By Chris Vaccaro

A poll conducted in January by the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics shows Americans are concerned about the potential professionalization of college sports.

According to the poll, 56 percent of Americans believe college athletic programs only care about whether athletes are eligible to play and are not concerned with their academic experience. There have been many cases over the last two decades about potential scandals and pay-offs for athletes who play hard on the field, but do not care about their studies.

“Americans have strong views about college sports and the welfare of student-athletes,” said Clifton R. Wharton Jr., president emeritus of Michigan State University and vice chairman of the commission. “They believe that college sports are becoming overly professionalized.”

The Knight study also suggested that a team’s success is linked to the coach’s salary; the higher the better.

For the hierarchy of academic and athletic leaders at Hofstra University, many issues discussed in the poll do not apply directly because the school is Division I-AA, therefore does not collect the revenue like a major Division I program does, athletic director Jack Hayes said.

“I don’t think winning is tied entirely towards coaches’ salaries,” Hayes said. “The market dictates what salaries might be and what it might take to attract coaches.”

The study, however, did not mention the competition between schools to attract a coach. This occurs well before any games are played, and it’s hard to say a coach’s bank account can put wins in the standings.

Hofstra’s head basketball coach Tom Pecora earned his new five-year contract extension, and unlike a handful of Pride coaches this year, he remained in Hempstead for what many would say is dedication and loyalty to the program.

“It’s a personal choice,” Pecora said. “Those decisions are professional decisions. What’s good for one is not always good for another. People have different needs and wants, and that’s what dictates it.”

Financial gains for each sport within an athletic program can differ as well. Senior midfielder Michael Todd of the Hofstra men’s soccer team notices a bias between sports.

“Certain sports get much more backing financially than others,” Todd said. “I think, for example, the basketball team’s run this year will have raised the profile of the school and definitely increase revenue.”

As for alumni donations, the poll indicated that the better the sport, the more money a school will bring in for that team.

“I’m sure there isn’t anything that you would find that would absolutely support that,” Hayes said. “Successful teams would generate more attention, and the way you get more alums involved is by having more people involved.”

The University would not release any financial information in relation to coaches salaries or revenue.

The poll touches upon the pressures placed on teams to win games in order to generate revenue. This may be true at larger schools, but not at Hofstra, according to Hayes.

“Most of the pressures to win come from within,” Hayes said. “We all want to win, but that certainly isn’t the case here. We want to win and win the best way we can.”

The poll said the better a school’s athletic program, the more attention the school gets from high school applicants wanting to attend. Over the last two years, Hofstra has made tremendous strides athletically and is slowly gaining respect from various media outlets. Only time will tell if the applicant totals will rise, and there is no definite evidence it is because of the athletic program. For the 2000-01 school year there were 7,689 freshman applicants, and for this past school year there were 15,981, according to the College Board’s web site.

“Athletics’ role is to try to bring as much positive publicity and attention to a university as it can,” Hayes said. “The more areas that can help with the academic reputation, social life and other opportunities on campus, the better. When all those things are contributing positively, it will attract students. I don’t think athletics does it by itself.”

Todd has noticed a tremendous difference in the business aspects of college sports from the United States and England, his native country.

“There is very little attention paid to college sports in Europe,” he said. “It’s never on [television] and the attendance is minimal. Since I’ve been at Hofstra the level of professionalism has increased greatly in the soccer team, and I was really impressed with the initial level when I first came to America.”

During playoff time for any college the travel schedule for teams can be hectic. For most Hofstra teams this is true all season long, since a majority of CAA teams are located in Virginia.

“It’s very hard,” Todd said. “I think people think professors give us special preferences. This is definetley not the case. But I think it’s worth it, as long as academics are not neglected. I have tutors on the road and study halls when we’re away.”

“We certainly want to reduce as much missed class time as possible,” Hayes added. “We go into seasons understanding when you advance in the postseason, it will impact missed class time.”

Hayes also said that every school having different academic calendars and exam schedules adds to the rough travel time.

Pecora and his team were up and down between Virginia and New York a plethora of times for the CAA tournament, but were fortunate to gain home court advantage in the NIT.

“It’s a necessary evil,” Pecora said. “It has to be kept in balance. Everyone has to be on the same page. [Players] have to understand not being in town is not an excuse for not getting work in on time. Administrators have to work with us since we are out there representing the University in a very positive light.”

Another problem in college sports is the graduation rate of athletes, which at many schools has dropped. According to the poll, four in five Americans felt that a policy should be implemented to make teams ineligible for postseason play if they fail to graduate at least half of their players. At Hofstra, there are penalties that impact scholarship levels down the road based on poor academic performance.

The poll did statistical analysis on commercials and television time for college sports teams as well, but Hofstra doesn’t garner the broadcast attention of a major Division I program to be considered on this level.

Pecora said he saw an expression written in The New York Times about college sports. “College athletics is the front porch of a university,” he said. “It’s our job is to get the name of Hofstra University out there in a positive light. When you buy a house you say ‘let me look inside and look at the structure and foundation.’ That’s academics and that’s what drives the university and is going on at this institution.”