Earl Pettis is transferring; that came out of left field. He had a way of getting on the floor last year, but the RU BB faithful probably were hoping for other players to jump him on the depth chart. It's not the symbolic punch in the gut that Chandler leaving would have been.
Tim Pernetti reports that fundraising is up to $11 million dollars this year. Very impressive considering the circumstances. The athletic department expects to lose $4,000 in the same period, and I don't know what that number means without knowing the figures for institutional support.
Pernetti said fundraising won’t be enough to meet his other goals of eliminating the taxpayer subsidy and developing a plan that might include building a basketball arena. The department will be looking for ways to create new revenue through ticket sales and more efficient use of the renovated football stadium, Pernetti said.
...
Pernetti says the projected $4.3 million increase in ticket revenue will offset the department’s debt service, which will increase to about $7 million from $4 million following the stadium expansion. He also projected a 10 percent decline in the current year’s $2 million sponsorship revenue.
By the way, I emailed Kevin Devaney (who writes a blog about prep sports for lohud.com) about Geoff McDermott last week. He was out of town, and got back to me yesterday. Devaney said that Rutgers is interested in McDermott, so I officially have no clue again what's going on with this situation.
A Seattle Times columnist wrote about Mike Teel today, and I don't agree with one part of the column.
"The booing was as loud as any place I've ever been. It was ridiculous," said John McNulty, who was Rutgers' offensive coordinator and now is the wide-receivers coach for the Arizona Cardinals. "The fans blamed everything on Mike."
The booing was that loud, but I'd argue it was as much directed at the playcalling and coaching staff.
That's a lot to digest, so I'll bank the other items for now.