Monday Grab Bag: Bohn gets a well deserved extension

In a light bag today we have some welcome news on the business side of CU athletics, and a slight hiccup in the Alec Burks draft express.

Click below for the bag...


 
Mike Bohn gets a well deserved extension - Over the weekend word leaked out that CU Athletic Director Mike Bohn is soon to receive a 2.5 year extension onto his current contract in order to keep him in Boulder until 2016.  It won't necessarily be a raise, but it gives him a new set of incentives and a few more years of job security.  To some this move may be controversial, that the man who hired and extended Hawk need not get an extension himself, but I see it as not only well deserved but vital to the continued success of the program.


Why this is necessary - Bohn has earned this extension if for nothing other than his masterful handling of the Big XII exit.  CU was out in front or realignment at a time that no one would've thought a move like this possible for a struggling football program, and the institution now finds itself in an extremely comfortable situation to boot.  Hell, CU even got out of the Big XII for a discount.  In the end, once the Pac-12 network gets up and running, CU will more than triple current television revenue which will allow for even more program upgrades and even whole new programs which were all but unimaginable in the early years of the new century.

Bohn and Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott, undoubtedly laughing about how much money they're about to make.

Argue all you want about the coaching hires of Dan Hawkins and Kathy McConnell-Miller, but Mike has always found a way to make things better for all of the programs under his charge.  Just look at the basketball programs; when Bohn showed up on campus the coaching offices were in Folsom and the teams were practicing God knows where during test weeks.  Now they have sparkling new-ish offices at the CEC, recently upgraded weight and locker room facilities, and a soon to be opened dedicated practice facility.  Beyond basketball he's also found a home for the golf programs, and upgraded the track and soccer facilities.  You're telling me Dick Tharp would've gotten any of that?  I'm not even sure Tharp knew CU had a basketball program.

I was a little hesitant about the hiring of Coach Boyle, but Mike Bohn has yet to miss with CU basketball.

And what about football?  Besides efforts like raising the football season-ticket base in each of his first 3 years, finding budgetary room for a practice bubble, and upgrading the locker room, he continuously found ways to get a surprisingly high amount of exposure for an under-performing program.  Even at the height of the Hawk fiasco the Buffs were repeatedly on nation television, having been picked for ESPN, FSN, or ABC broadcast 13 times in past 2 years.   Look, you want to stay pissed about Hawk, fine, but it wasn't only Bohn who wanted to hire the "genius" behind the Boise St. Broncos, and with the program on the uptick, and outside schools circling in '07, anyone would've looked to extend Hawk.  The situation just got out of control faster than could've been imagined, and combined with a down economy and a state legislature that has always hated/resented CU-Boulder, there was nothing Bohn could do but swallow a 5th season with Hawk.  It sucks, but there was nothing anyone could've done, shy of finding the CU equivalent of T. Boone Pickens.

I can admittedly be a little bit of a Mike Bohn homer, but I think its hard to argue that he hasn't earned this extension, if not an outright raise, and kudos go to Chancellor DiStefano and the rest of the CU administration for getting it done.


Burks separates shoulder, misses workout with Charlotte - Former CU super wing Alec Burks continues his quest for a lottery selection, but he's had to miss at least one workout due to a separated shoulder.  On his twitter account he called it "lite," and I'm not sure Charlotte was going to pick him anyway, but it's a bad time to have a nagging injury thrown your way.  Hopefully he'll recover quickly, and still shine enough to get grabbed in the lottery.  My money is still on Milwaukee with the 10th pick; they seem to really like Al as he's the only prospect that they've "wined and dined." 


Happy Monday!