[QUOTE=gotLutz;406195]Good for UNCG? I know Chancellor Brady’s been trying to shake things up at UNCG to improve and grow the program. I wonder if this is a part of that.[/QUOTE]
Brady is a mover. She was very much pro-athletics as a vice president at Oregon.
From a Q & A with her with the News-Record…
[QUOTE][B]Q: As the school grows do you see a growth of athletic programs?
[/B]A: Absolutely. I really do believe that athletics is an important part of the university experience. I think it’s important to students who are here. It’s certainly important to alumni, particularly alumni who may leave the state. One of their most immediate connections may be with athletics. One of the things that I’m really impressed about here is the fact that our athletic program focuses on the welfare of the student athletes.
We really do focus not only on winning but on graduating students. I think as we enhance our emphasis we need to keep that in mind.
[B]Q: UNC-Charlotte is very aggressively pursuing a football program.[/B]
A: Part of what we need to do at UNCG is build our fan base and enhance fund-raising related to athletics. I think the way to do that is to focus on where we already are invested. We’re already invested in men’s and women’s basketball, soccer, volleyball, baseball, softball, wrestling.
Since we’re in North Carolina and since we’re in Greensboro and given the fact that the coliseum is right down the street, my goal over the next several years is to develop a closer relationship with the coliseum and particularly to schedule more of our men’s basketball games in the coliseum, to use that as a platform to build our fan base and enhance our fund-raising for athletics.
[B]Q: What athletic events have you enjoyed going to?[/B]
A: So far, soccer and I attended the rugby match during Fall Fest between our current rugby team and alumni and I’m proud to say that it did not appear that any of our alumni were injured.
I really am a fan, particularly of college basketball. I became a fan at Georgia Tech.
Men’s basketball in terms of the coliseum is a real opportunity for us. We don’t have to build a facility. I really believe that it is our best way to test the waters. If we can’t do it with the facility down the street, I don’t see how in the world we can think about football. I would never say never. Five years from now, ten years from now, maybe it makes sense. But I just think we need to demonstrate that we can build a fan base and we can raise the funding before we think beyond basketball. [/QUOTE]