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Post by JoeFedorowicz on Jun 3, 2019 10:02:31 GMT -5
www.lasalle.edu/blog/2019/06/03/la-salle-university-names-brian-baptiste-director-of-intercollegiate-athletics-and-recreation/Brian Baptiste A rising star in his field, Baptiste comes to La Salle after nearly seven years at Northwestern, where he has served as Deputy Director of Athletics for Capital Projects and Operations since 2015. In that role, he was responsible for all capital projects for Athletics and Recreation and had oversight of athletic facilities, event management, equipment services, and recreation. During his time at Northwestern, he also served as sport administrator for the men’s basketball, women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, and women’s cross country programs.
FUNDRAISING. FUNDRAISING. FUNDRAISING.
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Post by explorer88 on Jun 3, 2019 10:10:18 GMT -5
Wow, his credentials look terrific and what La Salle needs now and in the future.
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Post by golasalle on Jun 3, 2019 10:18:37 GMT -5
St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle... Has a nice ring to it!
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Post by sweat83 on Jun 3, 2019 10:19:43 GMT -5
During his time at Northwestern, Baptiste oversaw unprecedented athletic facility upgrades, including the $270 million construction of the Ryan Fieldhouse, Wilson Field, and Walter Athletics Center. The project, which impacted 19 programs and more than 500 student-athletes, provided varsity sport programs, along with club and intramural sports, a state-of-the-art development center designed to enhance the student-athlete experience.
In addition, Baptiste led the planning and construction of the $110 million renovation of Welsh-Ryan Arena, the $23 million renovation of Trienens Performance Center, and the $15 million construction of Rocky and Berenice Miller Baseball Park.
There you go....
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Post by explorer88 on Jun 3, 2019 10:21:07 GMT -5
Can't wait until Gola is upgraded.
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Post by golasalle on Jun 3, 2019 10:27:50 GMT -5
Can't wait until Gola is upgraded. Get our your checkbooks everyone! The plans are solid but the fundraising is a heavy lift. It really is time to pony up for all those who care about the program and the University as a whole.
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MisterD
The Baptist Himself
Voted Most Popular Poster 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023
Posts: 8,473
Likes: 6,371
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Post by MisterD on Jun 3, 2019 10:28:55 GMT -5
Great resume, I'm in.
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Post by GlitterBro #2 on Jun 3, 2019 10:31:01 GMT -5
Wait. They didn't reach out to you beforehand for your approval? Whew...they took a big risk there wondering if you'd be "in"
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MisterD
The Baptist Himself
Voted Most Popular Poster 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023
Posts: 8,473
Likes: 6,371
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Post by MisterD on Jun 3, 2019 11:02:36 GMT -5
Hey GlitterBro #2's profile pic, how would you rate that post on a scale of 1-10?
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Post by phillyhoops4life on Jun 3, 2019 12:43:12 GMT -5
La Salle has made some impressive hires!
Really, really good stuff gentlemen!
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Post by GlitterBro #2 on Jun 3, 2019 13:14:27 GMT -5
Hey GlitterBro #2's profile pic, how would you rate that post on a scale of 1-10? Yours...a 4. Mine....11. Also proposing we change your rating status to "The Baptiste Himself" in honor of our new hire (and as an homage to the French Spelling)
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Post by jellybean on Jun 3, 2019 18:21:10 GMT -5
La Salle has made some impressive hires! Really, really good stuff gentlemen! smh
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Post by jellybean on Jun 3, 2019 18:25:07 GMT -5
Excellent resume.
Congratulations and welcome to La Salle.
Congrats to the Search Committee and in particular to President Hanycz and to Bill Bradshaw.
Baptiste at La Salle. Omen?
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Post by a10champion15 on Jun 3, 2019 18:37:01 GMT -5
Keep up the great work Prez. Great hire and a great fit for La Salle.
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Post by glorydays on Jun 3, 2019 20:58:37 GMT -5
Excellent resume. Congratulations and welcome to La Salle. Congrats to the Search Committee and in particular to President Hanycz and to Bill Bradshaw. Baptiste at La Salle. Omen? Nice job by leadership. Maybe in the spirit of the moment he can change his name to Brian Baptiste de La Salle or is that pushing it?
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Post by sweat83 on Jun 4, 2019 5:59:15 GMT -5
Agreed. Outstanding hire It appears that the right pieces are in place with Colleen, Mr. Baptiste and Coach Ash to all work together and strive to take the La Salle MBB program to the next level. Not to slight the other Sports programs at the University, but if the MBB program succeeds, the others will follow. Looking forward to the future.
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Post by coachd on Jun 6, 2019 15:04:46 GMT -5
St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle... Has a nice ring to it! Brian Baptiste of La Salle, pray for him... to do well!
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Post by explorer88 on Jun 18, 2019 14:42:36 GMT -5
Baptiste IntroducedMike Jensen has an article on Brian Baptiste who was introduced today. Obviously facilities are one of his and the administration's focal points. I hope he can get that moving quickly. Seems he was exactly what Northwestern needed and was much appreciated there.
