The City of Brotherly Love supplied the Virginia men’s basketball
program with some good news for the second time in three months.
Sean Singletary, a 5-foot-11 junior point guard from the William Penn Charter
School in Philadelphia, committed to Virginia on Friday. Singletary is
Virginia’s first commitment for its 2004 class, in which it has three
scholarships available.
According to rivalshoops.com, Singletary is a five-star prospect and is ranked
as the nation’s top point guard in the 2004 class along with Shaun Livingston
of Peoria, Ill., and the No. 11 overall recruit in this class. Such a ranking
makes Singletary arguably the best prospect to commit to Virginia in the
five-year tenure of head coach Pete Gillen.
“It was the perfect school for me. I’ve gotten along great with all the
coaches there. It’s a program on the rise and one that I hope can capture the
national championship in the future,” said Singletary on Friday afternoon.
“Making my decision now also takes off the pressure for me so I can enjoy my
summer and senior season.”
Singletary, who averaged 18 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 4.0 steals
per game during his junior season at William Penn, picked Virginia over a host
of schools, including Indiana, Kansas, Ohio State, Notre Dame, UCLA,
Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Rutgers and N.C. State.
“He doesn’t have a weakness. He’s lightning quick and can jet into the lane
and take the shot or find the open man,” said William Penn Charter coach Jim
Phillips, who noted that Singletary is also a 40-percent shooter from behind
the 3-point arc. “If there are seven seconds on the shot clock, I can think of
no one else you would want to have the ball.”
Added Mike Sullivan of rivalshoops.com: “Sean is a solid floor leader whose
stroke is getting better game by game. He is a good leader on the floor and
can stabilize a team with his smarts and skills. He is vastly underrated by
most experts, but is one of the top point guards in the 2004 class.”
Singletary unofficially visited Charlottesville in May when his New
Jersey-based AAU team won the Bob Gibbons’ Southern Invitational held at UVa.
Singletary, also a standout wide receiver on the gridiron who received some
Division I interest in that sport, is an excellent student with a 3.5 GPA and
close to 1100 on the SATs according to Phillips.
“Our school is a very prestigious one and strong academically. Sean is just a
great kid and super student. He’s a low maintenance kid. You aren’t going to
worry too much about him. The most worry he’s caused me is when he calls at
nine o’clock in the morning to ask for the gym to be opened,” Phillips said.
Singletary’s commitment to UVa comes a little less than two months after 6-9
forward Jason Cain of Philadelphia’s John Bartram High School filled the last
spot in Virginia’s 2003 class. Cain did not sign his letter of intent with the
Cavaliers by the necessary date in April, but recently completed paperwork to
confirm his commitment to UVa and will be on the Cavaliers’ roster in the
fall.
Prior to these two commitments from Philadelphia, Virginia had rarely
recruited well in the area. The Cavaliers’ advantage now is that assistant
coach Walt Fuller is a Philadelphia native who played collegiately in the city
at Drexel.
“I got along great with Coach Fuller and he was a big part of my decision. To
have somewhere down there that’s from my area and that I’m comfortable with
was a big plus for me,” Singletary said.
If the three schools want to go, show 'em the door
Published June 7 2003
David Teel
Your partner requests a divorce, a partner you consider a lyin', cheatin',
thievin' weasel.
This, of course, leaves you but one choice: File suit to prevent the lyin',
cheatin', thievin' weasel from kicking you to the curb and rendering you
bankrupt.
Now there's a foundation for marital bliss, eh? Candlelight dinners and bedside
champagne can't be far behind.
Five Big East schools, including Virginia Tech, followed similarly absurd logic
Friday when they filed suit in a Connecticut court to prevent conference
brethren Miami and Boston College from defecting to the ACC.
Oh, and the suit requests one other thing: "hundreds of millions of dollars in
damages."
Now there's the crux of this catfight: The jilted don't want the jilt-ees to
stay. They want the jilt-ees to squirm and to fork over a couple-hundred mil,
give or take a hundred grand or three.
"Certainly our preference is to keep the Big East intact," Virginia Tech
president Charles Steger said with a straight face during an afternoon news
conference.
His preference was doomed weeks, if not months, ago. The ACC has long plotted to
invite Miami, Boston College and Syracuse, and all three are primed to accept -
lawsuit notwithstanding.
