[VT Cats Fan]

So they start the season with 4 exhibition games before starting the regular season on Nov 9th against Brown. Tough 3 game road trip to start the season.

I assume that you're being facetious. For the sake of clarity, games 3 and 4, while against DIII teams, are official games and will count toward the record, team and individual stats.

 

[Alumni96]

The difference between games 1 & 2 and 3 & 4 is merely clerical.

 

[Little Julio]

So they start the season with 4 exhibition games before starting the regular season on Nov 9th against Brown. Tough 3 game road trip to start the season.

Agree. I don't count the D3 opponents as real games. If the NCAA allows them to count games against high school teams, I won't count those either.

 

[UVM Hoop Cat]

As much as I don’t like to see sub D1 OOC games, I do like how the sub-D1 games are all at least played together and follow the 2 exhibitions. It’s effectively 4 exhibitions at the beginning.

 

[catpower]

The initial fundraising goal was $250,000.

I believe that was exceeded. I also believe that some part or all has been used for the '25-26 roster.

Catching up on threads here but, while the $250k was budgeted for this year, and they did exceed it, and they owe this forum some gratitude for that too, since this was the first place that the donation form spread outside its upper echelon of donors. Still crazy to me that while they made passing references to it (the TBT scrimmage among others) that the "launch" of the whole thing was this month. But, UVM athletics operates slow.

I don't know the total gift Stone left to start the fund, but it had to be more than enough to cover multiple years of NIL. We likely will never get official answers on anything, but if I had to guess, the total amount was in the seven-figure range, with the idea that it, coupled with individual contributions to the fund, would sustain for a while.

 

[VT Cats Fan]

Catching up on threads here but, while the $250k was budgeted for this year, and they did exceed it, and they owe this forum some gratitude for that too, since this was the first place that the donation form spread outside its upper echelon of donors. Still crazy to me that while they made passing references to it (the TBT scrimmage among others) that the "launch" of the whole thing was this month. But, UVM athletics operates slow.

I don't know the total gift Stone left to start the fund, but it had to be more than enough to cover multiple years of NIL. We likely will never get official answers on anything, but if I had to guess, the total amount was in the seven-figure range, with the idea that it, coupled with individual contributions to the fund, would sustain for a while.

That may be true, but I'd be (pleasantly) surprised. Barry's widow Carol is still around and close to the program. I can't imagine that a very significant gift would come before she passes. I'm confident that she has been giving, but I'm not sure it's to the level that you're suggesting.

Also, I believe a significant piece of the seed money for the fund came from a friend of Barry's.

I know that recruiting for next year has been ongoing. The only fundraising effort I've seen so far was the Halvorsen's thing which was probably a very small fundraiser. I'm sure private asks are ongoing which is certainly how the bulk of the donations are raised. If it were me, I'd want to know what my financial resources are for the next recruiting year before I start recruiting, so you may be right that there was enough for multiple years - but again, I'd be surprised.

 

[catpower]

That may be true, but I'd be (pleasantly) surprised. Barry's widow Carol is still around and close to the program. I can't imagine that a very significant gift would come before she passes. I'm confident that she has been giving, but I'm not sure it's to the level that you're suggesting.

Also, I believe a significant piece of the seed money for the fund came from a friend of Barry's.

I know that recruiting for next year has been ongoing. The only fundraising effort I've seen so far was the Halvorsen's thing which was probably a very small fundraiser. I'm sure private asks are ongoing which is certainly how the bulk of the donations are raised. If it were me, I'd want to know what my financial resources are for the next recruiting year before I start recruiting, so you may be right that there was enough for multiple years - but again, I'd be surprised.

Well, if that's the case, enjoy every year like it's the last folks.

 

[UVM Hoop Cat]

UVM prob needs a baseline/conservative figure of 3mm-5mm with the ability to grow/add to it for player retention/recruiting.

The 250K also sounds like a low annual number for this level, and will also need to bake in that amount needing to rise each year, as well.

Reality is if UVM wants to still compete in D1 and win games, whatever donations that were once ear marked for a new gym need to go instead to player retention & recruiting.

 

[VT Cats Fan]

Well, if that's the case, enjoy every year like it's the last folks.

Good advice for all of us, no?

 

[VT Cats Fan]

UVM prob needs a baseline/conservative figure of 3mm-5mm with the ability to grow/add to it for player retention/recruiting.

The 250K also sounds like a low annual number for this level, and will also need to bake in that amount needing to rise each year, as well.

Reality is if UVM wants to still compete in D1 and win games, whatever donations that were once ear marked for a new gym need to go instead to player retention & recruiting.

Is this assuming any of the revenue share that UVM has said that it will be opting in to?

 

[UVM Hoop Cat]

Is this assuming any of the revenue share that UVM has said that it will be opting in to?

I am not sure. How much revenue is getting shared with UVM and then what amount of that will be allocated directly towards the Retention & Recruiting fund for MBB(?)

 

[VT2Wicso]

I am not sure. How much revenue is getting shared with UVM and then what amount of that will be allocated directly towards the Retention & Recruiting fund for MBB(?)

Being there's no football or baseball, UVM simply has fewer mouths to feed than other schools. However, no football means no football revenue... My initial first guess is that basketball, soccer, lacrosse, and hockey are prioritized, but in which order is the real question. Some schools may opt to go "all-in" on one or two sports, while accepting other sports will suffer. Unless some big donations are coming, my guess is that's the route UVM will have to go if they want to stay "elite" (at least for their level) in any of the above four sports. Spreading the dollars around to every sport certainly seems like the fairest option, but my guess would be that within a few years, all of your competitive teams would regress back to the mean within a few years.

If you ask me, basketball and soccer should receive priority in rev sharing and the school should focus on keeping those two sports performing at a high level.

 

[UVM Hoop Cat]

I’m not sure. If someone can tell me what the numbers will be then I can revise my estimate, but at the end of the day going to need btwn 250K-500K ANNUALLY at least over next 3yrs (don’t want to think about what the number will be beyond that) to field a team that is 20-win capable.

If this Stone fund generated $1mm let’s say, that’s 3-4 seasons of UVM MBB

 

[benchwarmer]

The girls are scheduled to have an open practice at the Barre Aud Oct. 3 at 6pm. Nothing about the men but they haven't showed for the last couple of years, Too bad because it's an opportunity to get new fans outside of the Burlington area.

 

[GoCatsGo]

This is from a few days ago, but worth noting: Estes promoted to full assistant coach status.



The discussion came up in the women's thread about how the Lady Cats are now rolling with 4 full assistants (plus a DBO). Not sure if this means the men will be looking to add a DBO this late in the game, but perhaps opens the door up for next year.

 

[VT2Wicso]

This is from a few days ago, but worth noting: Estes promoted to full assistant coach status.



The discussion came up in the women's thread about how the Lady Cats are now rolling with 4 full assistants (plus a DBO). Not sure if this means the men will be looking to add a DBO this late in the game, but perhaps opens the door up for next year.

Not connected enough to the team to know how good of a coach Estes is (I'll assume he's solid if he's getting a promotion), but I like the idea of promoting DOBO's to assistant coaches. Having a history of that makes it a lot easier to recruit solid guys into the DOBO position with them knowing that if they do a good job, in a year or two they'll be an assistant coach.

 

[VT Cats Fan]

I've heard him speak a few times. He seems well-prepared for the role. His resume is pretty solid. I hope that he sticks with the program.