UNT Athletics Strategic Plan Update- 2023

[Matt from A700]

45 minutes ago, MeanGreen_MBA said:

We have a LaCross team

D-I. We'd be the first and only in the state, either men or women. And a new facility (track & soccer, or the old soccer stadium) that the team(s) can call home.

The American will have six women's teams when Charlotte's program starts.

[NT80]

24 minutes ago, GrayEagle said:

It was all Hayden Fry's fault.  He vowed that he would never coach at a college that didn't have "University" at the beginning of the college's name.

That’s not true.  He coached at Smut before NTSU.  

Our schools Admins during the name change said they always wanted us to be University of NT.  Said it is more prestigious than a Something-Univ, but that UT fought us getting that name since the 1960’s. 

Edited April 17, 2023 by NT80

[Jonnyeagle]

30 minutes ago, GrayEagle said:

It was all Hayden Fry's fault.  He vowed that he would never coach at a college that didn't have "University" at the beginning of the college's name.

The more I learn about this man the more I realize how much damage he did to our University.  Him demanding we leave the Missouri Valley was the icing on the cake.  We would be a P5 now had we stayed the course.

[UNTLifer]

1 hour ago, GrayEagle said:

It was all Hayden Fry's fault.  He vowed that he would never coach at a college that didn't have "University" at the beginning of the college's name.

Huh?  He coached us as NTSU in the 70's.  Later, our administration wanted our named changed to Texas State University, but that was blocked by the UT system and their politicians, so we became UNT in 1988.

[NT80]

42 minutes ago, Jonnyeagle said:

The more I learn about this man the more I realize how much damage he did to our University.  Him demanding we leave the Missouri Valley was the icing on the cake.  We would be a P5 now had we stayed the course.

Fry didn't demand we leave the MVC.  NT left in 1975, the same year Louisville left. Cincy had already left in 1970, Memphis in 1973 and Saint Louis in 1974.  It was falling apart, and Fry was trying to get us into the SWC.

Edited April 17, 2023 by NT80

[wardly]

51 minutes ago, NT80 said:

Fry didn't demand we leave the MVC.  NT left in 1975, the same year Louisville left. Cincy had already left in 1970, Memphis in 1973 and Saint Louis in 1974.  It was falling apart, and Fry was trying to get us into the SWC.

Correct. The MVC  actually left us before we left them.

[wardly]

17 hours ago, Jonnyeagle said:

The more I learn about this man the more I realize how much damage he did to our University.  Him demanding we leave the Missouri Valley was the icing on the cake.  We would be a P5 now had we stayed the course.

We didn't have the money then to be a SWC member then nor a P5 program now. When Fry was AD and Head Football Coach the only way the football program was financially viable was for then president Jitter Noland to illegally transfer money from funds designated for a new music building to athletics. When this was discovered Noland had to resign as president and was fortunate to escape criminal prosecution. I was on the North Texas Foundation Board in the early 90's . Our mission was two fold; to refuse donations of junk that people wanted to dump on us for a tax deduction, and to try to condense non designated contributions into one fund as well as convince donors of small designated funds to allow their contribution to go into this general fund. This non designated general fund was created so that our current president, Al Hurley, had a financial resource that he could access for speakers, seminars, etc. However to get a release of this money Dr. Hurley had to jump thru a lot of hoops,which I didn't understand until it was explained to me the history of Jitter Noland's abuse of the system while he was president.

 

 

[Zeleny' Orel]

This caught my eye in the strategic plan:

• Provide Alston awards to all Mean Green student-athletes starting in fall of 2023.

Hadn't heard of Alston awards so did a quick search. 

Based on the 2021 Supreme Court ruling in Alston v. NCAA, Alston Awards allow schools to provide up to $5,980 a year for academic-related benefits, if so inclined, with the individual schools setting up the requirments that must be met by an individual athlete to qualify for payment.  I determined that "Alston Awards" is the nickname for the educational benefit payment previously litegated.

My question is about the strategic plan statement: 

Have all Mean Green student-athletes not already been getting this stipend since the term "provide to all Mean Green student-athletes" is used?  If not, which team's student-athletes, if any, have been getting this money?  Is this expense a budgeted item in the regular athletic budget?

Just asking for someone with knowledge on this matter to help sort this out for me since I do not know the current situation for UNT student-athletes and what this goal changes.

 

 

[Zeleny' Orel]

There is also a new federal lawsuit that was filed in early April 2023 in the Northern District of California's Oakland Divison against the NCAA and the P5 conferences seeking back pay for thousands of current and former student-athletes who believe they are entitled to damages from schools who offered payment since the 2021 ruling of the Supreme Court. The class action suit states that these payments have been allowed since the summer of 2021, and the athletes who participated on teams on or after April 1, 2019, at schools that now provide such benefits believe they qualify for back pay since there is a 4-year statute of limitations. 