Syracuse's absence from the list of defendants merely adds to the substantial
intrigue. The five plaintiffs - Virginia Tech, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, West
Virginia and Rutgers - accuse Miami, Boston College and the ACC of engaging in a
"subterranean" conspiracy to damage the Big East.
Syracuse? With Miami and Boston College so smitten, and the Big East in danger
of losing its football clout, the Orangemen, when invited, had little choice but
to follow. Or so the theory goes.
"This case does not involve any single school simply seeking a different
direction or vision," the suit's most priceless paragraph reads. "Rather, this
case involves a deliberate scheme initiated by Defendants to destroy the Big
East and abscond with the collective value of all that has been invested and
created in the Big East."
Destroy? Abscond? Talk about confrontational. Talk about disingenuous.
Yes, disingenuous. When ACC expansion chatter started two months ago, Virginia
Tech athletic director Jim Weaver and football coach Frank Beamer lobbied
publicly for the Hokies to be included. West Virginia and Pittsburgh probably
would have jumped at ACC membership, too, if offered.
So let's shoot straight here. ACC expansion stinks. Its premise, that 12-member
conferences and football championship games are prerequisites to national
relevance, is bogus. If 12 is such a magic number, why are the Big Ten and
Pacific 10 so content?
Moreover, as the suit states, Miami president Donna Shalala reneged on her 2001
commitment to Big East membership, and the Hurricanes' departure could cost the
conference's remaining Division I-A football schools (the plaintiffs) millions
in television rights fees, bowl revenue and donor gifts.
But if ACC expansion is actionable, so is every corporate takeover we read about
on the business page. So get over it, Big East loyalists. If Miami, Boston
College and Syracuse want to leave, have the doorman escort them out. Move on,
figure out how to sustain the conference and persuade Notre Dame to play a
partial, if not full, league football schedule.
An out-of-court settlement? Don't hold your breath. Miami, Boston College and
Syracuse already are looking at $1 million apiece in Big East exit fees, $3
million apiece in ACC entry fees.
In short, this could get nasty - never nastier than football season, when Miami,
Boston College and Syracuse visit Blacksburg. After all, divorce ain't nothin'
compared to a safety blitz.
Expansion battle goes to court
Tech joins lawsuit against ACC, Miami and BC
BY MIKE HARRIS
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jun 07, 2003
Saying they did so with "regret," Virginia Tech President Charles Steger's
university and four others took their fight for athletic survival to court
yesterday.
Tech, West Virginia University, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of
Connecticut and Rutgers University filed suit in Hartford, Conn., against the
Atlantic Coast Conference, the University of Miami and Boston College. The Big
East itself is not a plaintiff.
"We genuinely regret that it has come to this step, but we feel that it is the
only tool we have left," Steger said.
Said West Virginia President David Hardesty Jr., "We arrive at this day more in
sorrow than in anger."
The ACC is on the verge of inviting Big East members Miami, Boston College and
Syracuse to join. All are expected to accept. Syracuse was excluded from the
lawsuit because the defendants couldn't find evidence that Syracuse had promised
to stay in the Big East as they feel the others have done.
The defendants will share the cost of the suit and are in position to do so,
Steger said. He added the legal fees will be small compared to what Tech stands
to lose if the defection takes place.
"We do not have a cap set on the legal fees. They will be substantial," Steger
said. "Virginia Tech will not use any taxpayer funds to pay for this. We have
various sources."
The suit is being handled by the New York City firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate,
Meagher and Florn. Tech received permission of the state Attorney General's
office to use outside counsel.
In essence, the suit alleges that Miami and Boston College breached their duty
to deal fairly with the other Big East Conference members.
It does not refer to specific contractual agreements between the conference
members but mentions the Big East's contract with ABC and ESPN for the broadcast
of its football games. The suit contends that the ACC conspired with the two
schools and encouraged them to violate their obligations to the other conference
members.
Virginia Tech and Connecticut made substantial investments to improve or create
football stadiums only after they were assured by Miami and Boston College that
they were committed to the Big East, the suit alleges. Tech recently completed a
$37 million expansion to Lane Stadium and is preparing to spend about $48
million more. Connecticut has spent $90 million on a new stadium.
