Since I've started down the road, let me continue and perhaps enlighten a few of you - specifically kalm and spoeagle. First, regarding kalm's statement regarding my "ignorance" of EWU's financial situation. I am strictly speaking of funding for our basketball program (because that is what I care most about and has the greatest potential to increase the profile of our university) and not the entire department. And from a bball point of view, I am not ignorant.
Go to the US Department of Education website that lists the amount of money spent by every athletic department in the country on each sport (private schools like GU are not required to report). We are ninth out of nine schools in the Big Sky in terms of dollars spent on our basketball program. The numbers are a matter of public record and they dont lie. The bottom. The basement. Dead last. Additionally, let me point out that our head coach was the lowest paid in the Big Sky; our assistant coaches were the lowest paid in the conference; we are the only school in the conference that doesnt pay for summer school for returning players (NCAA rules require each school to pay for incoming players); we are the only school that doesnt pay for a 5th year for players to graduate; the meal plan for our players doesnt even pay for 2 meals per day even though the NCAA allows a full scholarship athlete to receive 3 (and these last 3 points are common knowledge throughout not only our conference but also the Big West, WCC, WAC, etc and are used to hammer us in recruiting); the summer recruiting budget was cut by 33% during Earlywine's tenure (July is the most important recruiting period of the year in college bball); meal money for the players on road trips was cut by 40% to the point that the team couldnt be adequately fed; nothing has been done to improve Reese, the lockerroom (an embarassment even by D2 standards) or the coaches offices although every other school in the conference has upgraded it's bball facilities; There is more if you would like, but I'll move on.
Please stop referring to us as a "mid" major. We are a low major in every respect. We are in a 1-bid conference; we have to play multiple money games on the road; plus...well, all of the things listed above.
I missed your point on the correlation between only having 1 academic advisor and the AD not raising money. Are you suggesting that Chaves couldnt get out and raise money because he was picking up the slack tutoring adn advising the student-athletes?
There is no question that the athletic department was in disarray when Chaves arrived, but since the football appeal ruling, there have not been any issues that I am aware of that should have taken precedent over fundraising. I will again pose the question: How long is simply being the anti-Hamilton good enough? Also, do you think he inherited a bigger shit storm than Earlywine? No way. Basketball had 8 of it's 13 scholarships available in the middle of the summer - probably unprecedented in Division 1. Baylor might be the only situation in recent times that was worse than ours. Yet Earlywine was only given a 3 year contract. Everybody thought that Westphal was "his guy", but he sure didnt do him any favors with that contract, did he? And then a one-year extension? So, 2 of his 3 full recruiting classes were during the final year of his contract. Again, an absolute killer on the recruiting trail. Sorry, I have veered off path.
Summer camps: Earlywine ran team camp a few days after he got the job. The following summer they didnt have enough teams and had to cancel team camp. For point of reference, that is the same summer that WSU had to cancel their team camp, and they were coming off a great season (Loe, Weaver, Cowgill, etc). Gonzaga had pretty much cornered the market on team camp and the addition of Coach Giacolletti to the staff only added to that monopoly due to his long-standing relationship with some HS coaches in the state. The following summer Earlywine brought back team camp and had 20-24 teams and also hustled up two weeks of camp at the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinnit. This required him and his staff to drive an hour each direction every day for the first two weeks of August after spending July on the road recruiting. By all accounts (see Goodmand and Parrish's articles on cbssports.com or Katz on espn.com) July is extremely grueling for college coaches. Earlywine continued these camps at the reservation, but had to again cancel the team camp last year when the housing and dining offices on campus drastically increased what they charged. Earlywine would have had to increase the cost of camp (during the worst economic period in our country since the Great Depression) to the point that it simply was not feasilble. Yeah, the women's team had camp and Hayford ran a camp (and had to cancel another!), but go ask if they made more money than Earlywine did by going off campus. I have seen it insinuated on here that Earlywine didnt run camps (not true) because he was lazy. If that were true he damn sure would not have driven to Wellpinit and back every day for two weeks - for money to give to his assistants. He didnt take any money from camp.
Finally, upon being named head coach, Earlywine attempted to begin a basketball golf fundraiser. He was immediately cut off at the knees and told that he could not do it out of the fear of cannibalizing the football golf outing in the Spring, the Raver golf outing in the summer, and the intramural department golf outing in the Fall. What else? A car wash...a bake sale? I thought we were supposed to be Division 1 for chrissakes!