Stories are available on usatoday.com (April 4, 2023) and theathletic.com (April 4, 2023).  

[NT80]

3 hours ago, Zeleny' Orel said:

This caught my eye in the strategic plan:

• Provide Alston awards to all Mean Green student-athletes starting in fall of 2023.

Hadn't heard of Alston awards so did a quick search. 

Based on the 2021 Supreme Court ruling in Alston v. NCAA, Alston Awards allow schools to provide up to $5,980 a year for academic-related benefits, if so inclined, with the individual schools setting up the requirments that must be met by an individual athlete to qualify for payment.  I determined that "Alston Awards" is the nickname for the educational benefit payment previously litegated.

My question is about the strategic plan statement: 

Have all Mean Green student-athletes not already been getting this stipend since the term "provide to all Mean Green student-athletes" is used?  If not, which team's student-athletes, if any, have been getting this money?  Is this expense a budgeted item in the regular athletic budget?

Just asking for someone with knowledge on this matter to help sort this out for me since I do not know the current situation for UNT student-athletes and what this goal changes.

 

 

What is the definition now of a "student-athlete"?   Does that include walk-ons on a team roster and/or trying out?   How about redshirts or greyshirts sitting out a year?  Do walk-ons, preferred walk-ons, and redshirts get any benefits?   

[SilverEagle]

On 4/17/2023 at 3:41 PM, NT80 said:

That’s not true.  He coached at Smut before NTSU.  

Our schools Admins during the name change said they always wanted us to be University of NT.  Said it is more prestigious than a Something-Univ, but that UT fought us getting that name since the 1960’s. 

It's all laid out there in the book "The Story of North Texas".....in all of it's political ugliness. When we became a university back in 1961, we had to change our name to reflect our new status.  To do that we had to file a bill with the legislature stating the name that we wanted. The North Texas Administration wanted The University of North Texas. The house had no problem with it, but the senate, and all it's UT a-hole graduates, wanted nothing to do with it. They threatened to filibuster the bill if it proceeded as written. The bill's sponsor had to work out a compromise because a name change had to happen. The compromise name was NTSU.  After that we took a run at it two more times before succeeding in 1988. In each of those two times we got thwarted again by UT graduates. The bill to change our name to UNT was finally signed by Bill Clements........an SMU grad. 

Now, ain't that ironic.

[SilverEagle]

On 4/17/2023 at 1:40 PM, El Paso Eagle said:

Pick one and move forward. I also would hope it would be North Texas.

Me too.

And while we are looking to push our brand and raise our profile. How about getting the ST to just basically acknowledge our existence. We have "O" sports coverage from them.

[El Paso Eagle]

20 hours ago, Zeleny' Orel said:

There is also a new federal lawsuit that was filed in early April 2023 in the Northern District of California's Oakland Divison against the NCAA and the P5 conferences seeking back pay for thousands of current and former student-athletes who believe they are entitled to damages from schools who offered payment since the 2021 ruling of the Supreme Court. The class action suit states that these payments have been allowed since the summer of 2021, and the athletes who participated on teams on or after April 1, 2019, at schools that now provide such benefits believe they qualify for back pay since there is a 4-year statute of limitations. 

Stories are available on usatoday.com (April 4, 2023) and theathletic.com (April 4, 2023).  

One of the problems with those who want to talk about how much money is being made is they do not acknowledge that many schools do not make money. And at many, the only programs that come close to generating revenue are football and basketball. A good portion of the programs could not exist if it were not for mandated student fees. Since it has been shown that college athletics is not an amateur sport, what not push for revenue sharing like the other professional sports? Then start pushing for paying. 

[Cooley]

I often wonder why national media still refer to us as North Texas State some 35 years after the name change. Was it a mistake to change it to UNT from an athletics standpoint? North Texas State has seemed to get more mileage than UNT.

[PlummMeanGreen]

On 4/17/2023 at 3:18 PM, GrayEagle said:

It was all Hayden Fry's fault.  He vowed that he would never coach at a college that didn't have "University" at the beginning of the college's name.

Brother Jack…I might be wrong here but I believe Hayden first started that “University of” talk right after he got the “University of” Iowa job in December of 1978.  Hope all is well for you.

[GrayEagle]

36 minutes ago, PlummMeanGreen said:

Brother Jack…I might be wrong here but I believe Hayden first started that “University of” talk right after he got the “University of” Iowa job in December of 1978.  Hope all is well for you.

True, Jim.  But, we were then North Texas State University.   The first chance that we got to change our name to the University of North Texas, we took it.  Hells Bells, all of it sounds good to me.  I started when it was North Texas State Teachers College and graduated from North Texas State College.

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by GrayEagle