"The question raised by the lawsuit is whether two universities working in
secret collaboration with the ACC will succeed in making closed-door deals and
breaking long-standing promises solely because they are seeking even more money
from college athletics," said Jeffrey Mishkin, lead counsel for the plaintiff
universities, in a press release.
"The conduct of Miami, BC and the ACC built on a foundation of furtive dealings,
shattered commitments and violated fiduciary duties will cause untold damage to
the academic and athletic programs of the remaining members of the Big East.
That is why the Big East universities had no alternative but to bring this
lawsuit."
Steger and the chiefs of the four other plaintiff universities met with Miami
President Donna Shalala on Wednesday in Washington. The possibility of a lawsuit
didn't come up then, Steger said, though it has been in the works for about two
weeks. Several presidents had sent Shalala letters specifying the damages their
schools would suffer "so I don't think anybody would be surprised that
litigation would be forthcoming," Steger said.
Last month, Tech Athletic Director Jim Weaver said the school couldn't specify
possible damages until it knew such details as when the departees would actually
leave and if the remaining schools could find a way to hold on to their
lucrative spot in the football Bowl Championship Series. Steger reiterated that
point yesterday.
"I couldn't give you a number . . . but it is not insignificant," he said.
The hope, he said, is that this lawsuit will help lead to a reconciliation
rather than a payday.
"I think it does convey a tone and reinforces the objective that we would like
to see if at all possible the Big East Conference remain in place," Steger said.
"Our principle goal is to keep the league intact."
He owes it to his university and its fans to do everything to do that, including
sue, Steger said.
"If you look at the investment, both emotional and financial, that our fans and
friends have put into Virginia Tech over the decades, I feel I have a very
strong responsibility to protect what they have built," Steger said. "So far,
our fans are extremely supportive of the actions we have taken."
An attorney in Virginia who didn't want his named used read the suit yesterday
and said it, on first glance, "reads like a scorned lover's letter." But the
attorney, who has handled sports-related cases, said it goes deeper than that
and bears watching.
"It will generate a great deal of interest in the legal community," he said.
"There's no question that the lawsuit raises really big-time legal questions."
He said it would be interesting to see what happens if the Big East is forced to
remain intact.
"What kind of relationship would they have if they stay together because of a
court order?" he said.
Lawsuit targets ACC,2 Big East members
Miami and Boston College, but not Syracuse, are named as defendants for engaging in a "deliberate scheme" to "gut the Big East," a lawsuit says.
By MARK BERMAN
THE ROANOKE TIMES
BLACKSBURG - The Big East Conference built its reputation on the basketball court. The battle over its future has moved to a different kind of court.
Virginia Tech and four other Big East football schools filed a lawsuit in Connecticut Superior Court on Friday against the Atlantic Coast Conference and two Big East members considering a move to the ACC, Miami and Boston College.
"We felt we had no choice," Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said at a news conference. "It is really the only tool we seem to have left."
The lawsuit seeks an injunction to stop the two schools' expected defections. The lawsuit asks for unspecified compensation and for punitive damages because the schools "have suffered and will suffer substantial" damages that "will run into the hundreds of millions."
Steger said the third Big East school targeted by the ACC, Syracuse, was not sued because the schools don't believe Syracuse was involved in the same "pattern of behavior" as the other two.
The ACC voted last month to hold formal talks with the three schools and has sent delegations to visit the schools. The lawsuit could delay the official invitations and their acceptance.
"As this process has been unfolding rather rapidly in the last few weeks with the site visits by the ACC to the other schools, we think it would be particularly useful for people to take some time to slow this process down and think through the consequences," Steger said. "We would certainly like to see some conversations take place between the ACC and the Big East."
Tech's partners in the lawsuit are Pittsburgh, Rutgers, West Virginia and future Big East football member Connecticut. They are represented by a New York law firm.
"We're disappointed that these schools have chosen to take this action," ACC Commissioner John Swofford said in a statement.
The lawsuit contends Miami and Boston College, despite their contractual obligations as Big East members, engaged in "secret negotiations" to join the ACC.
"The defendants have violated the law," Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said in a phone interview.
The lawsuit states that Tech and the others would suffer "devastating harm" from the "reprehensible" actions of the defendants. The lawsuit states that the Big East could lose its Bowl Championship Series berth, which brings league members a total of $15 million each year.
