The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/535299
26 ■ THE WOLFPACKER care of and preserve the history of Reyn- olds. For instance, we are keeping the noise meter. It won't be in the same place, but it will be on display. We'll have a new noise meter, which is going to be different than what people are used to. It's a combination of the old and the new. "It was suggested to us at one point in time that we needed to implode the build- ing. Certainly, it needed to either be im- ploded or renovated. We could not continue past 60 years here much longer, with the electrical systems and everything else be- ing as old as they are. "I have been told by those who have been here many years that it is the only project for athletics that our university has partnered with us on financially. It's a $35 million project, but they are paying $15 million of it. We are never going to get a better deal than that, so the timing was right." Will the Heritage Game for men's basket- ball still be at Reynolds? "We have been tracking our attendance at the Heritage Game for years. It has never crossed over 5,000, and the new Reynolds will hold 5,500. Because of the amenities and how much is going to be there, we might cross over that number even though we have not in years past, but there is noth- ing wrong with that." The indoor football facility and Reynolds are two big projects. Is there anything on the wish list for down the road? "We are doing a master facility plan right now internally, but we are just not ready to talk about it. There is not going to be an end to this, between renovations and new facilities, any more than there is for the campus. This is just life. We are not going to stand still at any point. "We do need — and I know Wolfpack Club executive director Bobby Purcell is in lockstep with me on this — to find new donors to make major gifts. We have hit a number of our loyal donors very hard a number of times. Bobby is an expert at this and so is his staff. They'll be able to do that, and I'll be able to support any way that I can." What is the state of the athletics budget right now? "The budget is about $70 million for this year. We are going to balance the budget for the fifth consecutive year. We will actu- ally be up by $4.5 million, but we won't show that because we are spending it right as we speak. "The facility improvements are so im- portant. The staff might come to me and say there is a crack at Carter-Finley Sta- dium. That has to be fixed; it's a safety issue. These things are expensive, so we are spending that money now to keep things in good shape. "We are probably also going to have a number of special additions to the Reyn- olds project that won't fit into the budget, and we're saving some of that money for those special needs to be sure that it is done right and that there is a wow factor when people walk in. We want them to be delighted with the way it turns out." How about academics for State's stu- dent-athletes? "Our federal graduation rate is the best in the history of the program, which is the gold standard, and we have our second-best graduation success rate, which is a different calculation. In APR [Academic Progress Rate], all of our teams are meeting or ex- ceeding the 930 mark. "Those are the three marks that matter, and they require constant vigilance even though the academic support unit doesn't report to athletics. They report to the aca- demic side of the house, but we provide the budget to make sure they have what they need. "Our coaches are terrific at sitting down with their respective academic counselors and the academic units to talk about the status of their team members. "I do that with football and basketball and occasionally with other sports, but cer- tainly not with all 23." The most visible result of autonomy the NCAA has given the Power Five conferences has been providing the cost of attendance to student-athletes. What is going to be the financial impact of that measure on NC State? "Our cost of attendance is going to be around $2,700 annually, which puts us rela- tively low on the scale of ACC schools. It is legal to utilize part of the student assistance fund to supplement that, and we'll be doing that for full scholarship student-athletes. We'll be adding another $1,300 to bring the cost of attendance to over $4,000. "We are doing it for two reasons: one is to be competitive in recruiting. The second reason is that a large percentage of the student-athletes that are on full scholar- ships are also Pell Grant recipients. They have exhibited a need so we can provide additional resources to them." Can you elaborate on the trust funds for student-athletes? "This is coming in August 2016 unless the NCAA appeal is successful. These pay- ments would not be part of the scholarship. It's much larger than the cost of attendance because it cannot be less than $5,000 for scholarship student-athletes." "It's part of the O'Bannon case. Our resident expert in all this is deputy AD for external operations Chris Boyer, and he follows this very closely. When the Judge [Claudia] Wilkin came out with a ruling — this is for name and imaging licensing use — she said it could not be less than $5,000. "That's a large number for us. We have equivalent scholarship numbers somewhere over 200. We'll have to pay that, and we'll be in the business of setting up individual trust fund accounts for every student-ath- lete. You can't use the money while you're enrolled in college, but when you leave the university you can take it with you." Are there any other changes that would impact NC State as a result of autonomy? "Cost of attendance, trust fund payments and our hopes for an ACC network — our world is wrapped around those three things. The only other thing for us is that this is the Yow noted that NC State has made it a priority to preserve the history of Reynolds Coliseum during its $35 mil- lion renovation. IMAGE COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS