Tulsa names new AD

Harry · March 21, 2013

During his career, Gragg has published several articles and editorials on intercollegiate athletics as well as a nationwide study on sports-related gambling. He is a former member of the NCAA’s Minority Opportunities & Interests Committee, having served as co-chair of the committee in 2004-05. Gragg also served as a member of the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Northwest Arkansas Board of Directors and as a member of the American Heart Association, Northwest Arkansas Board of Directors. He currently serves as a member of the NCAA’s Legislative Council and is a member of the NACDA Division I-A Athletic Directors Scholarship Ad Hoc Steering Committee.

http://www.emueagles.com/news/2013/3/20/GEN_0320134205.aspx?path=gen

http://www.emueagles.com/staff.aspx?staff=30

GrayEagle · March 22, 2013

If Dr. Gragg has endured seven years at Eastern Michigan University he deserves something better. Apparently their continual low attendance was not a deterrent in the selection.

eulessismore · March 22, 2013

If Dr. Gragg has endured seven years at Eastern Michigan University he deserves something better. Apparently their continual low attendance was not a deterrent in the selection.

I'm not sure I follow your logic, but I've thought for a while we should be scheduling them; FBS football and a terrible record in recent years. They're 10-38 under current coach Ron English, who was winless in his first year, 2009.

The Fake Lonnie Finch · March 22, 2013

I in no way understand this hire. But, I didn't understand them hiring the guy with gold frosted/tipped hair either.

Harry · March 22, 2013

They are hiring him because he has done studies on gambling.

wardly · March 22, 2013

They are hiring him because he has done studies on gambling.

Thats a good bet.

NT03 · March 22, 2013

TULSAWORLD

Gragg inherits a Tulsa athletic department with problems in the areas of ticket sales and attendance. The 2012 Hurricane football team recorded an 11-3 record and captured the Conference USA title, but ranked 10th in the league in average attendance. The average of 20,020 was TU's lowest since 2004.

At the 8,355-seat Reynolds Center, the 2012-13 basketball attendance average stands at 4,580 - only a slight increase over the 2011-12 average of 4,423. The attendance slump was one of the stated reasons for coach Doug Wojcik's firing last year.

Edited March 22, 2013 by NT03

The Fake Lonnie Finch · March 22, 2013

Yes. That is all true. And, so...Eastern Michigan has been setting attendance records? No. They have not.

TU's basketball problem is still unsolved. They drew poorly again this year, and did not improve on their previous season's record with Doug Wojcik.

(Wojcik was hired by College of Charleston, who went 21-11, making the Southern Conference Championship game; lost to Davidson...we should look into hiring Wojcik if Benford doesn't work out.)

TU hasn't been to the NCAAs since 2003. They haven't been regular season champs since 2002. They haven't been conference tournament champs since 2003. I still think hiring Danny Manning was a reach. We will see.

Football is always going to be a hard sell for a school with about 3,000 undegrads. It doesn't exactly pump out tons of alumni. Within an hour West is Oklahoma State, 90 minutes Southwest is OU, and about 2 hours West is U of Arkansas.

I don't have to tell you that Okie State, OU, and Arkansas can pull in basketball and football fans. TU dumped Wojcik for no good reason. They hried an moron at AD before. I'm not really sure what they think a person from a school like Eastern Michigan bring to the table.

It would be different is Eastern Michigan had some sort of Boise or Fresno State-type recent history to it. It doesn't.

Again, puzzling. AD is a tough enough job, to be sure. UNT has its work cut out trying to get Metroplex fans in the door...and the only real college competition locally is SMU and TCU. TU battles Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and Arkansas for fans in a much smaller region.

You could try to schedule your games not to conflict with one of the bigger regional brothers, but it is impossible to not have a conflicting time with all three.

TU is just weird. It's little. It's weird. And, they've made a weird, little hire at AD.