The lawsuit states the schools could also lose "hundreds of millions of potential future revenues," such as in lost television and radio revenue. Tech athletic director Jim Weaver said the league's television deals would have to be renegotiated if the schools leave. The contracts could be worth much less without former national football champ Miami and 2003 NCAA men's basketball champ Syracuse.
"There is considerable damage in terms of television arrangements," Weaver said. "Then you go to the BCS arrangement. ... If that $15 million disappears, there's tremendous damage."
The lawsuit contends that "grave injuries" have already occurred. Based on Miami's repeated assurances that it would stay in the Big East, the lawsuit says Tech and the others spent tens of millions of dollars to improve their facilities.
UConn, for example, spent $90 million to build a football stadium. The lawsuit was filed in Connecticut, said Blumenthal, because UConn is the only charter Big East member among the plaintiffs and because it has suffered "maybe the worst" damages from the "misrepresentations" of Miami and Boston College.
Virginia Tech, the lawsuit notes, spent $37 million on the Lane Stadium south end-zone expansion.
"It's value that this institution invested in this athletics program on the good-faith efforts of the current configuration of the Big East," Weaver said. "It takes on the same perspective as Connecticut's investing" in a new stadium.
Even so, Steger announced this week that Tech was moving forward with Lane Stadium west-side expansion and would spend $1.9 million on design work. Executive vice president Minnis Ridenour has said Tech doesn't want to hold up the project in spite of the Big East's uncertain future, and Weaver has said the project is "moving full-speed ahead."
"We did not make the final decision about construction, so in terms of dollars the planning is a small amount of money," Steger said. "We think it's important to keep the momentum of our programs going."
The lawsuit states that because of Miami's commitment, Tech also agreed to pay a $2.5 million entry fee so it could become an all-sports member of the Big East.
"As with Connecticut, Virginia Tech now faces the loss of the very conference in which it just recently invested," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit claims Miami, Boston College and the ACC are involved in a "deliberate scheme" to "gut the Big East" so the ACC can "destroy the Big East as a viable competitor" in football and become one of the most powerful BCS leagues. The Big East and its members will suffer "irreparable harm" to their "future financial viability," the lawsuit states.
Philadelphia high school
star will sign letter of intent in the fall
Prized point
guard picks the Cavaliers
Sean Singletary chooses Virginia over Kansas, Indiana and Ohio State.
By DOUG DOUGHTY
THE ROANOKE TIMES
Sean Singletary, rated as high as No.2 among point guards in his class, said Friday that he will sign a letter of intent with Virginia in the fall.
Singletary, from Penn Charter High School in Philadelphia, was named first-team all-city this year after averaging 18.5 points, six rebounds and five assists as a junior.
"That's exactly what they needed," said recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons, who observed Singletary firsthand at two tournaments he operated this spring, including the Southern Invitational in Charlottesville. "He's a great kid, with no ego, and he's a great leader."
Penn Charter coach Jim Phillips said Singletary (6-foot, 170 pounds) had narrowed his choices to a final four of UVa, Kansas, Indiana and Ohio State.
Singletary is rated the No.2 point guard in the country and the No.11 prospect overall by Rivals.com. Gibbons has Singletary sixth among point guards and tentatively has him 24th overall.
"I think he wants to go somewhere where he can be a part of turning it around and can play quickly," Phillips said. "He hasn't been promised anything, but I think he expects to go in there and compete to be the starting point guard as a freshman."
Singletary has a 3.4 grade-point average and close to 1,100 on the SAT.
"He felt very comfortable with the school, he felt very comfortable with the proximity to home and very comfortable with high-level academics and the coaches," Phillips said. "I think he thinks he can make a difference."
Tech won't be recruiting state's No. 2 prospect, Pond
Bujakowski is rated the No. 11 quarterback in the country by Tom Lemming, who did not have any other quarterbacks from Virginia on the top 25 list he updated May 14.
Lemming currently is on an annual cross-country tour that took him to Blacksburg last year for a photo shoot (Virginia Tech already has been chosen as a site for a 2004 photo shoot). His position ratings, not yet complete, can be found on ESPN.com.
Bujakowski was rated No. 11 by The Roanoke Times on its annual Christmas ranking of the state’s top 25 juniors, but he was behind three other quarterbacks — No. 1 Sean Glennon from Westfield, No. 2 Ryan Pond from Western Branch and No. 7 Randy Hippeard from Colonial Forge.
