Virginia coach Mike London might have made a statement about his intentions to hang around Charlottesville for a while by pledging $225,000 to the construction of U.Va.'s indoor practice facility, a project that will cost a total of $13 million to complete and has already had $9.5 million committed to it from all contributors.
London's contribution is significant. His pledge adds up to more than coach Hugh Freeze made this season ($202,160) at Sun Belt champion Arkansas State (Freeze recently accepted the job at Mississippi, where he stands to make much more next season).
Of course, a chunk of change like the one London dropped on the indoor facility is a little more manageable when you're earning almost $1.8 million like London did this season, but it still sends a massive monetary message.
Perhaps as part of London's contract extension negotiations (of which there should be an announcement regarding said extension in the coming days or weeks) he worked this personalized $225,000 contribution into the framework of the deal, but that's pure speculation. Either way, it says something about where London ranks the importance of the 78,000 square foot facility, which U.Va. hopes to have ready for spring practice in 2013.
?The construction of the indoor practice facility is an important part of the effort to make our football program consistently successful,? said London in a statement released by U.Va.'s athletic department. ?That's why I want to show my personal support for the fundraising effort by making this pledge.
?The indoor facility will be a tremendous benefit for our team?s in-season preparation and out-of-season conditioning. It will allow us the opportunity to attract the types of student-athletes to Virginia who will play an important role in the building of the program. I can?t think of a better way to express my commitment to the University and to the football program than to personally make a gift to this important project.?
Maybe some will perceive an element of apples and oranges to this next point, but I don't think so. I guess I'm a little confused about the differences between this contribution and the supplements to the income of Georgia football employees made recently by Georgia coach Mark Richt that got him in hot water with the NCAA.
London's contributions will help himself, his coaching staff, his players and his university. Richt was slapped by the NCAA for committing a secondary violation after he gave more than $25,000 in out-of-pocket payments over the last two years to three assistant coaches that Richt believed were under-compensated by the university.
He'll only get a nasty letter from the NCAA added to his permanent record, and a required refresher course in arcane NCAA rules, but it all seems kind of silly when you think about the fact Richt's actions served to provide some of the same program-building morale as London's contributions.
It's hard to see how any harm was caused by either contribution. There's no personal statement being made here about what people should do with their money (to be honest, I don't see a problem with the contributions of either coach - it's their money, it's their programs and it's not going in the pockets of recruits or their families). Yet, London's own money is good in the eyes of the NCAA, while Richt's cash is a no-no. Weird.
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Source: http://weblogs.dailypress.com/sports/college/accblog/2011/12/virginia_coach_mike_londons_22.html
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