By BILL HAISTEN Sports Writer on Dec 28, 2012, at 11:08 PM Updated on 12/28 at 11:08 PM
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – At a time when the University of Tulsa needs an effective, 16-hour-a-day athletic director, there is no athletic director.
Before he was fired on Dec. 4, former AD Ross Parmley was attempting to secure funding for the construction of an indoor practice facility. He was about to start work on a new contract for football coach Bill Blankenship.
Those situations linger – as does an NCAA investigation into Parmley’s alleged gambling on college football and NFL games – and now there is uncertainty as it pertains to TU’s conference future.
Blankenship said on Friday that TU officials recently “had conversations” with representatives of the Mountain West, Big East and Conference USA. Presumably and understandably, the C-USA leadership might be anxious to determine whether TU will remain a committed member of the league.
Having lost SMU, Houston, Memphis, Central Florida, Tulane and East Carolina to the Big East, Conference USA is reeling. Of the schools scheduled to be in C-USA beyond 2014, TU may have the healthiest athletic department. The departure of TU would knock another huge dent in Conference USA’s national status.
Boise State and San Diego State accepted invitations to join the Big East, but now, reportedly, both schools are considering staying in the Mountain West. If that were to occur, the Mountain West would be an extremely attractive option for TU – if an invitation were extended.
Facilities development and sustained football success make TU a marketable commodity.
The TU-Big East dialogue occurred, Blankenship said, before seven Big East basketball schools announced that they were breaking away from the league – resulting in additional damage to that conference’s viability.
“There’s such a lack of stability that it makes those conversations hard for everybody,” Blankenship said.
After he attends Monday’s Liberty Bowl game that matches the Golden Hurricane and Iowa State, TU President Steadman Upham is expected to begin the process of identifying candidates for the athletic director position. Kevan Buck has been the interim AD since Parmley was fired in part for having misled Upham about the nature of his gambling.
The NCAA prohibits student-athletes and athletic department staff members from “wagering on intercollegiate, amateur and professional sports in which the Association conducts championships.”
On the subject of an indoor facility, Blankenship expressed confidence that the project will happen. However, he added, “because of the lack of (an athletic director) to keep pushing it, I think it’s one of those things that has stumbled a bit.”
A Conference USA title and a 10-win season might inspire potential indoor-facility donors, the coach added. “People are excited about the program,” Blankenship said. “Hopefully, we can add a bowl win to that. All of those pieces are parts of the puzzle.”
-- Bill Haisten
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