A fifth quarterback, Jacob Phillips from Bath County, was No. 17.
At the moment, I'd still put Glennon at the top of the list because he has offers -- from Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Boston College. However, I’d say that Bujakowski has passed Hippeard and is closing in on Pond.
(Glennon reported in an e-mail earlier this week that a sports orthopedist has given him hope of going through workouts at various camps this summer. Glennon earlier had been grounded by a broken bone in his left -- non-throwing -- wrist).
Bujakowski, listed at 6 foot 3 and 185 pounds, said in a phone interview Thursday night that he will attend camps this month at Duke, Wake Forest, Virginia, North Carolina State, Marshall, Tennessee and North Carolina.
At most of the camps, Bujakowski will be making a one-day appearance. He will spend a week at UVa, a program he likes, but only because 15 of his teammates are scheduled to be in Charlottesville that week.
Bujakowski does not have any offers, reasoning that "most people are waiting till they can get a look at me and see how I move," he said.
No one questions Bujakowski's arm but there have been questions about his mobility. He was timed last fall in 5.0 seconds for 40 yards -- "pretty slow," he admitted -- but has gotten that time closer to 4.8 and runs "in the 4.7s, every now and then," he said.
BUJAKOWSKI, SON OF one-time William and Mary wide receiver Mike Bujakowski, has a 4.5 grade-point average that ranks him third in Hopewell's junior class. He scored 1,220 on the SAT as a sophomore. He also plays third base for Hopewell's baseball team and batted .500 with 31 runs batted in over a 20-game schedule.
Academics and baseball are two things Bujakowski has in common with Pond, who has a 4.0 grade-point average and 1,200 on the SAT. Pond is an all-region shortstop who batted .650 and had a 9-2 pitching record.
Clemson has indicated it will make Pond an offer that will enable him to play football and baseball, and he has discussed similar arrangements with coaches from Virginia, Michigan, N.C. State, Wake Forest and Maryland.
Conspicuous in its absence from that list is Virginia Tech, where Pond's mother went to school. The family is close to Tech associate director of athletics for football operations John Ballein, who began his administrative career at Western Branch.
"There's been a lot of communication and a mutual understanding that it was not going to happen," said Western Branch coach Lew Johnston, referring to Tech’s recruitment of Pond. "It’s better to be honest and up front.
"He's a classic drop-back quarterback and they're looking for more option -- movement and that type of thing. He does not move badly. It's unfair to say that he's just a big rock standing back there. He's got good feet. You don't make all-region shortstop without having some athletic ability. At 6-3 and 235, that's [running] not what you'd want him for."
Johnston also said that Pond does not think Tech's baseball program currently is at the same level as some of the other schools on his list. There is a chance that Pond could be drafted so high for baseball next spring that he may sign a pro contract out of high school.
JOHNSTON SAID THAT Clemson is "drooling" over another of his juniors, 6-5, 265-pound offensive tackle Mike Wood, who has been timed in 4.69 seconds for the 40. Wood, who has two older brothers who went to Tech, is a 3.0 student who scored over 1,000 on the SAT.
In addition to Wood, who played at behind 230 and 235 last year, scouts also have taken notice of Western Branch cornerback Lamont Stanfield. Stanfield, not particularly big (5-10, 170) and not a real blazer (4.5 or 4.6 in the 40), blocked 13 kicks last year. He blocked a point-after kick, a field-goal attempt and a punt in the same game against Deep Creek.
AN UNNAMED ACC men’s basketball assistant praised Virginia's efforts in landing Philadelphia point guard Sean Singletary: "Is he the best point guard in America? No. But, at the end of the day, he's the best guard out there that any of the rest of us can get, outside of Duke and North Carolina.”
VIRGINIA MEN'S BASKETBALL coach Pete Gillen isn't going to Marshall, but I can understand how my old runningmate, Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail columnist Jack "Pops" Bogaczyk got that impression.
When Marshall coach Greg White resigned recently, athletic director Bob Marcum made no secret to Bogaczyk that he was going to hire a head coach. "I want to hire somebody who's called a timeout before," Marcum said.
Hey, no one calls 'em any earlier or often than Gillen.
Lawsuit spells out conspiracy theory
A lawsuit filed by five Big East schools details a "scheme" by Miami and Boston
College.
