose veteran football player

Kenny Robinson, a defensive back who played in 32 games for South Florida, including five starts, has left the squad for personal reasons, head coach Jim Leavitt said last week.

Robinson, a graduate of Escambia High School in Pensacola, played in 21 of 22 games in 2000 and 2001 before opting for a redshirt season in 2002. He returned to play in all 11 games in 2003, including four starts at cornerback.

Robinson had a career-best 43 tackles last season, raising his three-year total to 81.

He also had two career interceptions, one each in 2000 and 2001, including one resulting in a 64-yard return for a touchdown in 2000. At the time, that was a school record.

College Baseball Polls

Following are the top 25 teams in the Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball polls, with records through May 23 and previous rankings. The Baseball America poll is voted on by the publication's staff. The Collegiate Baseball poll, which includes each team's point total, is voted on by coaches, sports writers and sports information directors:

[Conference USA teams — present and future — and Carolinas teams in bold.]

News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2004 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007