Dukes making due with cuts

Lack of scholarships slowing progress for several athletic teams

In an era where many athletic program decisions are made on the basis of finances rather than merit, many of JMU’s athletic programs are forced to compete without the benefit of athletic scholarships, according to the JMU athletic administration.

In the spring of 2001, the JMU athletic department, administration officials and the Board of Governors concluded that in order to obtain national media coverage for JMU athletics, additional resources needed to be supplied to the support infrastructure of “Tier I” sports, most notably basketball and football.

As a result, the department decided that in order to fund those programs’ advancements, financial cuts needed to be made in a number of athletic programs, according to Athletic Director Jeff Bourne.

“The university decided that the only way it could make additions to the department without passing the cost onto students was to make scholarship cuts to a number of Tier III and Tier IV sports programs,” Bourne said.

When all was said and done, eight teams — men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s golf, men’s cross country and wrestling — all were told they no longer would be able to offer athletic scholarships to potential team recruits.

“It was an extremely difficult decision for us to make,” Bourne said. “However, we felt that the sports we chose to remove scholarships from could continue to acquire enough athletes from the traditional pool of applicants to remain competitive at the intercollegiate level.”

One sport drastically affected by the cuts in 2001 is the wrestling team, according to coach Chris Elliot. The Dukes, who once consistently were near the top of their conference, have steadily dropped in the Colonial Athletic Association’s standings since 2001.

“It has been tough,” Elliot said. “Considering we compete consistently against top-25 programs, all of which offer scholarships, it has been tough for some of our young guys to step in and compete.”

The men’s swimming program, which recently finished third at the CAA championships, also has felt the effect of the scholarship cuts.

“It has been very detrimental,” men’s swimming coach Matt Barany said. “I still have to dispel rumors that JMU is dropping men’s swimming. The university suffered a black eye by the decision …”

Seemingly, the greatest impact the scholarships cuts have is in limiting the ability of the respective coaches to recruit future CAA athletes, according to several coaches. The national letter of intent, which commits athletes to their chosen university is only applicable in scholarship situations.

“Without scholarships, we are unable to use the national letter of intent, so my recruiting strategy involves waiting,” Barany said. “I have to wait until many of the funded programs sign their swimmers and then I have to fight for what athletes are left.”

Barany said that if JMU offered even a minimal number of athletic scholarships in Tier III or Tier IV sports, he would be able to secure swimmers at the earliest signing dates.

“This ability to secure athletes would impact our program immediately,” he added.

While not having scholarships definitely has damaged the recruiting ability of the non-scholarship programs, JMU administration officials and athletic coaches both have said that it has not destroyed the ability to attract quality athletes to the university.

Coaches and administration officials were consistent in voicing how JMU’s strong athletic reputation has been a vital recruiting tool in attracting athletes.

“We are able to secure athletes who may not have gotten money at other programs based on their desire to attend JMU alone,” Barany said. “The school’s reputation and the program’s storied tradition have been valuable recruiting resources.”

While some of the Duke’s non-scholarship programs have declined in the CAA standings with regard to their competition, it has not lessened their athletes’ desire and passion to compete, according to Elliot and Barany.

“While it would be easier to compete and recruit with scholarships, it has just made us compete that much harder,” Elliot said. “I have continued to go after the best in the state. Where in the past I may have only had to make one or two calls to fill a roster spot, now I have to make three or four. While it is easy to get frustrated, you cannot dwell on things that are out of your control.”

Barany and the rest of his squad also has committed to not allowing the scholarship cuts to interfere with its goals.

“The men’s swimming program is concerned about maintaining an elite level of talent and character,” Barany said. “The swimmers are willing to work hard to be fast, and to represent the university as best as we can. We will work hard and keep our focus on us. We won’t point fingers at anyone but ourselves.”

So what does the future hold for JMU’s non-scholarship sports?

“There is no definitive plan to reinstate the dropped scholarships; however, we are constantly evaluating our program and looking at new ways of funding and trying to provide the best possible environment for our student athletes and the student body they represent,” Bourne said.