By MARK BERMAN
THE ROANOKE TIMES
BLACKSBURG - Virginia Tech and four other Big East schools laid out a conspiracy
theory Friday.
Last month, the ACC voted to hold formal talks with Miami, Syracuse and Boston
College. Details of the mating dance were revealed in a lawsuit filed by Tech,
Connecticut, Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Rutgers in Connecticut Superior Court
against the ACC, Miami and BC.
The suit contends the defendants engaged in a "conspiracy" of "secret
negotiations" while BC and in particular Miami were assuring the Big East of
their loyalty. The defendants carried out in a "subterranean manner" a "scheme"
to "destroy the Big East."
According to the suit:
Once the Miami football program's NCAA probation of the mid-1990s ended, Miami
"did not waste any time probing for other and more lucrative opportunities" and
became involved in "apparently extensive negotiations" with ACC schools. Miami
met with Georgia Tech athletic director Dave Braine, formerly Virginia Tech's
AD, and Florida State AD Dave Hart "among others" in 1999. No offer was extended
to Miami that year.
From April through July of 1999, Miami made a series of statements to Big East
members minimizing the significance of its contact with the ACC. A number of ACC
schools didn't want to add Miami, the suit states, so Miami was trying not to
alienate the Big East.
Miami athletic director Paul Dee said at a Big East meeting in May 1999 that
Miami had never contacted the ACC and had not been contacted by "the ACC
itself."
Miami didn't disclose that it was actually involved in "protracted discussions
with the ACC at that time," the suit states. The discussions involved not only
athletic directors but the presidents of Miami and ACC schools.
In November 1999, Miami reaffirmed its commitment to the league in a Big East
meeting and again in a press release.
In a March 2002 Big East meeting, Miami President Donna Shalala said Miami had
no interest in leaving the league and, according to the minutes of the meetings,
declared the school's commitment in the "strongest terms possible." At that
meeting, Shalala was appointed the league's presidential representative in the
BCS, a position she still holds.
At some point before March12 of this year, the ACC again contacted Miami and BC
about leaving the Big East. Miami and BC deny being contacted by the ACC before
March of this year, but the suit contends the discussions began "long before"
the ACC voted last month to expand from nine to 12 teams.
Miami, BC and Florida State knew their expansion "scheme" would succeed only if
they could "pressure" a third school to leave the Big East, thereby enabling the
ACC to have the 12 members required to hold a football title game.
Miami, BC and FSU also figured a third Big East defection would make expansion
more attractive to the ACC because it would "eviscerate" Big East football,
eliminate the Big East as a "viable competitor" on the East Coast and increase
the ACC's chances of reaping a larger share of the BCS pot.
So "one or more" of the defendants approached Syracuse and convinced the school
that it would have to protect its interests if Miami left the Big East. Syracuse
informed Tech and the others that "it feels it has no choice but to join the
ACC."
The suit charges Miami and BC "misused" the "confidential financial information"
it had about the Big East and the BCS.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction to stop Miami and BC from leaving the Big East
and also seeks unspecified monetary damages.
"We believe that everything that we have done has been appropriate," Dee said
Friday at a Miami news conference, according to The Miami Herald. "We think at
the end of the day it will remain the university's election with respect to
where it will be or where it won't be with regard to an athletic conference."
Miami's assurances are a vital part of the case for damages. The suit contends
that based on Miami's statements, Tech and others spent millions to improve
their facilities and programs. The suit points to Tech having spent $37 million
on Lane Stadium expansion and gradually paying a $2.5 million entry fee for Big
East all-sports membership. UConn built a football stadium, but Miami's exit
will "deprive Connecticut of the value of its investments."
The suit contends Miami and BC didn't disclose their negotiations with the ACC
because it would hurt their leverage with the ACC and diminish the money they
were making from the Big East. The suit contends it was in Miami's interest for
Tech and others to improve themselves and thereby the league.
"It is now clear that the ... promises [of Miami and BC] were not true and that
they were simply readying themselves for the day that they could walk away with
the value they were encouraging others to develop as 'partners' and sell it to
the ACC," the suit states.
With such harsh accusations made in the lawsuit, what happens if Miami and BC
stay in the Big East? How would Tech and the others coexist with them?