SilverEagle · March 22, 2013

Yes. That is all true. And, so...Eastern Michigan has been setting attendance records? No. They have not.

TU's basketball problem is still unsolved. They drew poorly again this year, and did not improve on their previous season's record with Doug Wojcik.

(Wojcik was hired by College of Charleston, who went 21-11, making the Southern Conference Championship game; lost to Davidson...we should look into hiring Wojcik if Benford doesn't work out.)

TU hasn't been to the NCAAs since 2003. They haven't been regular season champs since 2002. They haven't been conference tournament champs since 2003. I still think hiring Danny Manning was a reach. We will see.

Football is always going to be a hard sell for a school with about 3,000 undegrads. It doesn't exactly pump out tons of alumni. Within an hour West is Oklahoma State, 90 minutes Southwest is OU, and about 2 hours West is U of Arkansas.

I don't have to tell you that Okie State, OU, and Arkansas can pull in basketball and football fans. TU dumped Wojcik for no good reason. They hried an moron at AD before. I'm not really sure what they think a person from a school like Eastern Michigan bring to the table.

It would be different is Eastern Michigan had some sort of Boise or Fresno State-type recent history to it. It doesn't.

Again, puzzling. AD is a tough enough job, to be sure. UNT has its work cut out trying to get Metroplex fans in the door...and the only real college competition locally is SMU and TCU. TU battles Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and Arkansas for fans in a much smaller region.

You could try to schedule your games not to conflict with one of the bigger regional brothers, but it is impossible to not have a conflicting time with all three.

TU is just weird. It's little. It's weird. And, they've made a weird, little hire at AD.

I'm guessing that Tulsa counts mainly on the city of Tulsa (population of 391,000 and over 900,000 in the metro area) to provide the majority of their "butts-in-the-seats" support.

The Fake Lonnie Finch · March 22, 2013

I'm guessing that Tulsa counts mainly on the city of Tulsa (population of 391,000 and over 900,000 in the metro area) to provide the majority of their "butts-in-the-seats" support.

Yes, but the problem is, who lives in Tulsa? Tons of OSU, OU, and Arkansas grads. Throw in Kansas, Kansas State, and Mizzou bordering, and you've got family loyalties all over.

My parents grew up in Tulsa, but the majority of their relatives (even now) are in Missouri and Arkansas.

The other thing is, Tulsa is a private school. Not cheap. OU and OSU are cheaper state schools. Very few people go to TU, even from Tulsa, for the reason of cost alone.

It's crazy that Tulsa, a school with less than half the undergrad enrollment of most DII schools, is Division I. And, it's not that they do poorly in athletics.

It's just that, in a small state like Oklahoma, where the most kids are going to OU or OSU, there just aren't many people in Tulsa who are born into die hard Golden Hurricane families. Most are in tune with the Cowboys, Sooners, and Razorbacks. In the Tulsa World, I guarantee you Arkansas gets better coverage than we do from either the Dallas or Fort Worth papers.

That kid Felix Jones that plays for the Dallas Cowboys was a kid who went to Tulsa Booker T., but played his college ball at Arkansas. The Razorbacks are a player among Tulsa's best athletes.

GrayEagle · March 23, 2013

I'm not sure I follow your logic, but I've thought for a while we should be scheduling them; FBS football and a terrible record in recent years. They're 10-38 under current coach Ron English, who was winless in his first year, 2009.

It's a little bit of irony trying to understand why Tulsa would want to hire an AD from the worst program in the FBS. They have a good football team once in a blue moon. They are hands down the program with the worst football attendance in the FBS. A little over 4,000 average last year as I recall.

If Dr. Gragg has seen fit to get his doctorate, he deserves better than where he has served the last 6-7 years. Yet, I don't understand the hire. You usually hire from staffs of improving programs; hardly the case with Eastern Michigan.

I wouldn't mind us playing EMU at Apogee but I would not want to reciprocate. They are the equivalent of a Division II program in terms of attendance.