4thGenCal said:
4thGenCal said:
eastcoastcal said:
4thGenCal said:
eastcoastcal said:
I hope Knowlton isn't overestimating interest... 125M or 80M is a lot of money. I'd be surprised if we find 8-12 eight-figure donors for this thing. I hope Knowlton is a better salesman than he is a hirer
Because if the funding falls short thats many years down the drain AGAIN. This would put us at one of, maybe the most, expensive basketball practice facilities in the nation (yes there's a couple other sports but still)
The AD is not overestimating the interest/need and financial support. To be clear this will be More than a basketball facility. This multi use facility will be four floors. Current plans call for with weight training/nutrition/ support rooms - first floor, Men's basketball court on the 2nd floor, Women's basketball court 3rd floor, Gymnastics team/training 4th floor. It will be an excellent multi-use bldg, which is Much needed. It will be fully funded privately up front (via pledges and donations up front). Yes it will be expensive - cost to be $100M+- and the land swap/ donation return will help start the financial commitment. Rather than fret over the cost, Cal athletic supporters should be happy to have a long time desired and needed multi-use facility. While fundraising is an ongoing process, The AD dept is confident the needed funds will be raised. Hopefully Cal alums will donate/contribute to a facility that the coaches and student athletes will greatly benefit from. For the detractors or skeptics, there is currently nothing on the site which means the problems both basketball programs face are not being answered until this Facility is built. The additional benefits are also very important to address efficient weight training time/space/ full team use at one time, nutrition needs and other program space needs. Embrace the efforts being put forth, the quality and direct impact to multiple programs and the appreciation the student athletes, coaches and future recruits will experience.
I like the plans. It sounds cool. But Knowlton told me he just spent 4 years raising 8 million dollars for a gender equity campaign. I really doubt there are that many donors willing to line up to donate substantially for WBB/Volleyball/Gymnastics (to be clear, love those programs, just stating the obvious that there's not a huge amount of donor money begging to be allocated there). So that leaves the bulk of the heavy lifting to the MBB program. And I'll defer to you and those who've been around the program for longer, but when I look at the state of the program, I couldn't imagine 8-10 people who would sign 10 million dollar checks for it.
I really hope Knowlton raises the money. Seriously I do. But if this falls short then he's a ****ing idiot and he'll have wasted several years & millions of athletics dollars pursuing this project to no avail. and then I seriously don't want to hear any more qualifications or defenses of him because he somehow managed to land a decade-long contract despite overseeing the WORST power-5 FB + MBB program in the nation by combined win % over the last 5 years. And will have badly miscalculated in the hires of Mark Fox, horribly overpaid to extend Justin Wilcox, and have stood by when approached with the criminal-level allegations brought forward by McKeever's athletes. So forgive me if I am a little hesitant to trust that he will raise necessary funds
The updates that I share, are for the general posters etc - and to hopefully enlighten positive events/developments of Cal Athletics. Not a supporter or critic of Jim Knowlton, but so you are clear, this is not "wasting several years and millions of dollars" - pursuing the project at this point - Gross exaggeration. The AD/staff are not working full time/resources on this sole project - (32 sports and budgets to balance - which requires extremely long time commitments spread around). To throw out a statement "that if he fails etc" then he is a _____" is bizarre. Most Cal alums/supporters appreciate the daunting effort to gain the necessary campus committee approvals, get support from the Chancellor and address a Huge pressing need that multiple programs are fervantly pushing for. This is a project that will have immediate positive impact for Student Athletes at Cal and address the needs of better training, improved nutrition programs/availability (having a current $90 weekend food card for use at 6-7 restaurants does not measure up to what is offered at our conference programs). Let's see how this plays out and best to hold off on giving a grade, when the "class/project" is in its relatively early stages. Final point, there are people interested in donating substantial dollars to support a much needed multi use facility.
I remain confident this will get done, and built within the next 4 - 4 1/2 years. Go Bears!
I am
so appreciative of your efforts. And I do appreciate your positive disposition-- but your assessment that this is not a substantive time-sink nor money-sink is in direct conflict with what Knowlton told me. He was adamant that he'd be "up early in the morning" and "late to sleep" in order to consistently meet, pitch, and sell these donors on the facility. He was clear it was his top priority in the near future. Also I assume there are legal counsel, regulatory, & architectural monies associated with the process uptil this point- are you to say that these have totaled only in the hundreds of thousands of dollars?
Additionally, to be clear I am not suggesting he will be a failure if he does not get this through. He is already a failure in my eyes (and most peoples). The Fox hire was disastrous, the Wilcox extension was unprecedented and foolish (will refrain from saying disastrous as it is too early but returns are looking that way), and the McKeever handling was morally inept, bordering on criminal. Of course, if he hits a home run with the next basketball coach and manages to secure the donation money, perhaps he'll redeem himself from a failure to a serviceable AD. I am simply saying he's a failure and a loser (not calling him names, we literally lose a lot) at this point in his tenure.
Finally, don't conflate my concerns with Knowlton for me taking issue with the facility itself. It sounds super cool and I would love for our program to have it. However sometimes I feel that you and other high-ranking donors experience a phenomenon where you are able to internally excuse our losing / defend the people who run our operations because you are too close to it all- you view the detractors of Cal (admissions, NIL, facilities, CoB, donor interest, fan apathy) as insurmountable or at the very least valid excuses for the losing we experience. Unless you really believe we have the worst situation here in Berkeley out of all 65 power-5 teams, our detractors just don't add up to the level of losing we have here.
I hope you are right that we get this done in the next 4-4.5 years. As always, truly appreciative of your efforts. Go Bears!