"This action we know will result in some tension, but I also think we're dealing
with mature individuals who have dealt with tough problems in the past, and that
if the spirit is there that we would find a way to work it out," Virginia Tech
President Charles Steger said.
It will be difficult for five Big East football schools to win a lawsuit filed Friday against the University of Miami, Boston College and the Atlantic Coast Conference, sports attorney Rick Horrow said.
But if one thing is indisputable, it's this: The Big East's remaining football schools -- West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Rutgers and 2005 addition Connecticut -- stand to collect millions less than the conference's football members pocket now.
The size of the losses would hinge on several factors, such as how big a hit the Big East takes in its next football television contract, how much attendance is affected by losing a top football draw such as Miami and how much sponsorship money would be lost playing in a conference that's considered second-rate.
''There are significant financial impacts,'' Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver said Friday via teleconference in Blacksburg, Va. ``When you're in a conference that has contracts for various sports, and when three-eighths of your football membership departs, there is going to be damage.
``The damages are unknown, but they could be very high once the toll is finally taken.''
But Horrow, who lives in Palm Beach County, said in a phone interview that he's not sure the Big East has the power to prevent Miami from leaving.
``[The lawsuit] strikes me as a claim that just says Miami and Boston College did not practice business fairly, which is not usually sustainable in court. If it were breach of contract, it would be a different kind of claim.''
For the Big East, the biggest monetary loss would involve football.
Pittsburgh, Boston College and Virginia Tech earned between $4 million and $4.5 million in Big East football revenue last season, and West Virginia pocketed close to $5 million, according to a conference source. Rutgers, which did not make a bowl game, made about $3 million.
Those figures likely would plummet with the loss of football heavyweight Miami, as well as the two other schools.
Without Miami, the Big East by 2006 likely would lose its automatic bid in the Bowl Championship Series, which carries a $13 million payout.
The conference champion gets $4 million of that, and the rest is divided after payouts to other Big East teams that played in bowls.
''If that [$13 million] disappears, there's tremendous damage for the institutions,'' Virginia Tech's Weaver said. ''There are some estimates of that value [doubling] in the next'' BCS contract for 2006.
The Big East also eventually might lose its contracts with some or all of the five bowls with which it's affiliated: the Orange, Gator, insight.com, San Francisco and Continental Tire.
The Big East allows its football teams to keep all of its ticket revenue from home games. New Big East members -- potentially schools such as a Louisville, Central Florida, or Cincinnati -- would not have the same drawing power.
Then there's TV, which Weaver says would be vulnerable to ``considerable damage.''
For football, ABC and ESPN pay the Big East $15 million annually through the 2007 season, but those deals likely will be renegotiated if conference membership changes.
One network television executive who requested anonymity said Friday a Big East without Miami might get less than half that from television.
''Without those schools, you become a second-tier conference like Conference USA,'' the executive said by phone. ``Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech feed off Miami. I don't think anyone is going to throw money at them.
``Plus, they will have to play games on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays just to get the exposure [on ESPN and ESPN2]. Another problem is how do you keep high-profile coaches like [Virginia Tech's] Frank Beamer and [Pittsburgh's] Walt Harris.''
On the basketball side, losing defending national champion Syracuse could be a bit hurtful financially, but not nearly as significant as losing Miami in football, conference and television sources said.
The more member schools are invited to the NCAA tournament, the more a conference benefits. Last year, the NCAA awarded the Big East $14 million in an NCAA tournament distribution check, which is considered good. That purse was split evenly among the 14 schools (Temple plays basketball in the Atlantic 10).
In determining its payouts, the NCAA uses a complex formula based largely on a conference's postseason play over the past six years.
Additionally, making the NCAA tournament brings a $120,000 payout for each site at which a team plays. In winning the national title this year, Syracuse played six games in three sites (two in each venue), meaning it pocketed $360,000.
CBS' Big East basketball contract, which runs through 2006-07, pays the conference nearly $3.5 million annually but might not decrease in value if attractive schools such as Louisville, where Rick Pitino is coach, and Marquette, a Final Four team this year, replace Syracuse and Boston College.
The Big East is close to extending its ESPN basketball contract, which has been paying about $10 million annually.
Overall, Big East teams annually pocket between $1.5 million and $2 million in basketball conference revenue. Whether those figures decline depends largely on the caliber of schools the Big East attracts as replacements.