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Post by 23won on Jun 18, 2019 22:22:45 GMT -5
Nice resume ... but ... I’ll believe he can make a financial difference when I see it.
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Post by explorer88 on Jun 19, 2019 6:34:57 GMT -5
Nice resume ... but ... I’ll believe he can make a financial difference when I see it. He better make a difference for all of our sakes if we want to move up the A-10 ladder. If not, Ash will die on the vine.
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Post by GlitterBro #2 on Jun 19, 2019 7:12:07 GMT -5
Let's be careful not to pin this all on him as the new guy. He's inheriting financial challenges, facilities issues beyond basketball (see the soccer field thread), broader University issues such as enrollment challenges that impact the finances, etc, along with the macro issues affecting college athletics like power conference alignments and such. His job is bigger than basketball, although arguably that should be the priority given its revenue generating possibilities...perhaps at the expense of other things since when you prioritize everything, you end up prioritizing nothing.
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Post by explorer88 on Jun 19, 2019 7:50:58 GMT -5
Yeah that is fair but everyone can see his biggest selling point was his ability to raise funds and ensure capital projects get completed from start to finish. He has no experience as a full fledged run an athletic department. You can tell from Madam President's quotes that was important to her in this hiring.
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Post by GlitterBro #2 on Jun 19, 2019 8:00:49 GMT -5
Yeah that is fair but everyone can see his biggest selling point was his ability to raise funds and ensure capital projects get completed from start to finish. He has no experience as a full fledged run an athletic department. You can tell from Madam President's quotes that was important to her in this hiring. Birdhouse-guy had a history of that as well at his position prior to La Salle, including raising over $25M for capital projects in the mid-90s that resulted in the school building a new field house. On paper, he looked like the guy for the job as well based on the exact criteria you mentioned, but I question whether the right support structures were in place for him to be successful. Just making sure if we don't have a new arena/better facilities/Sweet 16 appearances in 4 years, we aren't pinning it to his failure as there could be broader institutional factors in play limiting success.
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Post by 23won on Jun 19, 2019 8:07:23 GMT -5
In fairness, if he can run a tight budget and keep union contractors on budget that will be a double. I don’t think that’s a layup since he doesn’t strike me as the type of guy who could keep a union honest but I’d like to see that outcome happen even if he just runs a tight budget spreadsheet. Evanston ain’t Olney so I am worried about the union effect on the projects. We also don’t have Gold Coast living alums with wads of cash to make up any overrun as needed. Going from second chair in Evanston to top dog at 20th & Olney are two different worlds. I hope he has the stomach and backbone to make it happen.
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Post by explorer88 on Jun 19, 2019 8:43:15 GMT -5
The school has a big donation from John Glaser they are sitting on and need to have a project in place by 2022 or 2023 I believe. If they don't they lose it and La Salle would be stupid to let that happen so this project is closer to being ready to go than many believe.
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Post by JoeFedorowicz on Jun 19, 2019 9:36:54 GMT -5
since he doesn’t strike me as the type of guy who could keep a union honest I don't get this. Have you ever met or talked to him?
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Post by las71 on Jun 19, 2019 9:55:46 GMT -5
The problem is the lack of or participation by wealthy alums. Since that base may not exist, maybe we can create a pledge system of annual or even monthly donations from our alums. Hard way to get where we need to be but it's a start and just starting a program of systematic donations may give a boost to our athletic department. We need to demonstrate that we are serious about a facility improvement. We have discussed this for years and while something may be happening behind the scene, we need to take some concrete action. The drawing shown on this board was impressive but no start or completion dates were stated. I have heard the Glaser donation mentioned but no amount stated and no firm discussion of cost of new arena. How much do we need to get started and how do we get there? If our concern is the impact of arena fundraising will harm annual giving then open that up for discussion. Maybe some of us can agree to continue our annual giving amount and still pledge a little more for a new facility. Let's get started.
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Post by JoeFedorowicz on Jun 19, 2019 10:05:44 GMT -5
The administration is hopefully that the money pledged by Glaser is accessible under their plan to flip the court and blow out the wall. I think they view it as 20-25% of the cost. There are certain stipulations in the donation that they think are being met.
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Post by explorer88 on Jun 19, 2019 10:06:26 GMT -5
Part of the issue with the fundraising is not many people will donate big amounts blindly to the school. Once La Salle is ready to move forward with the project and they announce a capital campaign for the Hayman renovation then you know what you are donating to and each donor decide what they can/will donate. I agree most people will donate more to something they believe in and can see where the end goal is. Until La Salle gets there and announces that I don't see much traction.
They did this with the Gola renovation. I donated to that over a three year period. They did it wrong and as a donor I was not happy with the final project but by doing that they could get a sense of what they could raise in donations over that three year period.
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Post by luhoopsfan on Jun 19, 2019 10:17:36 GMT -5
Chicago Unions make Philadelphia look like amateurs. Their reach is easily into Evanston for major projects like what Northwestern produces. This guy certainly had to work with them.
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