When Middle Tennessee State University announced late last week that it was signing longtime basketball coach Kermit Davis to a new seven-year contract, the school’s news release contained an interesting quote from athletic director Chris Massaro.
Perhaps hoping to make his boosters fully aware of the financial commitment it normally takes to build a mid-major basketball team capable of reaching the round of 32 in consecutive NCAA men’s tournaments – as the Blue Raiders just did – Massaro said:
“If we want to have a big-time basketball program with a national brand, then we need a more robust Blue Raider Athletic Association and we have to fill Murphy Center. When you look at programs we benchmark, like Wichita State, VCU and Butler, those are things that separate us. We had an attendance increase this past season and we appreciate the growth, but we need an even deeper commitment.”
As this 2017 NCAA tourney nears its completion with only four schools still around to compete for its title, there is little doubt that money talks.
Even Gonzaga – the lone non-Power Five conference school in a Final Four that also includes North Carolina, Oregon and South Carolina – has an annual operating budget of nearly $7.4 million, which is similar to that of the Tar Heels ($7.5 million) and more than the Ducks ($6.8 million) or Gamecocks ($6.82 million).