AD of the year

[Big D]

Per uicflames.com, Schmidt is one of a few chosen as AD of the year. They must've heavily weighted selection towards fundraising, academics, and quality facial hair because we haven't won anything that has mattered in years.

The most interesting thing in the article appears near the bottom. Schmidt has finalized a campaign to bring a new $7 million dollar soccer stadium to UIC...so it's getting closer.

[uicc79]

For what it's worth, the article also mentions 77 conference championships and 48 NCAA appearances during his 20 year tenure. They contrasted those numbers with the 15 years prior to his arrival, and the previous numbers don't come close to his. And academics must also matter, as they should; UIC graduates 82% of their athletes, compared to the nation-wide average of 59%, and the current average GPA is 3.0. I will admit that conference championships don't seem to come along as frequently as they once did. But I think that we may be judging Schmidt on mostly 1 sport, men's basketball, and if what I read on this Board is correct, he didn't really have much control over that situation.

[axaguy]

The Horizon League McAffrey (?) award should be the measuring stick for ADs in our conference. We haven't been in the running for that for some time. Jim Schmidt has been with us a long time but comparisons to what existed before are pointless because of our young age. Nothing of note existed before as any basis for comparison. Yes, we have won awards and championships with him at the helm, for sure. He has been the AD as we have grown and matured as a university over time but are we where we should be right now? Are we as competitive and/or dominant as we should be right now based on the resources at hand?

I'm not saying he's done a bad job at all but I think we should be regularly winning the Mcaffrey Award and a top competitor in ALL Horizon League sports every year. Certainly administration has tied his hands with men's basketball for some time but other areas warrant attention, support and a raising of the bar.

We have tasted some national success at men's soccer and baseball but without continued or regular success. Women's basketball and softball can and should be Horizon League perennial favorites and aren't. If we are to represent us as a top D1 institution we need to reflect that in our performances across the board.

We've been in a lull period for athletic success of any type for quite a while. Why? Concentration? Complacency? Not enough of a sense of urgency in the coaching staffs? The athletic administration? The ADs office? Life too good? Not enough alumni pressure?

Academics ARE important and shouldn't be sacrificed in seeking athletic performance and I don't think they need to be. We aren't Harvard, Yale or the University of Chicago for that matter... We ARE UIC and should represent the city and area as the major university at all levels every day, every year.

[uicc79]

I couldn't agree more axaguy, but it needs to be emphasized: the one sport UIC hitched its wagon to, to the point of sacrificing another major men's sport, is men's basketball. They made that very point when they hired JC; that MBB would raise the awareness of UIC. And that's the one sport that Schmidt apparently couldn't touch. As far as the other sports, say baseball, they now have a first-class facility, but the same coach that gave them the most success a few years ago; Mike Dee. Should Schmidt fire Dee? I hope not. Did not UIUC take one of our softball coaches when they started their program? And now they have a pretty good program. Have you seen that UIUC baseball has a forty win season and a top 5 ranking? Like it or not, it's tough for us to compete against that downstate campus. They have the bigger name. Plus, in MBB, the other 13-14 D1 programs in the state. Now that his hands have been untied, let's see what happens with Schmidt's hire for MBB. I like what I see so far, hope it works out. If it does, the UIC name recognition that will follow should help raise the level of all of our sports. Then we can do another evaluation of Schmidt.

[axaguy]

Even more important than any efforts of Jim Schmidt to come is the new, deep involvement of our new chancellor. HE will be the driving force behind any athletic improvement and resurgence. As much as JS's hands were tied before with men's basketball he will now be held accountable and pushed by the new chancellor to excel...... I met the new chancellor recently at a UIC event and he is VERY interested in the place UIC athletics play in the overall scheme of things (ie marketing, exposure, positive press, alumni involvement, giving, etc) and won't be bashful about getting involved.

He already has drawn a line in the sand with his moving athletic responsibility to his office, directly meeting with the student athletes and taking the lead on the replacement of the basketball coach. Rather than JS being the evaluator he will now be the evaluated........... His job performance (McAffrey competiton?) will dictate additional tenure in office as well that of the coaches of all sports. Championships will be required to be regular objectives not occasional celebrations.

We don't need to run and hide when UIUC is mentioned at all. Their baseball performance is only recent, not long standing. I think WE have been to more NCAA tournaments in the last 15 yrs than they have. We are a school of 27,000, not some Podunk, sister extension. Let's act like it and take on UIUC and anyone else in this state head on............ Illinois has football and all the hassle, expense and time that goes with it....they can keep it. We CAN compete with all other sports, yes, men's basketball too........

[circle70]

May 14, 2015 7:47:14 GMT -6 axaguy said:

Even more important than any efforts of Jim Schmidt to come is the new, deep involvement of our new chancellor. HE will be the driving force behind any athletic improvement and resurgence. As much as JS's hands were tied before with men's basketball he will now be held accountable and pushed by the new chancellor to excel...... I met the new chancellor recently at a UIC event and he is VERY interested in the place UIC athletics play in the overall scheme of things (ie marketing, exposure, positive press, alumni involvement, giving, etc) and won't be bashful about getting involved.

He already has drawn a line in the sand with his moving athletic responsibility to his office, directly meeting with the student athletes and taking the lead on the replacement of the basketball coach. Rather than JS being the evaluator he will now be the evaluated........... His job performance (McAffrey competiton?) will dictate additional tenure in office as well that of the coaches of all sports. Championships will be required to be regular objectives not occasional celebrations.

We don't need to run and hide when UIUC is mentioned at all. Their baseball performance is only recent, not long standing. I think WE have been to more NCAA tournaments in the last 15 yrs than they have. We are a school of 27,000, not some Podunk, sister extension. Let's act like it and take on UIUC and anyone else in this state head on............ Illinois has football and all the hassle, expense and time that goes with it....they can keep it. We CAN compete with all other sports, yes, men's basketball too........

EXCELLENT post, axaguy.  Apparently our hopes that the new chancellor will be "athletics-friendly" have more than come to fruition (a 100% turnaround from the previous occupant of the position).

Couple of things to add. 

In the most recent Mc Cafferty trophy results, UIC finished in 8th place.  A long-time source of abuse on this board, Youngstown State, finished in 2nd place.  Valpo finished last.
I'm kind of ambivalent on the value of winning the darn thing. 
On the one hand, it's nice to have a competitive program in all sports. 
On the other, I would "sell my soul" for a 1st place finish in MBB and Baseball and have the minor sports do poorly.   In other words, I would rather be Valparaiso than Y' State.  I know the 2 scenarios are not mutually exclusive and we should strive for both, but just sayin'. 

Secondly, we are not in direct competition with UIUC, at least Athletics-wise.  They're a high-major; we're a mid-major.  Let's just strive to be the best mid-major in the Horizon League.