UTA basketball set a single-season wins record in 2016; the program still lost over $1 million
Whether UTA can find it’s own Sister Jean or not, Mavericks Athletic Director Jim Baker sees no reason why the men’s basketball program can’t replicate what Loyola-Chicago just accomplished in getting to the Final Four.
“If Loyola can do it, why can’t we?” Baker said of the private Catholic university in Chicago that recently reached the Final Four as an 11-seed. “The things that we want to continue to build, and everything we are doing in our athletic program is to improve our sports so that we can compete for championships and go to the NCAA Tournament. Loyola showed that it can be done.”
First order of business: find a new head basketball coach after school president Vistasp Karbhari signed off on Baker's decision to fire head coach Scott Cross and his staff on March 26. The move was met with surprise, confusion and even anger by current and former players, as well as fans, alumni and some members of the media.
There’s a real possibility that the new coach, and his assistants, could be named by week’s end. Texas Tech assistant Chris Ogden is the leading candidate.
But what kind of program will the new staff be walking into?
Well, despite Cross’ success in Arlington, even during UTA’s record 27-win season in 2016-17, the program still cost the university over $1 million, according to analysis of financial reports obtained by the Star-Telegram through the state’s Open Records Act.
A big reason for that was the attendance, or lack thereof, that showed up to watch the team in the still relatively-new, $78-million College Park Center. The Mavericks averaged just 2,798 fans in their 15 home games in 2016-17 despite an undergraduate population of 16,663.
That same season, the basketball team earned just $215,065 in ticket revenues.
Over the same time period, the football ticket revenue earned at Allen High School ($529,158) was more than double that amount.
That year, UTA’s athletic department also generated zero dollars in media rights (the Sun Belt did just sign a new broadcast rights deal with ESPN), and it brought in just $593,371 in royalties, licensing, advertisement and sponsorship revenues.
While the men’s basketball program produced a net loss of $1,094,531 during 2016-17, UTA was still paying a collective $5,217,824 out of their tuition to support the athletic department.
When reached for comment, UT Arlington spokespersons said that President Karbhari was unavailable to respond to inquiries about the finances of the men’s basketball program.
These numbers all came at a time when UTA had NBA-caliber talent (Kevin Hervey) and a walking highlight reel (Erick Neal) on its roster. But its inability to get to the NCAA Tournament with said talent ultimately led to Cross’ exit; UTA finished 21-13 overall (10-8 in conference) and lost to Georgia State in the Sun Belt Tournament championship.
“It’s about March, that’s the bottom line,” Baker said. “It’s about getting into the NCAA Tournament and having a chance to get in every year. That’s what we talked about with every person we interviewed. We said ‘we expect you to come in here and rebuild this team, and get into the NCAA Tournament.’”
In March of 2016, Cross signed a contract extension that was supposed to keep him in Arlington through the 2019-2020 season. For the 2016-2017 season, Cross made $380,523, while his three assistants (Greg Young, Zak Buncik and Kenneth Mangrum, all of whom were not retained) combined to make $351,252.
The latest reports indicate that Cross has still not been officially terminated and is technically still an employee of the university. But representatives of the university and Cross are still negotiating the terms of a settlement that would benefit both parties.
Even with a favorable agreement, UTA will still likely have to pay Cross a portion of the $762,500 he's owed for the final two years of his contract.
Cross would not return a request for comment. Baker didn’t comment on Cross, adding that the situation was between general counsel and Cross’ agent.
Regardless, in addition to paying the settlement fees associated with the dismissal of Cross, it’s likely that UTA will have to shell out even more money for his replacement and the assistants he’ll bring in. Baker is looking for someone with in-state recruiting knowledge to get the job done.
“It’s about recruiting (too), no doubt about it,” he said. “You’ve got to have a coach who knows the hot beds in Texas, and other places too, where we open up new avenues we might not have had inroads with before. It’s about getting the best athletes you can. Maybe you get that guy that might have gone to a Big 12 school that might come here now. We feel that we have things to offer those kids with this building, and being in the Sun Belt, and being in Arlington and the Metroplex.”
Ogden certainly fits that mold. When he served as an assistant coach under former head coach Rick Barnes at the University of Texas from 2003 to 2015, he helped the program sign six McDonald’s All-Americans over a seven-year span including current NBA stars Avery Bradley in 2009, Cory Joseph in 2010, Tristan Thompson in 2010 and Myles Turner in 2014.
This story was originally published April 4, 2018 at 2:06 PM with the headline "UTA basketball set a single-season wins record in 2016; the program still lost over $1 million."