$1.68 Million Budget

Check out this article from the San Diego Union Tribune (thanks to the Zag board for finding the article):

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/college_basketball/20071107-9999-lz1s7hoops.html

Choice quote:

USD's men's basketball expenses, including scholarship costs, have increased from $881,000 in 2001 to $1.64 million last year, according to filings with the federal government. Portland's have jumped from $720,000 to $1.68 million. Gonzaga's burst from $834,000 in 2001 to a league-most $1.94 million last year.

By comparison, Pac-10 men's hoops expenses have increased “only” by an average of 41 percent over that period, to an average of $3.53 million, according to the filings.

USD Executive Athletic Director Ky Snyder said a big chunk of increased expenses can be attributed to full scholarships at USD increasing from about $28,500 in 2001 to $44,000 last year.

Wow... so we've more than doubled our basketball budget in five years. I'm sure a lot of it is due to the rising cost of scholarships, but not all of it. I'm very encouraged to see that more money is being put into basketball... I think we all realize that UP faces more of a steep mountain to climb than a lot of the other WCC schools (mainly due to our lack of tradition), so it's good to see us put in some investment to help out the coaches.

I'm definitely excited about the future! As for this season... well... we'll see.